Nostalgia in response to group‐based exclusion: The role of attachment‐related avoidance |
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| Authors: | Georgios Abakoumkin Tim Wildschut Constantine Sedikides Maria Bakarou |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratory of Psychology, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece;2. School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK |
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| Abstract: | We proposed that nostalgia, by virtue of its sociality, can be an indirect strategy to counteract relational deficiencies stemming from group‐based exclusion. We instructed Greek participants to recall an event in which they experienced exclusion on the basis of their nationality versus a control event. We anticipated that participants would react to group‐based exclusion with increased nostalgia. Specifically, because low attachment‐related avoidance facilitates proximity‐seeking in response to distress, we hypothesized that group‐based exclusion would increase nostalgia (a form of proximity‐seeking) more strongly when avoidance is low. Results supported this moderation hypothesis. In turn, increased nostalgia in response to group‐based exclusion predicted stronger ingroup identification. For low‐avoidants, then, group‐based exclusion fortified ingroup identification via increased nostalgia (moderated mediation). |
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| Keywords: | nostalgia group‐based exclusion attachment‐related avoidance attachment‐related anxiety ingroup identification |
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