ABSTRACT

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one’s meaningful past, promotes global self-continuity (GSC), a sense of connection among one’s past, present, and future selves. We identified a cognitive mechanism for this effect: holistic thinking, and in particular interactional causality (presupposing multiple causes that interact to influence an object’s behaviour). In three studies, using measurement-of-mediation and experimental-causal-chain designs, nostalgia was related to, and caused, higher GSC through interactional causality. In cross-sectional Study 1, trait nostalgia was associated with GSC via interactional causality. In Study 2, induced nostalgia led to higher interactional causality and ensuing GSC. In Study 3, manipulated interactional causal thinking increased GSC.

摘要

怀旧，一种对有意义的过去的感伤渴望，促进了全球自我连续性 (GSC)，一种将过去、现在和未来的自我联系起来的感觉。我们确定了这种效应的认知机制：整体思维，特别是交互因果关系（假设多个原因相互作用以影响对象的行为）。在三项研究中，使用中介测量和实验因果链设计，怀旧通过交互因果关系与更高的 GSC 相关，并导致了更高的 GSC。在横断面研究 1 中，特质怀旧通过相互作用的因果关系与 GSC 相关。在研究 2 中，诱发的怀旧导致了更高的相互作用因果关系和随之而来的 GSC。在研究 3 中，操纵交互因果思维增加了 GSC。