Collective nostalgia and political ideology

Abstract

Collective nostalgia is a form of nostalgia that is contingent upon thinking of oneself in terms of a particular social identity. Research has focused in particular on collective nostalgia for a nation's past. Here, I propose that conservatives and others on the right side of the political spectrum experience stronger collective nostalgia for their nation's past than liberals and those on the left. I first explain the roots of this prediction in conservative political philosophy, review empirical evidence in favor of that idea, and summarize findings that show the significance of this link for policy support. Finally, I review and discuss evidence that qualifies the link between conservatism and collective nostalgia.

Introduction

People often experience personal nostalgia and sentimentally long back for episodes of their private past. But people can also experience collective nostalgia, defined as “nostalgic reverie … that is contingent upon thinking of oneself in terms of a particular social identity or as a member of a particular group” [1,2]. Like personal nostalgia, collective nostalgia can refer back to significant aspects of the past. Collective nostalgia differs in that it involves a yearning for the ingroup's past – a past that individuals may not even have personally experienced but only know about indirectly [3]. Although people can feel collectively nostalgic for many past groups [1], collective nostalgia for one's nation is important because people's ideas about past society, how it functioned, and what people's morals and values were can inspire political action today. Therefore, I answer the question of how political ideology affects collective nostalgia for the nation's past. Political ideology refers to a set of beliefs, values, and principles that guide and shape people's understanding of politics and their vision for how society should be organized [4]. In most countries across the world, political ideology ranges from liberal or left-wing to conservative or right-wing [5]. Like all psychological constructs, the distinction between liberal/left- and conservative/right-wing is a simplification. But it is also a powerful, important, and enduring distinction that explains sizeable variance in attitudes and behavior with a single dimension [6].