Abstract
Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgia is a source of meaning in life
that people utilize when managing existential concerns. The current studies
further explored the existential function of nostalgia by testing the prediction
that nostalgia decreases ideologically extreme defenses against existential
threat (i.e., self-sacrifice on behalf of one's nation or religion).
Results supported this hypothesis. In Study 1, mortality salience increased
willingness to engage in nationalistic self-sacrifice for those low, but not
high, in trait nostalgia. In Study 2, manipulated nostalgia mitigated the
relationship between death-thought accessibility and willingness to engage in
religious self-sacrifice.