European Journal of Social Psychology
Volume 48, Issue 2, 2018, Pages O168-O174

Using nostalgia to reduce prejudice toward immigrants (Article)

Gravani M. , Soureti A.* , Stathi S.
  • a School of Psychology, New York College, Athens, Greece
  • b School of Psychology, New York College, Athens, Greece
  • c School of Psychology, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom

Abstract

Based on research that points to nostalgia as a means of warding off stigmatization, this study suggests that nostalgia triggered by a past encounter with a close immigrant from the in-group can improve attitudes toward out-group immigrants. Focusing on immigration in Greece, 99 university students (M = 23.06, SD = 5.44) participated in the study. Participants who were induced with nostalgia reported higher social connectedness, inclusion of the out-group in the self, out-group trust, and positive out-group attitude compared with participants in the control condition. The aforementioned findings demonstrated that the positive effects of nostalgia about a close in-group member (in this case, a Greek person), who shares an identity with the out-group (being an immigrant), can generalize to the out-group as a whole (immigrants in general). Further implications and future directions on the use of nostalgia as a means of improving attitudes are addressed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Prejudice male controlled study human female major clinical study immigrant Greece identity university student Article immigration adult human experiment Trust

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85043342483&doi=10.1002%2fejsp.2294&partnerID=40&md5=1163a319236b069af327285a6b33ba16

DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2294
ISSN: 00462772
Original Language: English