Collective UK nostalgia predicts a desire to leave the European Union.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8105534 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8309 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01446665 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Soc Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Letchworth Herts : British Psychological Society

European Union*; Humans ; United Kingdom ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Longitudinal Studies ; Social Identification ; Emotions ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Motivation

Collective nostalgia is an emotion experienced when one sentimentally recalls events or things related to a particular social identity. We investigated the relationship between collective nostalgia about the United Kingdom (UK) and UK citizens' desire to leave the European Union (EU). We collected data of UK citizens twice prior to the UK's official withdrawal from the European Union (N = 347 and N = 240) and once afterwards (N = 236). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, utilizing cross-lagged panel models, supported the hypothesis that collective UK nostalgia increased the desire to leave the European Union. We additionally hypothesized that the relationship between these variables would be mediated positively by ties to UK citizens and negatively by ties to EU citizens. Exploratory and longitudinal analysis, however, indicated that strength of ties to UK and EU citizens predicts levels of collective UK nostalgia which, in turn, predicts desire to leave the European Union. Specifically, ties to UK citizens were associated with increased collective nostalgia and a desire to leave the EU and ties to EU citizens were associated with reduced collective nostalgia and a desire to re-join the European Union. We discuss the implications of the findings as well as making suggestions for future studies.
(© 2024 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

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Irish Research Council

Keywords: Brexit; group attitudes; nostalgia; social identification; voting

Date Created: 20240131 Date Completed: 20240712 Latest Revision: 20240712

20240712

10.1111/bjso.12728

38294144