Nostalgia in response to group-based exclusion: The role of attachment-related avoidance

We proposed that nostalgia, by virtue of its sociality, can be an indirect strategy to counteract relational deficiencies stemming from group-based exclusion. We instructed Greek participants to recall an event in which they experienced exclusion on the basis of their nationality versus a control event. We anticipated that participants would react to group-based exclusion with increased nostalgia. Specifically, because low attachment-related avoidance facilitates proximity-seeking in response to distress, we hypothesized that group-based exclusion would increase nostalgia (a form of proximity-seeking) more strongly when avoidance is low. Results supported this moderation hypothesis. In turn, increased nostalgia in response to group-based exclusion predicted stronger ingroup identification. For low-avoidants, then, group-based exclusion fortified ingroup identification via increased nostalgia (moderated mediation).