Effect of Nostalgic Memory Retrieval on Anthropomorphism

Abstract

Nostalgic memory often involves one’s close relationships and fosters a sense of closeness to the target person in the memory. The motivation for social connections is a critical factor behind anthropomorphism (humanizing non-human targets). When people feel lonely, they anthropomorphize non-human targets to fulfill their need for social connection. In contrast, people reverse-anthropomorphize (dehumanize) targets when their sociality motivation is fulfilled. This study clarifies the relationship between nostalgia and anthropomorphism and tests two hypotheses. First, nostalgic memory causes a reverse-anthropomorphism of the target that is unrelated to nostalgic memory because nostalgia fulfills the sociality motivation. Second, a nostalgic memory about a target fosters its humanization because people feel close to the target in their nostalgic memory. We conducted two online experiments and analyzed data from 252 participants. They were assigned several tasks, including memory retrieval, loneliness checks, assessing nostalgia proneness, and ascertaining their closeness to the target. The results indicated that nostalgic memories reverse-anthropomorphized unfamiliar targets, while nostalgic memories about a target fostered targeted anthropomorphism.