Longing for the country's good old days: National nostalgia, autochthony beliefs, and opposition to Muslim expressive rights

Abstract

Four studies tested the prediction that feelings of national nostalgia (i.e. nostalgia on the basis of one's national ingroup membership) result in more opposition towards expressive rights for Muslim immigrants, because they strengthen the belief that a place belongs to its original inhabitants, and that they are therefore more entitled (i.e. autochthony). Study 1 found that national nostalgia can be distinguished from personal nostalgia, and that national (rather than personal) nostalgia was related to more opposition to Muslim rights via stronger endorsement of autochthony. This latter result was replicated in another survey study (Study 2) and in an experiment (Study 3) in which national nostalgia was manipulated. Study 4 provided preliminary evidence that the salience of autochthony increases opposition to Muslim rights.