Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
5-2024
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Political Science
Degree Program
Political Science, MA
Committee Chair
Enders, Adam
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Merry, Melissa
Committee Member
Merry, Melissa
Committee Member
Austin, Mark
Author's Keywords
political science; attitudes; nostalgia; rurality; authoritarianism; partisanship
Abstract
There are many discussions about why rural and urban Americans exhibit different attitudes about politics, partisan loyalties, and ideologies. Some of these differences can be explained by psychological processes and traits. People act differently and influence (or are influenced by) political processes differently based on their perceptions of and emotions regarding the past, present, and future states of the world. The same is true with rural and urban Americans. This research will investigate the effects of one potent emotion on political attitudes: nostalgia. Prior research has indicated that political nostalgia can be harnessed as a strong political tool. This thesis is focused on teasing out whether rural and urban Americans exhibit different magnitudes of political nostalgia. This is important because it might help explain why these two groups of people respond to different political stimuli and associate with different political groups. For exploratory purposes, this study will also analyze nostalgia’s relationship with partisanship, victimhood, and left- and right-wing authoritarianism. The results of my unique survey instrument indicate that Americans are a very nostalgic people across all demographics. Regression analysis showed that there is a weak relationship between rurality and nostalgia, likely due to the relationship being conditional on partisanship. Nostalgia vi also shares a positive and statistically significant relationship with partisanship, victimhood, and right-wing authoritarianism. These results indicate the ubiquity of political nostalgia across many different attitudes and demographics.
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Chancellor R., "Are the good times really over for good? American political nostalgia's relationship with rurality, authoritarianism, and victimhood." (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4329.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/4329
