Jacob Juhl
Biographic Data
| ID | 757383 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jacob Juhl |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jacob |
| FAMILY NAME | Juhl |
| SIGNATURE | JUHL J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southampton |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4833-8062 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 178 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Up the moral pedestal: How self-image and self-beliefs fuel social action
We examine how moral outrage can promote perceived capacity for social change through the psychological mechanism of moral self-enhancement. Across four studies (N = 1300), we show that morally outraged individuals often engage in downward moral comparison, enhancing their sense of moral character relative to transgressors. This self-enhancement strengthens participatory efficacy, that is, beliefs in one’s capacity to enact change. In turn, heigh…
Nostalgia restores meaning in life for lonely people
Lonely individuals lack meaning in life. We hypothesized that nostalgia, a bittersweet emotion that entails reflecting sentimentally on the past, helps restore meaning for lonely people. In two studies, we measured trait loneliness, measured state nostalgia (Study 1) or experimentally induced nostalgia (Study 2), and assessed meaning. Results supported the hypothesis: The relation between loneliness and meaning deficits was reduced among nostalgi…
Nostalgia and Spirituality: The Roles of Self-Continuity and Meaning in Life
We investigated the relation between nostalgia and spirituality. We hypothesized that nostalgia is linked to greater spirituality through self-continuity and, in turn, meaning in life. In Study 1, we measured nostalgia and spirituality. Nostalgia predicted greater spirituality. In Study 2, we tested this relation in a nationally representative sample. Nostalgia again predicted greater spirituality, and this relation remained significant after con…
Romantic nostalgia as a resource for healthy relationships
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia-that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one's partner-and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study ( N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and…
Nostalgia proneness and empathy: Generality, underlying mechanism, and implications for prosocial behavior
OBJECTIVE: Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for one's past. We examined the hypotheses (rooted in attachment theory and research) that nostalgia prone individuals, by virtue of their greater attachment security, are more empathic and enact more prosocial behavior. METHOD: = 8-90 years), we measured nostalgia proneness and affective empathy. Additionally, we measured cognitive empathy in Study 3, attachment security in Studies 4-5, and prosocial…
Nostalgia promotes help seeking by fostering social connectedness
Individuals are often reluctant to seek help from others. Nostalgia is a highly social emotion that bolsters perceptions of connectedness with others. In 6 studies, we investigated whether nostalgia reduces individuals' general reluctance to reach out to others for help by virtue of its capacity to strengthen social connectedness (i.e., a sense of acceptance and support). In a preliminary study, we measured nostalgia, 6 comparator emotions, and h…
Death thoughts predict increased depression for those with low self-worth
Terror management theory specifies that a sense of self-worth is necessary to prevent the awareness of death from undermining psychological well-being. We tested the theory's claims about well-being within the context of depression, by measuring self-worth, death-thought accessibility, and depression in an online study ( N = 365). Consistent with the theory, death-thought accessibility predicted increased depression, but only among those with low…
The path to God is through the heart: Metaphoric self-location as a predictor of religiosity
Metaphors linking the heart to warm intuition and the head to cold rationality may capture important differences between people because some locate the self in the heart and others locate the self in the head. Five studies (total N = 2575) link these individual differences to religious beliefs. Study 1 found that religious beliefs were stronger among heart-locators than head-locators. Studies 2 and 3 replicated this relationship in more diverse s…
Mortality Salience Decreases Social Exploration When People Experience Metacognitive Ease Generating Examples of Cultural Value Adherence
In the present research, we integrated terror management theory with work on metacognitive fluency to examine how mortality concerns affect social exploration motives. We hypothesized that mortality salience would decrease desire to explore novel social interactions only when the feeling of being valued by culturally relevant others was secure. Participants (N = 328) reflected on death or physical pain, then generated 3 (metacognitive-ease) or 12…
Looking back to move forward: Nostalgia as a psychological resource for promoting relationship goals and overcoming relationship challenges
Previous research has shown that nostalgia is a highly social emotion that provides a sense of social connectedness. In the present research, we tested a social motivational function of nostalgia. Specifically, across 7 studies we found converging evidence that nostalgia mobilizes social goals. In Study 1, nostalgia increased the importance people assigned to relationship goals and how optimistic they felt about achieving these goals. In Study 2,…
An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes
Physical death is an inevitable part of life. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), people's efforts to manage the awareness of death can sometimes have harmful social consequences. However, those negative consequences are merely one side of the existential coin. In considering the other side of the coin, the present article highlights the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. For example, the awareness …
Using the Past to Promote a Peaceful Future: Nostalgia Proneness Mitigates Existential Threat Induced Nationalistic Self-Sacrifice
Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgia is a source of meaning in life that people utilize when managing existential concerns. The current studies further explored the existential function of nostalgia by testing the prediction that nostalgia decreases ideologically extreme defenses against existential threat (i.e., self-sacrifice on behalf of one's nation or religion). Results supported this hypothesis. In Study 1, mortality salience inc…
Nostalgia as a Resource for Psychological Health and Well‐Being
Historically, nostalgia has been viewed as a disease of the brain or the mind. However, in recent years, nostalgia has received a conceptual rehabilitation due to a revival of scholarly interest accompanied by the use of contemporary empirical methods. Drawing upon this recent work, we propose that nostalgia is an important resource for psychological health and well‐being. We begin by detailing the characteristics of the nostalgic experience and …
Who Uses Groups to Transcend the Limits of the Individual Self? Exploring the Effects of Interdependent Self-Construal and Mortality Salience on Investment in Social Groups
Terror management theory posits that people identify with and invest in culturally derived social groups, in part, to attach the self to something more permanent than one’s physical existence. Accordingly, research demonstrates that reminders of mortality (mortality salience) increase investment in culturally derived in-groups. The current research extends this analysis by examining whether amplified in-group investment following mortality salien…
The Effects of Trait Self-Esteem and Death Cognitions on Worldview Defense and Search for Meaning
Terror management theory asserts that attaining self-esteem by adhering to the standards of meaning-providing worldviews helps manage death concerns. Research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases worldview defense, however, there are conflicting results concerning how trait self-esteem moderates this effect. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that MS increases worldview defense for high, but not low, trait self-esteem individuals. These stu…
When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management
Research derived from terror management theory (TMT) has shown that people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death often have deleterious consequences for the individual and society. The present article takes a closer look at the conceptual foundations of TMT and considers some of the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. The awareness of mortality can motivate people to enhance their physical health and prioritize gro…
The power of the past: Nostalgia as a meaning-making resource
In three experiments we tested whether nostalgia bolsters meaning in life relative to two other modes of autobiographical thought: imagining a desired future experience and recalling a positive past experience. In Experiment 1 participants thought about a nostalgic or desired future experience and then completed a presence of meaning scale. Thinking about a nostalgic (compared to desired future) experience increased perceived presence of meaning.…
The effects of nostalgia and avoidant attachment on relationship satisfaction and romantic motives
The current research tested whether attachment-related avoidance interacts with nostalgia to predict individuals' orientation towards romantic relationships. In Study 1, participants were in a relationship, and in Study 2, participants were single. In both studies, attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were measured and participants were assigned to a nostalgia or control induction. Subsequently, participants indicated their relationship satis…
The past makes the present meaningful: Nostalgia as an existential resource
The present research tested the proposition that nostalgia serves an existential function by bolstering a sense of meaning in life. Study 1 found that nostalgia was positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that nostalgia increases a sense of meaning in life. In both studies, the link between nostalgia and increased meaning in life was mediated by feelings of social connectedness. Study 3 evidenced…
When death thoughts lead to death fears: Mortality salience increases death anxiety for individuals who lack meaning in life
Research derived from terror management theory demonstrates that subtle reminders of mortality increase strivings for meaning. It is argued that such strivings reflect efforts to prevent the anxiety that death reminders may otherwise cause. However, no research has directly tested the assertions that subtle mortality primes increase death anxiety and perceptions of meaning in life moderate this effect. The current study examined these predictions…
Structured Terror: Further Exploring the Effects of Mortality Salience and Personal Need for Structure on Worldview Defense
Previous research indicates that people respond to heightened death-related cognition with increased defense of predominant cultural beliefs (cultural worldview defense). However, recent research indicates that individual differences in personal need for structure (PNS) impact responses to threatening thoughts of death such that those high, but not low, in PNS respond to death thoughts by seeking a highly structured, clear, and coherent view of t…
Fighting the future with the past: Nostalgia buffers existential threat
Adjusting to death: The effects of mortality salience and self-esteem on psychological well-being, growth motivation, and maladaptive behavior
This research builds on terror management theory to examine the relationships among self-esteem, death cognition, and psychological adjustment. Self-esteem was measured (Studies 1-2, 4-8) or manipulated (Study 3), and thoughts of death were manipulated (Studies 1-3, 5-8) or measured (Study 4). Subsequently, satisfaction with life (Study 1), subjective vitality (Study 2), meaning in life (Studies 3-5), positive and negative affect (Studies 1, 4, 5…
The past makes the present meaningful: Nostalgia as an existential resource
The present research tested the proposition that nostalgia serves an existential function by bolstering a sense of meaning in life. Study 1 found that nostalgia was positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that nostalgia increases a sense of meaning in life. In both studies, the link between nostalgia and increased meaning in life was mediated by feelings of social connectedness. Study 3 evidenced…
Fighting the future with the past: Nostalgia buffers existential threat
Looking back to move forward: Nostalgia as a psychological resource for promoting relationship goals and overcoming relationship challenges
Previous research has shown that nostalgia is a highly social emotion that provides a sense of social connectedness. In the present research, we tested a social motivational function of nostalgia. Specifically, across 7 studies we found converging evidence that nostalgia mobilizes social goals. In Study 1, nostalgia increased the importance people assigned to relationship goals and how optimistic they felt about achieving these goals. In Study 2,…
Adjusting to death: The effects of mortality salience and self-esteem on psychological well-being, growth motivation, and maladaptive behavior
This research builds on terror management theory to examine the relationships among self-esteem, death cognition, and psychological adjustment. Self-esteem was measured (Studies 1-2, 4-8) or manipulated (Study 3), and thoughts of death were manipulated (Studies 1-3, 5-8) or measured (Study 4). Subsequently, satisfaction with life (Study 1), subjective vitality (Study 2), meaning in life (Studies 3-5), positive and negative affect (Studies 1, 4, 5…
The effects of nostalgia and avoidant attachment on relationship satisfaction and romantic motives
The current research tested whether attachment-related avoidance interacts with nostalgia to predict individuals' orientation towards romantic relationships. In Study 1, participants were in a relationship, and in Study 2, participants were single. In both studies, attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were measured and participants were assigned to a nostalgia or control induction. Subsequently, participants indicated their relationship satis…
Romantic nostalgia as a resource for healthy relationships
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia-that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one's partner-and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study ( N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and…
The Effects of Trait Self-Esteem and Death Cognitions on Worldview Defense and Search for Meaning
Terror management theory asserts that attaining self-esteem by adhering to the standards of meaning-providing worldviews helps manage death concerns. Research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases worldview defense, however, there are conflicting results concerning how trait self-esteem moderates this effect. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that MS increases worldview defense for high, but not low, trait self-esteem individuals. These stu…
An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes
Physical death is an inevitable part of life. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), people's efforts to manage the awareness of death can sometimes have harmful social consequences. However, those negative consequences are merely one side of the existential coin. In considering the other side of the coin, the present article highlights the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. For example, the awareness …
Using the Past to Promote a Peaceful Future: Nostalgia Proneness Mitigates Existential Threat Induced Nationalistic Self-Sacrifice
Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgia is a source of meaning in life that people utilize when managing existential concerns. The current studies further explored the existential function of nostalgia by testing the prediction that nostalgia decreases ideologically extreme defenses against existential threat (i.e., self-sacrifice on behalf of one's nation or religion). Results supported this hypothesis. In Study 1, mortality salience inc…
Nostalgia and Spirituality: The Roles of Self-Continuity and Meaning in Life
We investigated the relation between nostalgia and spirituality. We hypothesized that nostalgia is linked to greater spirituality through self-continuity and, in turn, meaning in life. In Study 1, we measured nostalgia and spirituality. Nostalgia predicted greater spirituality. In Study 2, we tested this relation in a nationally representative sample. Nostalgia again predicted greater spirituality, and this relation remained significant after con…
Death thoughts predict increased depression for those with low self-worth
Terror management theory specifies that a sense of self-worth is necessary to prevent the awareness of death from undermining psychological well-being. We tested the theory's claims about well-being within the context of depression, by measuring self-worth, death-thought accessibility, and depression in an online study ( N = 365). Consistent with the theory, death-thought accessibility predicted increased depression, but only among those with low…
When death thoughts lead to death fears: Mortality salience increases death anxiety for individuals who lack meaning in life
Research derived from terror management theory demonstrates that subtle reminders of mortality increase strivings for meaning. It is argued that such strivings reflect efforts to prevent the anxiety that death reminders may otherwise cause. However, no research has directly tested the assertions that subtle mortality primes increase death anxiety and perceptions of meaning in life moderate this effect. The current study examined these predictions…
Structured Terror: Further Exploring the Effects of Mortality Salience and Personal Need for Structure on Worldview Defense
Previous research indicates that people respond to heightened death-related cognition with increased defense of predominant cultural beliefs (cultural worldview defense). However, recent research indicates that individual differences in personal need for structure (PNS) impact responses to threatening thoughts of death such that those high, but not low, in PNS respond to death thoughts by seeking a highly structured, clear, and coherent view of t…
Fighting the future with the past: Nostalgia buffers existential threat
Adjusting to death: The effects of mortality salience and self-esteem on psychological well-being, growth motivation, and maladaptive behavior
This research builds on terror management theory to examine the relationships among self-esteem, death cognition, and psychological adjustment. Self-esteem was measured (Studies 1-2, 4-8) or manipulated (Study 3), and thoughts of death were manipulated (Studies 1-3, 5-8) or measured (Study 4). Subsequently, satisfaction with life (Study 1), subjective vitality (Study 2), meaning in life (Studies 3-5), positive and negative affect (Studies 1, 4, 5…
The past makes the present meaningful: Nostalgia as an existential resource
The present research tested the proposition that nostalgia serves an existential function by bolstering a sense of meaning in life. Study 1 found that nostalgia was positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that nostalgia increases a sense of meaning in life. In both studies, the link between nostalgia and increased meaning in life was mediated by feelings of social connectedness. Study 3 evidenced…
When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management
Research derived from terror management theory (TMT) has shown that people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death often have deleterious consequences for the individual and society. The present article takes a closer look at the conceptual foundations of TMT and considers some of the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. The awareness of mortality can motivate people to enhance their physical health and prioritize gro…
The power of the past: Nostalgia as a meaning-making resource
In three experiments we tested whether nostalgia bolsters meaning in life relative to two other modes of autobiographical thought: imagining a desired future experience and recalling a positive past experience. In Experiment 1 participants thought about a nostalgic or desired future experience and then completed a presence of meaning scale. Thinking about a nostalgic (compared to desired future) experience increased perceived presence of meaning.…
The effects of nostalgia and avoidant attachment on relationship satisfaction and romantic motives
The current research tested whether attachment-related avoidance interacts with nostalgia to predict individuals' orientation towards romantic relationships. In Study 1, participants were in a relationship, and in Study 2, participants were single. In both studies, attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were measured and participants were assigned to a nostalgia or control induction. Subsequently, participants indicated their relationship satis…
Nostalgia as a Resource for Psychological Health and Well‐Being
Historically, nostalgia has been viewed as a disease of the brain or the mind. However, in recent years, nostalgia has received a conceptual rehabilitation due to a revival of scholarly interest accompanied by the use of contemporary empirical methods. Drawing upon this recent work, we propose that nostalgia is an important resource for psychological health and well‐being. We begin by detailing the characteristics of the nostalgic experience and …
Who Uses Groups to Transcend the Limits of the Individual Self? Exploring the Effects of Interdependent Self-Construal and Mortality Salience on Investment in Social Groups
Terror management theory posits that people identify with and invest in culturally derived social groups, in part, to attach the self to something more permanent than one’s physical existence. Accordingly, research demonstrates that reminders of mortality (mortality salience) increase investment in culturally derived in-groups. The current research extends this analysis by examining whether amplified in-group investment following mortality salien…
The Effects of Trait Self-Esteem and Death Cognitions on Worldview Defense and Search for Meaning
Terror management theory asserts that attaining self-esteem by adhering to the standards of meaning-providing worldviews helps manage death concerns. Research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases worldview defense, however, there are conflicting results concerning how trait self-esteem moderates this effect. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that MS increases worldview defense for high, but not low, trait self-esteem individuals. These stu…
Using the Past to Promote a Peaceful Future: Nostalgia Proneness Mitigates Existential Threat Induced Nationalistic Self-Sacrifice
Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgia is a source of meaning in life that people utilize when managing existential concerns. The current studies further explored the existential function of nostalgia by testing the prediction that nostalgia decreases ideologically extreme defenses against existential threat (i.e., self-sacrifice on behalf of one's nation or religion). Results supported this hypothesis. In Study 1, mortality salience inc…
Mortality Salience Decreases Social Exploration When People Experience Metacognitive Ease Generating Examples of Cultural Value Adherence
In the present research, we integrated terror management theory with work on metacognitive fluency to examine how mortality concerns affect social exploration motives. We hypothesized that mortality salience would decrease desire to explore novel social interactions only when the feeling of being valued by culturally relevant others was secure. Participants (N = 328) reflected on death or physical pain, then generated 3 (metacognitive-ease) or 12…
Looking back to move forward: Nostalgia as a psychological resource for promoting relationship goals and overcoming relationship challenges
Previous research has shown that nostalgia is a highly social emotion that provides a sense of social connectedness. In the present research, we tested a social motivational function of nostalgia. Specifically, across 7 studies we found converging evidence that nostalgia mobilizes social goals. In Study 1, nostalgia increased the importance people assigned to relationship goals and how optimistic they felt about achieving these goals. In Study 2,…
An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes
Physical death is an inevitable part of life. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), people's efforts to manage the awareness of death can sometimes have harmful social consequences. However, those negative consequences are merely one side of the existential coin. In considering the other side of the coin, the present article highlights the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. For example, the awareness …
The path to God is through the heart: Metaphoric self-location as a predictor of religiosity
Metaphors linking the heart to warm intuition and the head to cold rationality may capture important differences between people because some locate the self in the heart and others locate the self in the head. Five studies (total N = 2575) link these individual differences to religious beliefs. Study 1 found that religious beliefs were stronger among heart-locators than head-locators. Studies 2 and 3 replicated this relationship in more diverse s…
Nostalgia proneness and empathy: Generality, underlying mechanism, and implications for prosocial behavior
OBJECTIVE: Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for one's past. We examined the hypotheses (rooted in attachment theory and research) that nostalgia prone individuals, by virtue of their greater attachment security, are more empathic and enact more prosocial behavior. METHOD: = 8-90 years), we measured nostalgia proneness and affective empathy. Additionally, we measured cognitive empathy in Study 3, attachment security in Studies 4-5, and prosocial…
Nostalgia promotes help seeking by fostering social connectedness
Individuals are often reluctant to seek help from others. Nostalgia is a highly social emotion that bolsters perceptions of connectedness with others. In 6 studies, we investigated whether nostalgia reduces individuals' general reluctance to reach out to others for help by virtue of its capacity to strengthen social connectedness (i.e., a sense of acceptance and support). In a preliminary study, we measured nostalgia, 6 comparator emotions, and h…
Death thoughts predict increased depression for those with low self-worth
Terror management theory specifies that a sense of self-worth is necessary to prevent the awareness of death from undermining psychological well-being. We tested the theory's claims about well-being within the context of depression, by measuring self-worth, death-thought accessibility, and depression in an online study ( N = 365). Consistent with the theory, death-thought accessibility predicted increased depression, but only among those with low…
Nostalgia restores meaning in life for lonely people
Lonely individuals lack meaning in life. We hypothesized that nostalgia, a bittersweet emotion that entails reflecting sentimentally on the past, helps restore meaning for lonely people. In two studies, we measured trait loneliness, measured state nostalgia (Study 1) or experimentally induced nostalgia (Study 2), and assessed meaning. Results supported the hypothesis: The relation between loneliness and meaning deficits was reduced among nostalgi…
Nostalgia and Spirituality: The Roles of Self-Continuity and Meaning in Life
We investigated the relation between nostalgia and spirituality. We hypothesized that nostalgia is linked to greater spirituality through self-continuity and, in turn, meaning in life. In Study 1, we measured nostalgia and spirituality. Nostalgia predicted greater spirituality. In Study 2, we tested this relation in a nationally representative sample. Nostalgia again predicted greater spirituality, and this relation remained significant after con…
Romantic nostalgia as a resource for healthy relationships
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia-that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one's partner-and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study ( N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and…
Up the moral pedestal: How self-image and self-beliefs fuel social action
We examine how moral outrage can promote perceived capacity for social change through the psychological mechanism of moral self-enhancement. Across four studies (N = 1300), we show that morally outraged individuals often engage in downward moral comparison, enhancing their sense of moral character relative to transgressors. This self-enhancement strengthens participatory efficacy, that is, beliefs in one’s capacity to enact change. In turn, heigh…
Psychology (21 works) · Social Psychology (20 works) · Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior (12 works) · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion (11 works) · Media Influence and Health (10 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Terror management theory (10 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Mortality salience (9 works) · Psychotherapist (9 works)