The presence of the past: identity continuity and group dynamics

On June 8 during the international research conference "Culture in society, between groups and across generations" Maykel Verkuyten, PhD, Professor at the Utrecht University (the Netherlands) made the presentation on "The presence of the past: identity continuity and group dynamics".

As the author suggests, the existence of the national group for long, from the historical viewpoint, time is one of the foundations of people identification with this group. It was found that the sense of continuity of identity occurs mostly in connection with stable group, unchanged for a long period of time. The research results also show that the existence of a threat to the stability of the group provokes a defensive reaction from members of this group. One of these reactions is nostalgia for the "old days" and "glorious past" of the group.