Emergence of collective mental time travel pathways upon remembering consequential elections

Abstract

Collective past and future representations can be thematically linked and vary across sociopolitical identity. Here, we introduce the notion of collective mental time travel pathways: distinct connections that emerge between past and future representational networks upon reflection on a critical public event. We demonstrate that these pathways capture nuanced sociopolitical profiles shaping collective mental time travel. In Study 1 (N = 403), a representative sample remembered the 2023 Turkish Presidential Elections, and equally important past and future events. Participants rated each event's characteristics (Valence, Vividness, Agency, Importance). Using these ratings, we identified four unique representational pathways in which the elections bridged collective past and future. Each collective mental time travel pathway had distinct sociopolitical profiles: Despite losing, vividly remembering the election as very important, characterized by high national agency, and continuing post-election conversations were related to high future individual agency; remembering a positive and agentic past was related to high future political group agency. When participants remembered collective past and future events without reflecting on the election (Study 2, N = 201), event characteristics were separated by importance and agency. These two studies illustrate how collective mental time travel pathways can be activated by reviewing critical and consequential elections.