When bittersweet turns sour: Adverse effects of nostalgia on habitual worriers

Nostalgic memories can be pleasant, albeit bittersweet, and have been found beneficial for well-being. This study demonstrated that for individuals who habitually worry, nostalgia may not be such a nourishing experience. Nostalgia was experimentally induced using a visual imagery task and resulted in positive affect. Although this was also the case for participants who habitually worry, these individuals subsequently showed more signs of anxiety and depression than habitual worriers in a control condition. The findings fit within a control theoretical perspective; as habitual worriers’ actual chronic state of anxiety contrasts with nostalgic memories of a carefree past, this may instigate further rumination leading to distress. A more present-oriented time perspective, such as mindfulness, is discussed as being beneficial for habitual worriers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Mental traveling to the past may elicit nostalgic memories and feelings. Nostalgia has been defined as “a sentimental longing for the past” (e.g., Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006) and may involve positively charged memories of places, things, music, people, or animals (e.g., Batcho, 1995). Nostalgia has been found associated with a large array of positive psychological consequences (e.g., Sedikides, Wildschut, Arndt, & Routledge, 2008). For instance, nostalgia may increase positive self-regard (Wildschut et al., 2006), enhance feelings of social connectedness (Wildschut et al., 2006; Wildschut, Sedikides, Routledge, Arndt, & Cordaro, 2010; Zhou, Sedikides, Wildschut, & Gao, 2008), buffer existential threat (Juhl, Routledge, Arndt, Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2010; Routledge, Arndt, Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2008), and provide existential meaning (Routledge et al., 2011). The nostalgic experience itself may consist of a mix of positive and negative emotions (e.g., Barrett, Grimm, Robins, Wildschut, Sedikides, & Janata, 2010; Batcho, 2007). Nostalgia, thus, implies a bittersweet affective undertone, which reflects the absence or loss of the oncecherished nostalgic object. Indeed, nostalgia has long been associated with homesickness and melancholia (e.g., McCann, 1941; Nawas & Platt, 1965; Rosen, 1975; Sedikides, Wildschut, & Baden, 2004), which made nostalgia featured in novels and poetry, in particular of the 19th century (e.g., Austin, 2002). Iyer and Jetten (2011) demonstrated that nostalgia may have positive or negative consequences, depending on the degree to which an individual experiences a continuity of identity between now and the nostalgic past. The present study investigated another condition under which nostalgia may have adverse consequences, namely habitual worrying. *Correspondence to: Bas Verplanken, Department of Psychology, University of B E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. HABITUAL WORRYING AND NOSTALGIA Worrying is an attempt to engage in mental problem solving of unresolved or uncertain issues or challenges. The object of worry may reside in the past or in the present but very often concerns the future (e.g., Borkovec, Robinson, Pruzinsky, & DePree, 1983). Although worrying is in essence an adaptive response, some people worry repetitively and persistently (Watkins, 2008). For these individuals, worrying can be considered as a mental habit, that is, thoughts that occur repetitively and automatically (Verplanken, Friborg, Wang, Trafimow, & Woolf, 2007; Verplanken & Tangelder, 2011; Verplanken & Velsvik, 2008; Watkins, 2008). Similarly to other forms of repetitive thinking, habitual worrying may be approached from a control theoretical perspective (e.g., Carver & Scheier, 1990). Following this view, ruminative thinking is instigated when a discrepancy is perceived between the current state and a salient reference value (e.g., Martin & Tesser, 1996; Watkins, 2008). For a person who has developed a habit to worry, the current state is likely to be dominated by worry and anxiety. By bringing to mind a carefree and pleasant episode in the past, nostalgia may function as a salient reference value. This may thus contrast with the habitual worrier’s actual chronically anxious state and instigate further rumination. As long as this rumination does not solve the discrepancy between the actual and desired state (which is unlikely), and the individual is not able to disengage from it (which must be particularly difficult for habitual worriers), unconstructive psychological consequences such as feelings of distress or depression may follow (e.g., Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991; Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1987; Roese et al., 2009; Watkins, 2008; Wells & Matthews, ath, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom. Received 12 May 2011, Accepted 10 January 2012