The relationship between congruent dimensions of the self and nostalgia

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of agentic and communal traitnarrative congruence on nostalgia and to replicate previous research showing that self-esteem and positive affect are mediators of the relationship between nostalgia and optimism (Cheung et al., 2013). In Study 1, participants completed ratings of agentic and communal traits and were asked to write about a positive previous life event and complete measures assessing nostalgia, self-esteem, optimism, and positive affect. It was predicted that the degree to which individuals rated themselves on agentic traits would influence nostalgia after writing an achievementfocused narrative. It was also predicted that the degree to which individuals rated themselves on communal traits would influence nostalgia after writing a relationship-focused narrative. The hypothesis was not supported; writing a relationship-focused narrative was significantly related to greater nostalgia regardless of trait ratings. In Study 2, all predictions and measures remained the same, however, narrative focus was manipulated. Participants were randomly assigned to write about a previous life event focused on an achievement or focused on a relationship. The hypothesis was partially supported; communal trait-narrative congruence was a significant predictor of nostalgia, however agentic trait-narrative congruence was not. Both Study 1 and Study 2 found that self-esteem and positive affect mediated the relationship between nostalgia