We formulated, tested, and supported, in 6 studies, a theoretical model according to which individuals use nostalgia as a way to reinject meaningfulness in their lives when they experience boredom. Studies 1-3 established that induced boredom causes increases in nostalgia when participants have the opportunity to revert to their past. Studies 4 and 5 examined search for meaning as a mediator of...

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 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 b...

• We examined the effect of nostalgia on creativity. • Four experiments show that nostalgia increased creativity. • The effect of nostalgia emerged above and beyond general positive affect. • The effect of nostalgia on creativity was mediated by openness to experience. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o We proposed and tested the hypothesis that nostalgia fosters creativity. In Experiments 1...

People sometimes experience an emotional state known as 'nostalgia', which involves experiencing predominantly positive emotions while remembering autobiographical events. Nostalgia is thought to play an important role in psychological resilience. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown involvement of memory and reward systems in such experiences. However, it remains unclear how these two syst...

This research established collective nostalgia as a group-level emotion and ascertained the benefits it confers on the group. In Study 1, participants who reflected on a nostalgic event they had experienced together with ingroup members (collective nostalgia) evaluated the ingroup more positively and reported stronger intentions to approach (and not avoid) ingroup members than those who recalle...

Nostalgia, reflecting on the past, has many aspects. At times, we refer to it as a state of mind as in, I’m nostalgic. At times, as a feeling – I’m feeling nostalgic. We sometimes use nostalgia as a way to deal with “in the present” emotions or feelings. For instance, we reminisce about past holidays to feel better about the present [1]. Nostalgia can be internally or externally activated. Inte...

According to terror management theory, people turn to meaning-providing structures to cope with the knowledge of inevitable mortality. Recent theory and research suggest that nostalgia is a meaning-providing resource and thus may serve such an existential function. The current research tests and supports this idea. In Experiments 1 and 2, nostalgia proneness was measured and mortality salience ...

According to terror management theory, people turn to meaning-providing structures to cope with the knowledge of inevitable mortality. Recent theory and research suggest that nostalgia serves such an existential function by supplying a reservoir of meaningful life experiences which can be used as a defense against death concerns. The current research tests and supports this idea. In Experiments...

In light of its role in maintaining psychological equanimity, we proposed that nostalgia--a self-relevant, social, and predominantly positive emotion--regulates avoidance and approach motivation. We advanced a model in which (a) avoidance motivation triggers nostalgia and (b) nostalgia, in turn, increases approach motivation. As a result, nostalgia counteracts the negative impact of avoidance m...