Nostalgia across cultures

Abstract

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one's past, has been garnering keen empirical attention in the psychological literature over the last two decades. After providing a historical overview, we place the emotion in cross-cultural context. Laypeople in many cultures conceptualize nostalgia similarly: as a past-oriented, social, self-relevant, and bittersweet emotion, but more sweet (positively toned) than bitter (negatively toned). That is, the nostalgizer reflects on a fond and personally important event—often their childhood or valued relationships—relives the event through rose-colored glasses, yearns for that time or relationship, and may even wish to return briefly to the past. Also, triggers of nostalgia (e.g., adverts, food, cold temperatures, loneliness) are similar across cultures. Moreover, across cultures nostalgia serves three key functions: it elevates social connectedness (a sense of belongingness or acceptance), meaning in life (a sense that one's life is significant, purposeful, and coherent), and self-continuity (a sense of connection between one's past and present self). Further, nostalgia acts as a buffer against discomforting psychological states (e.g., loneliness) similarly in varied cultural contexts. For example, (1) loneliness is positively related to, or intensifies, nostalgia; (2) loneliness is related to, or intensifies, adverse outcomes such as unhappiness or perceived lack of social support; and (3) nostalgia suppresses the relation between loneliness and adverse outcomes. Additionally, nostalgia facilitates one's acculturation to a host culture. Specifically, (1) nostalgia (vs. control) elicits a positive acculturation orientation toward a host culture; (2) nostalgia (vs. control) amplifies bicultural identity integration; and (3) positive acculturation orientation mediates the effect of host-culture nostalgia on bicultural identity integration. We conclude by identifying lacunae in the literature and calling for follow-up research.

A meta‐analysis on the psychological and behavioral consequences of nostalgia: The moderating roles of nostalgia activators, culture, and individual characteristics

“…Lastly, we investigated the impact of cultural orientation on the direct or main effects of nostalgia. As noted in a recently published article, culture warrants further exploration in the context of nostalgia (Sedikides & Wildschut, 2022). Our meta-analysis encompassed a diverse sample of countries, allowing for simultaneous investigation of nostalgia relationship with consumer behavioral intentions in short-term (e.g., Australia, United Kingdom, and United…”

Pandemic Nostalgia: Reduced Social Contact Predicts Consumption of Nostalgic Music During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Spotify users are generally younger than the whole population, and the participants in Study 2 were undergraduate students in New York state. As nostalgia may have different meanings and psychological functions across the lifespan ( J. R. Turner & Stanley, 2021 ) and cultures ( Hepper et al, 2014 ; Sedikides & Wildschut, 2022 ), future studies should replicate the effects in different populations such as older adults or individuals from non-Western cultures. Finally, the study focused only on the consumption of music while there are many other products and activities that can trigger nostalgia such as movies, sports, games, and food.…”

Preliminary evidence that relationship nostalgia might offset romantic conflict to aid relationship commitment.

“…As mentioned, not only does nostalgia increase positivity in general, but on a personal level, it works to ameliorate personal stressors or threats (e.g., self-discontinuity, loneliness, negative affect; Sedikides & Wildschut, 2022). In parallel, nostalgia on a relationship level might function to help people manage relationship stressors.…”