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Nostalgia: past, present, and future

Nostalgia: past, present, and future
Nostalgia: past, present, and future
Traditionally, nostalgia has been conceptualized as a medical disease and a psychiatric disorder. Instead, we argue that nostalgia is a predominantly positive, self-relevant, and social emotion serving key psychological functions. Nostalgic narratives reflect more positive than negative affect, feature the self as the protagonist, and are embedded in a social context. Nostalgia is triggered by dysphoric states such as negative mood and loneliness. Finally, nostalgia generates positive affect, increases self-esteem, fosters social connectedness, and alleviates existential threat.
nostalgia, positive affect, self-esteem, social connectedness, existential meaning
0963-7214
304-307
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Arndt, Jamie
9f74041c-58f9-43b5-96f1-19dda49b7d87
Routledge, Clay
c1e0088a-3cc4-4d54-bbd3-de7d286429d8
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Arndt, Jamie
9f74041c-58f9-43b5-96f1-19dda49b7d87
Routledge, Clay
c1e0088a-3cc4-4d54-bbd3-de7d286429d8

Sedikides, Constantine, Wildschut, Tim, Arndt, Jamie and Routledge, Clay (2008) Nostalgia: past, present, and future. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17 (5), 304-307. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00595.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Traditionally, nostalgia has been conceptualized as a medical disease and a psychiatric disorder. Instead, we argue that nostalgia is a predominantly positive, self-relevant, and social emotion serving key psychological functions. Nostalgic narratives reflect more positive than negative affect, feature the self as the protagonist, and are embedded in a social context. Nostalgia is triggered by dysphoric states such as negative mood and loneliness. Finally, nostalgia generates positive affect, increases self-esteem, fosters social connectedness, and alleviates existential threat.

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Sedikides_Wildschut_Arndt__Routeldge_2008.doc - Author's Original
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Published date: October 2008
Keywords: nostalgia, positive affect, self-esteem, social connectedness, existential meaning

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 66285
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/66285
ISSN: 0963-7214
PURE UUID: c092b9f0-7fb5-4054-8ff2-d2f247be28f6
ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X
ORCID for Tim Wildschut: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-5487

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 May 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:45

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Contributors

Author: Tim Wildschut ORCID iD
Author: Jamie Arndt
Author: Clay Routledge

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