Nostalgia and populism: An empirical psychological perspective

Abstract

For centuries, nostalgia denoted homesickness, but current dictionary definitions indicate that these concepts have parted ways and acquired unique meanings. However, it is one thing to demonstrate that contemporary definitions of nostalgia and homesickness are distinct; it is another to show that the way people think about nostalgia and its characteristics corresponds with this lexicographic knowledge. Erica G. Hepper and colleagues therefore asked lay persons about ten years ago to identify which features they considered most characteristic of the construct ‘nostalgia’ and found that respondents conceptualized nostalgia as a predominantly positive, social, and past-oriented emotion. In nostalgic reverie, one brings to mind a fond and personally meaningful event, often involving one’s childhood. The person tends to see the event through rose-coloured glasses and may even long to return to the past. As a result, he or she feels sentimental, typically happy but with a hint of sadness.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Tim Wildschut: orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-5487

ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

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