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The restorative power of nostalgia: thwarting loneliness by raising happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic

The restorative power of nostalgia: thwarting loneliness by raising happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic
The restorative power of nostalgia: thwarting loneliness by raising happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic
Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk for loneliness. We tested whether nostalgia counteracts loneliness via rises in happiness. We conducted surveys in China (N=1,546), the U.S. (N=1,572), and the U.K. (N=603). Although feeling lonely was associated with unhappiness, it was also associated with nostalgia, which in turn conduced to increased happiness. We complemented these findings with three experiments testing MTurk workers (Study 4, N=209; Study 5, N=196; preregistered Study 6, N=190), where we manipulated nostalgia and assessed happiness. Nostalgia increased happiness immediately after the manipulation (Studies 4-6) and, following an induction booster, up to two days later (Studies 4-5). Nostalgia is a psychological resource that can be harnessed to raise happiness and help combat loneliness.
COVID-19, loneliness, nostalgia, happiness
1948-5506
Zhou, Xinyue
788bb179-e660-40c9-979c-e21a87b6f56c
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Mo, T
62527dd0-9a94-4795-a93f-51aa7aea3afb
Li, W
e0269b89-4adc-4e73-9234-1f027b7793fa
Hong, Emily
e0ed698b-b0e9-4bfc-803b-ffbbe657d580
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Zhou, Xinyue
788bb179-e660-40c9-979c-e21a87b6f56c
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Mo, T
62527dd0-9a94-4795-a93f-51aa7aea3afb
Li, W
e0269b89-4adc-4e73-9234-1f027b7793fa
Hong, Emily
e0ed698b-b0e9-4bfc-803b-ffbbe657d580
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81

Zhou, Xinyue, Sedikides, Constantine, Mo, T, Li, W, Hong, Emily and Wildschut, Tim (2021) The restorative power of nostalgia: thwarting loneliness by raising happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychological and Personality Science. (doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/U5RJB). (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk for loneliness. We tested whether nostalgia counteracts loneliness via rises in happiness. We conducted surveys in China (N=1,546), the U.S. (N=1,572), and the U.K. (N=603). Although feeling lonely was associated with unhappiness, it was also associated with nostalgia, which in turn conduced to increased happiness. We complemented these findings with three experiments testing MTurk workers (Study 4, N=209; Study 5, N=196; preregistered Study 6, N=190), where we manipulated nostalgia and assessed happiness. Nostalgia increased happiness immediately after the manipulation (Studies 4-6) and, following an induction booster, up to two days later (Studies 4-5). Nostalgia is a psychological resource that can be harnessed to raise happiness and help combat loneliness.

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Zhou et al., 2021, SPPS
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 24 August 2021
Keywords: COVID-19, loneliness, nostalgia, happiness

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 451517
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451517
ISSN: 1948-5506
PURE UUID: 73d5d654-19be-4c34-97c1-f24500c7acbd
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: 05 Oct 2021 16:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:53

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Contributors

Author: Xinyue Zhou
Author: T Mo
Author: W Li
Author: Emily Hong
Author: Tim Wildschut ORCID iD

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