Romantic Nostalgia as a Resource for Healthy Relationships
Romantic Nostalgia as a Resource for Healthy Relationships
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia—that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one’s partner—and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study (N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and closeness (Study 1). Additionally, inducing romantic nostalgia via a writing task (Study 2) or music (Study 3) strengthened relational benefits. Finally, participants reported more positive relationship-specific experiences on days when they felt greater romantic nostalgia (Study 4). We discuss contributions to the nostalgia and relationships literatures.
closeness, commitment, relationship satisfaction, romantic nostalgia, romantic relationships
2181-2206
Evans, Nicholas D
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Juhl, Jacob
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Hepper, Erica G
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Wildschut, Tim
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Sedikides, Constantine
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Fetterman, Adam
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June 2022
Evans, Nicholas D
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Juhl, Jacob
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Hepper, Erica G
fe969931-cea2-4781-a474-d41a89b213ae
Wildschut, Tim
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Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Fetterman, Adam
5fb3e757-43f0-4b42-b452-4c1fbf601f2b
Evans, Nicholas D, Juhl, Jacob, Hepper, Erica G, Wildschut, Tim, Sedikides, Constantine and Fetterman, Adam
(2022)
Romantic Nostalgia as a Resource for Healthy Relationships.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39 (7), .
(doi:10.1177/02654075221075773).
Abstract
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia—that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one’s partner—and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study (N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and closeness (Study 1). Additionally, inducing romantic nostalgia via a writing task (Study 2) or music (Study 3) strengthened relational benefits. Finally, participants reported more positive relationship-specific experiences on days when they felt greater romantic nostalgia (Study 4). We discuss contributions to the nostalgia and relationships literatures.
Text
RomNost_Manu_Revised_FINAL
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 January 2022
Published date: June 2022
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© The Author(s) 2022.
Keywords:
closeness, commitment, relationship satisfaction, romantic nostalgia, romantic relationships
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 454349
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454349
ISSN: 0265-4075
PURE UUID: 676a2cf4-fa42-44bf-914c-9381903bfd3d
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Date deposited: 07 Feb 2022 17:55
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:53
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Author:
Nicholas D Evans
Author:
Adam Fetterman
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