Trait nostalgia: four scales and a recommendation

Wildschut, Tim, Sedikides, Constantine and Kelley, Nicholas (2023) Trait nostalgia: four scales and a recommendation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 52, [101608]. (doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101608).

Record type: Review

Abstract

We review four established scales for measuring individual differences in trait-level nostalgia: the Nostalgia Inventory, the Southampton Nostalgia Scale, the Nostalgia Prototype Scale, and the Personal Inventory of Nostalgic Experiences. To examine their convergent validity, we re-analyzed data from a published study in which all four scales were administered simultaneously. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a one-factor model accurately described the interrelations among the four scales, and supported full metric and partial scalar invariance across U.S. and Chinese samples. When measuring trait nostalgia, we recommend that researchers also consider potential confounders. Specifically, we discuss the importance of controlling for other ways in which individuals habitually reflect on their past, including brooding rumination and upward self-referent counterfactual thinking.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 29 May 2023

Published date: August 2023

Additional Information: Funding Information: No funding source was involved in this research or preparation of the article. The authors would like to thank Yiu-Fai Yung for his feedback on an earlier version of this article, and Jianning Dang, William E. Davis, and Li Liu for sharing the data that formed the basis for this article. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

Keywords: Confounders, Convergent validity, Measurement, Nostalgia, Statistical control

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