Nostalgia in virtual reality
Nostalgia in virtual reality
Nostalgia confers numerous psychological benefits (i.e., social connectedness, meaning in life, self-continuity, self-esteem, optimism, inspiration). The emotion is most commonly induced via the Event Reflection Task, a guided imagery technique that involves a writing assignment. Can Virtual Reality induce nostalgia as effectively as the Event Reflection Task? In three experiments (N = 691), we implemented a Virtual Reality nostalgia induction and compared its impact on psychological benefits to that of the Event Reflection Task. Specifically, participants either visited a nostalgic (vs. control) location in virtual reality or wrote about a nostalgic (vs. control) event from their lives, and then completed measures of benefits. The results indicated that Virtual Reality is an effective nostalgia induction technique on par with the Event Reflection Task. We discuss methodological and applied implications of the findings.
Fetterman, A.K.
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Evans, Nicholas D
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Reyes, Joseph
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Henderson, Perla
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Wildschut, Tim
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Sedikides, Constantine
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Fetterman, A.K.
5382fa92-6de5-4118-83d4-25a5e57a3f78
Evans, Nicholas D
3c532ae9-4e1c-4e13-adc5-c2f84919bef3
Reyes, Joseph
b88de423-47a8-4bef-ba08-65b0335d939a
Henderson, Perla
bf178040-d9ef-4c84-a9c6-d9c0c900f8ac
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Fetterman, A.K., Evans, Nicholas D, Reyes, Joseph, Henderson, Perla, Wildschut, Tim and Sedikides, Constantine
(2026)
Nostalgia in virtual reality.
Current Psychology.
(doi:10.1007/s12144-026-09247-7).
Abstract
Nostalgia confers numerous psychological benefits (i.e., social connectedness, meaning in life, self-continuity, self-esteem, optimism, inspiration). The emotion is most commonly induced via the Event Reflection Task, a guided imagery technique that involves a writing assignment. Can Virtual Reality induce nostalgia as effectively as the Event Reflection Task? In three experiments (N = 691), we implemented a Virtual Reality nostalgia induction and compared its impact on psychological benefits to that of the Event Reflection Task. Specifically, participants either visited a nostalgic (vs. control) location in virtual reality or wrote about a nostalgic (vs. control) event from their lives, and then completed measures of benefits. The results indicated that Virtual Reality is an effective nostalgia induction technique on par with the Event Reflection Task. We discuss methodological and applied implications of the findings.
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Fetterman et al. (in press) VR
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Fetterman et al., 2016, Current Psychology
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Accepted/In Press date: 25 February 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 March 2026
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 510451
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/510451
ISSN: 1046-1310
PURE UUID: 1fef5d30-390c-4d63-beb8-99f62a2898ac
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Date deposited: 31 Mar 2026 17:05
Last modified: 01 Apr 2026 01:38
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Author:
A.K. Fetterman
Author:
Nicholas D Evans
Author:
Joseph Reyes
Author:
Perla Henderson
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