261.1K
views
30
authors
13
articles
Editors
2
Impact
Loading...
26,997 views
20 citations
14,739 views
32 citations
Brief Research Report
02 September 2020

Research has suggested that nostalgia is a mixed, albeit predominantly positive emotion. One proposed function of nostalgia is to attenuate the negative consequences of loneliness. This restorative effect of nostalgia, however, has been demonstrated with cross sectional and experimental methods that lack ecological validity. In studies that have measured nostalgia in daily life, however, nostalgia has been negatively related to well-being. We propose an alternative theory that posits that the effect of nostalgia on well-being depends on the event or experience that elicits nostalgia. We tested this theory by measuring daily states of nostalgia, loneliness, and affect across five daily diary studies (N = 504; 6,004 daily reports) that lasted for 14 days. Using multilevel modeling, we found that nostalgia and loneliness were negatively related to positive affect and positively related to negative affect. The negative effects of nostalgia on affective well-being were significantly stronger on days when people felt more lonely as opposed to less lonely. Viewed alternatively, the negative effects of loneliness on affective well-being were stronger on days when people felt more vs. less nostalgic. Thus, in contrast to experimental findings, nostalgia did not attenuate, but rather exaggerated the negative effects of loneliness on affective well-being. These findings support a theoretical account that proposes that the effect of nostalgia on well-being depends on the natural context in which nostalgia is elicited.

32,662 views
26 citations
Recommended Research Topics
Frontiers Logo

Frontiers in Psychology

How does facial expression/non-rigid transformation affect face recognition?
Edited by Chang Hong Liu, Wenfeng Chen
61.5K
views
25
authors
7
articles
Frontiers Logo

Frontiers in Psychology

Emotion and Behavior
Edited by Fritz Strack, Paul Pauli, Peter Weyers
237.5K
views
36
authors
12
articles
Frontiers Logo

Frontiers in Psychology

Affective Learning in Digital Education
Edited by Andreas Gegenfurtner, Luke Kutszik Fryer, Sanna Järvelä, Susanne Narciss, Judith Harackiewicz
265.3K
views
13
articles
Frontiers Logo

Frontiers in Psychology

Effective and Attractive Communication Signals in Social, Cultural, and Business Contexts
Edited by Oliver Niebuhr, Francesca D'Errico, Ellen Anke Schmid, Alexander Michael Brem, Anna Esposito
239.2K
views
114
authors
36
articles
Frontiers Logo

Frontiers in Psychology

Emotions and Entrepreneurship
Edited by Katia Richomme-Huet, PhD HDR, VIRGINIE VIAL, Thierry Volery
21.5K
views
20
authors
6
articles