Nostalgia and Self-Enhancement

The Psychological Function of Nostalgia: Increasing Intrinsic Self-Expression and Decreasing Extrinsic Self-Definition

Previous findings have shown the many functions of nostalgia, for example, increasing mental health, and the current research aimed to explain those findings by testing the theoretical explanation that the benefits of nostalgia come from the fact that nostalgia reminds us of our intrinsic self. Aiming to investigate the effect of nostalgia on authenticity (intrinsic self-expression) and extrins...

The relationship between congruent dimensions of the self and nostalgia

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of agentic and communal traitnarrative congruence on nostalgia and to replicate previous research showing that self-esteem and positive affect are mediators of the relationship between nostalgia and optimism (Cheung et al., 2013). In Study 1, participants completed ratings of agentic and communal traits and were asked to write about a ...

Nostalgia and Approach / Avoidance

In light of its role in maintaining psychological equanimity, we proposed that nostalgia—a self-relevant, social, and predominantly positive emotion—regulates avoidance and approach motivation. We advanced a model in which (a) avoidance motivation triggers nostalgia and (b) nostalgia, in turn, increases approach motivation. As a result, nostalgia counteracts the negative impact of avoidance mot...

Freudian Nostalgia

Parent symbolism make it easy to guess at their hidden leaning. What else could be the meaning of the fear of burglars, snakes, wild animals, and thunderstorms , if not the feminine fear of overwhelming forces that can vanquish, penetrate and destroy?' What else indeed??if, that is, you think along Freudian lines. If, however, you don't, it is readily apparent that burglars, snakes, wild animal...

Ecomusicology between Apocalypse and Nostalgia