Nostalgia as a psychological resource for people with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence of effectiveness from experimental studies

Mental Time Travel as Self-Affirmation

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

This article integrates and advances the scope of research on the role of mental time travel in bolstering the self. We propose that imagining the self in the future (prospection) or in the past (retrospection) highlights central and positive self-aspects. Thus, bringing to mind one's future or past broadens the perceived bases of self-integrity and offers a route to self-affirmation. In reviewing corresponding research programs on self-prospection and nostalgia, we illustrate that mental time travel serves to affirm the self in terms of self-esteem, coherence, and control. Mental time travel could be implemented as a source of self-affirmation for facilitating coping and behavior change in several domains such as relationships, health, education, and organizational contexts.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

People can mentally travel to their future or to their past. When people imagine what they will be like in the future, or what they were like in the past, they tend to think about themselves in terms of the important and positive attributes that they possess. Thinking about themselves in such an affirming way expands and consolidates their self-views. This broader image of themselves can increase self-esteem (the extent to which one likes who they are), coherence (the extent to which one perceives life as meaningful), and control (the extent to which one feels capable of initiating and pursuing goals or effecting desirable outcomes). Mental time travel, then, has favorable or affirming consequences for one's self-views. These consequences can be harnessed to modify one's behavior in such life domains as relationships, health, education, and work.

The utility of nostalgia for unhealthy populations: A systematic review and narrative analysis

Nostalgic reverie (i.e. sentimental longing) has received increased attention as a predictor of health and well-being, but only a handful of reviews have summarized this literature. The available reviews (Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 19, 2020, 330; Intimations of nostalgia: Multidisciplinary explorations of an enduring emotion, Bristol University Press, 2022) left a critical gap in explicating the function of nostalgia among people engaged in unhealthy behaviour. In the current systematic review and narrative analysis, we sought to answer whether and under what conditions emotion serves to help or hinder people engaged in unhealthy behaviours in terms of taking action to change. We identified 14 studies and categorized them into two themes. In Theme I, nostalgising about a time in one's life when one was healthier motivated both readiness to change and action to change unhealthy behaviour. In Theme II, nostalgizing about the perceived benefits of engaging in unhealthy behaviour (e.g. social connectedness related to drinking) was associated with the continuance or acceleration of the unhealthy behaviour. This review highlights not only the presence of a link between nostalgia and unhealthy behaviour but also that the content of one's nostalgising matters for understanding whether the unhealthy behaviour is undermined or bolstered.

From rosy past to happy and flourishing present: Nostalgia as a resource for hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing

We review recent evidence of nostalgia's ability to enhance and buffer different types of wellbeing. Nostalgia has been associated with increased hedonic wellbeing (e.g., life satisfaction, happiness) in various contexts. Nostalgia is triggered by and can mitigate against threats to hedonic wellbeing. Nostalgia also increases eudaimonic wellbeing (e.g., perceptions of vitality, environmental mastery, positive relationships) and mitigates threats to eudaimonic wellbeing through varying mechanisms. Two applications of these wellbeing benefits are being explored in recent research: nostalgia can help understand how people buffer negative psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; and is being harnessed for wellbeing interventions. More experimental and longitudinal research is needed to establish and maximize the potential of nostalgia for bolstering resilience.

Nostalgia: An impactful social emotion

Nostalgia (a sentimental longing for one's past) is a highly social emotion. We provide an evidence-based argument that nostalgia's sociality is one of its most defining and impactful characteristics. First, we review evidence that has established the highly social content of nostalgic reflection. Second, we summarize research that has demonstrated nostalgia's capacity to provide a sense of connectedness with others, and that this social connectedness, in turn, conveys intrapersonal psychological benefits (i.e., meaning in life, self-continuity, optimism, inspiration). Third, we outline research that has documented the interpersonal consequences of nostalgia (e.g., greater physical closeness, strengthened relational goals, increased help seeking, intensified empathy, elevated prosocial behavior). Finally, we call for applied research to investigate how the social character of nostalgia can be harnessed to improve people's social lives.

The analgesic effect of nostalgia elicited by idiographic and nomothetic approaches on thermal stimulus

Nostalgia is shown to relieve an individual's perception of pain evoked by cold water, pressure, and thermal stimuli. However, there is no direct evidence to show the analgesic effects of different nostalgia-inducing methods on various stimulus intensities. We conducted two studies to examine the analgesic effect, at different pain intensities, after inducing nostalgia either idiographically or nomothetically. Study 1 (N = 118) induced nostalgia through an idiographic approach (i.e., event reflection task) and found that nostalgia relieved both high and low thermal pain. Study 2 (N = 66) induced nostalgia through a nomothetic approach (i.e., viewing nostalgic pictures) and found that nostalgia relieved low but not high thermal pain. The findings verify the analgesic effect of nostalgia on thermal pain and suggest the potential moderating role of the nostalgia induction approach and pain intensity. Practically, these findings have implications for using nostalgia as a nonpharmacological treatment for pain.

The Effect of Nostalgic Contents on Self-Esteem: The Mediating Role of Loneliness

Background

Research has demonstrated that nostalgia can improve self-esteem as a positive psychological resource in Western culture. Moreover, nostalgia is cross-culturally consistent. Therefore, nostalgia triggered by an event reflection task affects self-esteem in Eastern cultures. However, it is unknown whether the collective or personal content of nostalgia affects self-esteem and the role of loneliness in this process.

Purpose

This study examined the cross-cultural consistency of nostalgia’s impact on self-esteem, whether nostalgic content affects self-esteem levels, and what role loneliness plays in this process.

Methods

We conducted two experiments in this study. Experiment 1 used an event reflection task with different instructions to prime the nostalgia and control groups. Participants were asked to complete the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and a revised positive version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale after priming. Experiment 2 used different instructions and pictures to prime the social and personal nostalgia groups. The PANAS, a revised positive version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Russell Loneliness Scale were then administered to the groups.

Results

Experiment 1 showed that in the nostalgic condition, self-esteem was higher than in the control condition. In the nostalgia condition, participants felt more positive than in the control condition. Experiment 2 revealed that self-esteem was higher in the collective nostalgic context than in the personal nostalgic context. Regarding the positive effect, participants felt more positive in the collective nostalgic context than in the personal nostalgic context. Loneliness also had a mediating effect on this process.

Conclusion

Results show that nostalgia affects self-esteem through cross-cultural consistency and social nostalgia can be a resource for positive mental health. Moreover, loneliness plays a significant role in mediating nostalgia’s effect on self-esteem.

Nostalgic conversations: The co-production of an intervention package for people living with dementia and their spouse

Objectives

Nostalgic memories are more social than other forms of autobiographical recall, often refer to atypical events, express more positive affect and reflect life as meaningful. Recalling a nostalgic (compared to ordinary) memory increases self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for people living with dementia. We set two objectives: to work with people living with dementia to develop an intervention based on nostalgia, and to assess whether couples could engage in nostalgic conversations.

Method

Our research fell into three phases. Initially, we consulted with people living with dementia and with carers to identify the parameters for a nostalgic intervention. From this, we drafted a workbook that contained triggers for nostalgic conversations, which we then took back to the public contributors for refinement. Finally, we trialled the workbook over 5 weeks with six couples, each of which included a person living with dementia. We assessed pre- and post-intervention self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for participants with dementia and social connectedness for carers. We then calculated Reliable Change Index scores and established levels of clinically significant change. We also interviewed couples at the end of the intervention to explore its implementation and acceptability.

Results

All six couples could identify nostalgic memories, with five couples successfully integrating the nostalgic conversations into their day-to-day lives. A sixth couple found it difficult to engage fully with the intervention, but still considered it useful. All six couples manifested a reliable change in at least one outcome, with one couple showing reliable change across three outcomes.

Conclusion

The psychological benefits of nostalgia have been robustly demonstrated in laboratory-based studies. This co-production of an intervention that sets nostalgic recall into the context of a conversation has clinical potential but requires further investigation through a larger study.

Does neuroticism disrupt the psychological benefits of nostalgia? a meta-analytic test

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, confers self-oriented, existential, and social benefits. We examined whether nostalgic engagement is less beneficial for individuals who are high in neuroticism (i.e. emotionally unstable and prone to negative affect). Specifically, we tested whether the benefits of experimentally induced nostalgia are moderated by trait-level neuroticism. To address this issue, we conducted a high-powered individual participant data meta-analysis ( N = 3556, k = 19). We found that the benefits of nostalgia were not significantly moderated by neuroticism, as they emerged for both high and low neurotics. This finding upheld when the self-oriented, existential, and social benefits of nostalgia were analysed jointly and when they were analysed separately. Taken together, individuals high and low in neuroticism are equally likely to benefit psychologically from engagement in nostalgic reverie.

Attenuating Pain With the Past: Nostalgia Reduces Physical Pain

Previous work has found that nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is associated with psychological, emotional, and social benefits. Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgic reflection also can improve individuals’ physical health (i.e., exercise) and reduce temperature-related pain. Building on this, two experiments examined how nostalgia can reduce people’s pain perceptions (i.e., reduced severity and increased tolerance). Specifically, Study 1 showed that inducing nostalgia through a writing task decreased perceived pain severity (i.e., intensity) among self-reported chronic pain sufferers. Study 2, in turn, demonstrated that Japanese individuals experienced increased pain tolerance (i.e., the maximum level of pain a person can tolerate) for a pressure algometer task following thoughts of nostalgia (vs. a control prime). This work provides evidence that nostalgic reflection may serve as a psychological resource to reduce the perceived severity of physical pain.