Nostalgia: Content,
Triggers, Functions
Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt & Routledge · 2006
Tim WildschutPortrait / source ↗
Constantine SedikidesPortrait / source ↗
Jamie ArndtPortrait / source ↗
Clay RoutledgePortrait / source ↗Across seven studies, Wildschut and colleagues examined what people remember nostalgically, what prompts nostalgia, and what it can do psychologically.
Content. Nostalgic accounts often centre on the self together with close others and significant events. They contain more positive than negative emotion; difficult beginnings can develop into positive, redemptive endings.
Triggers. Negative mood and loneliness can prompt nostalgia. Remembering meaningful experiences is therefore connected to present emotional needs, rather than simply an interest in the past.
Functions. Experimental findings showed that nostalgia can strengthen social connectedness, positive self-regard and positive affect.
Design interpretation. Home can be represented through remembered relationships, familiar sounds and shared experiences—not only geographical coordinates. This is a creative application of the research, not a tested claim about this game.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 975–993.
DOI / publication ↗ · Read the full paper ↗














