Nostalgia fosters self-continuity: Uncovering the mechanism (social connectedness) and consequence (eudaimonic well-being).
Level 2 - randomized trial
Series of six individual experimental studies
PubMed 26751632 · doi:10.1037/emo0000136
What was done
Across six experimental studies, researchers investigated the mechanisms linking nostalgia (longing for one's past) to self-continuity (connection between one's past and present) and eudaimonic well-being. Experiments 1 through 4 evaluated whether nostalgia increases self-continuity via enhanced social connectedness (feelings of belonging and acceptance). Experiments 5 and 6 examined whether nostalgia-induced self-continuity confers eudaimonic well-being, measured as subjective vitality.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, confidence intervals, or effect sizes. It reports qualitatively that nostalgia fosters self-continuity through augmented social connectedness (Experiments 1–4) and that this self-continuity subsequently enhances eudaimonic well-being in the form of subjective vitality (Experiments 5–6).
Why it matters
This paper delineates an experimental mechanism showing that nostalgia supports psychological adjustment by reinforcing social connectedness and self-continuity, ultimately promoting vitality.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample sizes, participant demographics, baseline comparator details, or statistical effect sizes. Long-term psychological outcomes beyond immediate post-induction effects were not measured.