Psychological and Social Effects of Nostalgia

Tamerlan Tserenov

The City College of New York

English 21003: Writing for Sciences

Professor Brittany Zayas

May 5, 2025

 

Introduction

Nostalgia is a phenomenon that implies a special kind of emotional memory in situations of sudden life changes. The word “nostalgia” comes from the Greek words nostein (returning “home”) and algia (painful condition). The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) defines the emotion of nostalgia as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past” (p. 1266). Nostalgia allows an individual to maintain the illusion of continuity, which often manifests itself in severe psychosomatic conditions. This phenomenon implies a special kind of emotional memory in situations of sudden life changes such as moving to a new place, experiencing a loss, or adapting to new cultural environments.

The study of nostalgia reveals its possible functions in therapy, particularly in the treatment of anxiety and depression. However, it is equally true that nostalgia could be harmful to individuals and societal structures, promoting passivity towards change while glorifying the past to such an extent that makes it challenging to implement innovations which are, at times, inevitable for the proper functioning of society. 

This paper will first examine the historical and etymological evolution of the concept of nostalgia, starting with its perception as a medical condition and ending with its recognition as a widely studied psychological phenomenon (Abramov, 2012). After that, based on Chapter 9 of the Wiley Handbook of Positive Clinical Psychology, “Bittersweet Emotion and Its Health Benefits,” the work will delve into nostalgia’s emotional and cognitive mechanisms. The paper will also highlight the positive effects of nostalgia, such as depression alleviation (Hussain et al., 2022), stress relief, improved well-being (Wood et al., 2016), and its role as a psychological resource for people with dementia, helping to strengthen a sense of identity, social connectedness, and emotional continuity (Umar Ismail et al., 2018). At the same time, the paper will examine the negative aspects of nostalgia, including avoidance of reality and resistance to change (Lammers et al., 2025). Moreover, some modern implications of nostalgia in the context of media, marketing, and psychological health will be discussed, acknowledging its growing influence in society. Therefore, the work will explore the multifaceted nature of nostalgia, understanding it as a psychological phenomenon that can promote stability and resilience, but also create internal tension and reinforce outdated norms. Applying this understanding brings the possibility of more thoughtfully incorporating nostalgia into clinical settings, therapeutic practices, and broader sociocultural assessments.

 

Historical Background of Nostalgia

The concept of nostalgia goes back to the 17th century, when in 1688 the Swiss physician Hofer first used the term “nostalgia” to describe a potentially fatal form of homesickness common among Swiss mercenary soldiers serving far from their homeland. In 1732, the German-Swiss physician Scheucher explained the causes of nostalgia symptoms by sudden changes in atmospheric pressure, causing blood to flow from the heart to the brain and accompanied by mood swings. During the 17th and 18th centuries, cases of nostalgia were diagnosed among the personnel of almost all the armies of European countries. These cases were considered as an important indicator of the moral and psychological spirit of soldiers and officers. Nostalgia is used in both senses: as a personal loss of an idealized past and a craving for it, and as an intellectual and emotional construct that distorts the public version of a certain historical period or a certain social formation of the past. Nostalgia is closely related to the concepts of social, collective, or cultural memory, which explain how memories are produced, modified, assimilated, and legitimized within a particular socio-cultural community. In modern studies, nostalgia is presented not only as a personal experience, but also as a socio-cultural phenomenon, closely connected with the processes of collective thinking and the construction of historical experience. In his work, Abramov writes: “Nostalgia is closely connected with the concepts of social, collective or cultural memory, explaining how thoughts are produced, changed, assimilated and legitimized within the framework of a socio-cultural community.” Thus, nostalgia is represented not only as an individual process, but as a social mechanism associated with various factors. (Abramov, 2012). 

Thus, the term nostalgia has changed over time and has come down to the present as longing for the past. Over time, it became known that nostalgia can be a problem for both an individual and a whole group of people connected by memories of the past. Despite the fact that nostalgia was initially viewed as a disease that causes apathy and depression, nostalgia is now seen as a way to deal with such conditions.

 

What happens in the brain when we experience nostalgia?

In recent years, scientists have begun to actively explore how the brain works during the experience of nostalgia. According to a review by Yang et al. (2022), nostalgia is associated with the activation of several brain regions that are responsible for self-reflection, memories of the past, emotion regulation, and a sense of pleasure. In their model, the main areas are the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), hippocampus (HPC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as well as parts of the reward system — the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and striatum.

Research shows that during nostalgia, areas of the brain are activated that help a person make sense of themselves, remember important moments from life, and feel emotionally supported. For example, the hippocampus helps make memories more vivid and emotional, and the activation of reward areas explains why experiencing the past is perceived as something pleasant. At the same time, nostalgia not only lifts the mood, but also strengthens the sense of one’s own integrity and helps to cope better with difficulties.

Thus, nostalgia is not just warm memories, but an important process that helps maintain psychological health. Yang et al. (2022) believe that understanding exactly how the brain reacts to nostalgia may help create special programs in the future to improve mood and combat depression, especially in people who are faced with stress or age-related changes.

 

The Impact of Nostalgic Emotional Appeal in Public Service Announcements on Depression Help-Seeking Behavior

A study conducted by Hussein and Alhabash (2022) examined the effect of a nostalgic emotional appeal in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video on motivation to seek help for depression. The main variable of the study was nostalgic emotional attractiveness, which included two levels: presence and absence. Participants were randomly assigned to view either a nostalgic PSA or a control PSA. The nostalgic PSA used images and memories from childhood, moving on to themes of sadness due to academic stress and ending with a call to seek help. The control survey was dedicated to a recent tragic event and also ended with an appeal for help. The participants, recruited from a student research group, completed a depression assessment questionnaire and were randomly assigned to one of two groups. They then reviewed the relevant questionnaire and filled out questionnaires assessing emotions, attitudes towards counseling centers, and intentions to seek help. The study also took into account factors such as stigma, previous counseling experience, and depression levels.

After analyzing the data with ANCOVA, it was found that nostalgic exposure effectively triggers positive emotional reactions and increases the desire to seek help. The authors’ conclusions were: “The present study shows a positive effect of nostalgia-themed PSAs in improving intention to seek help, even after controlling for stigma. In other words, positive emotions evoked from a nostalgia-themed PSA appeared as a predictor of help seeking, which is a significant step toward recovering from depression” p. 490.  This approach helps to explore how nostalgic elements can influence depression and human behavior, which is important for developing more effective methods of preventing and treating depression in the future.

 

The Psychological Benefits of Nostalgia

Nostalgia serves as a psychological resource that improves well-being and strengthens a sense of identity (Wood et al., 2016). Nostalgia allows people to reconnect with meaningful past experiences, strengthening their sense of self and personal values. Research shows that nostalgic reflections can boost mood, boost self-esteem, and foster social bonding (Wood & Johnson, 2016). The quote from the book states: “In addition, nostalgia raises optimism. Nostalgic narratives (resulting from the ERT) contain more references to optimism than control narratives (Cheung et al., 2013, as cited in Wood et al., 2016). Scent-induced nostalgia also increases optimism (e.g., feeling “optimistic about my future”) (Reid et al., 2014, as cited in Wood et al., 2016). Moreover, nostalgic participants report being more optimistic (e.g., “feeling like the sky is the limit”) than their control counterparts (Cheung et al., 2013, as cited in Wood et al., 2016, p. 129). Importantly, self-esteem mediates the effect of nostalgia on optimism: nostalgia raises optimism by boosting self-esteem (Cheung et al., 2013, as cited in Wood et al., 2016, p. 129).

By remembering positive memories, people receive psychological protection from stress and negative emotions, which makes nostalgia a valuable means of emotional regulation. Another quote from the book states: “Nostalgic memories pertain to momentous events or significant persons from one’s past” (Wildschut et al., 2006; Abeyta et al., 2014, as cited in Wood et al., 2016). Such memories may serve to reassure individuals of life’s meaningfulness (Lambert et al., 2010, as cited in Wood et al., 2016). In addition, nostalgia is associated with increased optimism about the future, as positive experiences from the past remind people of their resilience and ability to rejoice (Wood et al., 2016). These benefits for well-being confirm that nostalgia is not merely a form of escapism, but an acceptable mechanism to support psychological and personal growth.

 

Nostalgia as a psychological resource for people with dementia

Research shows that nostalgic memories can serve as an important psychological resource for people facing dementia. A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies have revealed that nostalgia has a positive effect on a wide range of psychological resources, including social connectedness, self-esteem, meaningfulness of life, optimism, and a sense of self-continuity (Umar Ismail et al., 2018). In particular, an analysis of 47 experiments demonstrated that nostalgic reminiscence contributes to a moderate increase in positive affect (effect 0.51) and optimism (0.38), and also has a strong effect on the meaningfulness of life (0.77) and a sense of personal continuity (0.81) (Umar Ismail et al., 2018). These effects are especially important in the context of dementia, as the disease is often accompanied by impaired self-esteem, social isolation, and decreased faith in the future.

Nostalgia helps a person to restore lost connections with others, strengthening the sense of belonging and continuity of personal experience, which reduces existential anxiety and maintains the stability of the “I” (Umar Ismail et al., 2018). It is especially valuable that nostalgia affects key aspects of psychological health without increasing the level of negative emotions, since there were no differences in negative affect between nostalgic and non-nostalgic memories (Umar Ismail et al., 2018). This highlights that nostalgia is not just a “pleasant memory”, but a powerful emotional resource that can mitigate the psychological losses caused by dementia.

Thus, the results of the meta-analysis confirm that nostalgic reminiscence can be effectively integrated into therapeutic programs for people with dementia. Adapting life review techniques and stimulating positive memories based on nostalgia may be a promising direction for improving the quality of life of such patients and supporting their mental well-being (Umar Ismail et al., 2018).

 

How Idealizing the Past Impedes Social Progress

Lammers et al. (2025) explore nostalgia and social progress. Although nostalgia has a positive effect on individual well-being, the authors argue that it has detrimental effects on collective progress. Their results show that nostalgia causes people to embellish the past, completely ignoring or ignoring the bad aspects of the past; it is this embellishment that makes people so disgusted with social reforms and change, because they believe that the past was a golden age that should be preserved. The problem arose because nostalgia evokes strong positive emotions about past experiences, thereby creating an illusion about the perceived past; even its negative aspects are perceived through a nostalgic prism and rationalized as good, causing people to further resist modern values and progress.

The authors support their arguments with evidence from six separate studies, each of which highlights how nostalgia meaningfully shapes social and political attitudes. Their findings suggest that nostalgic feelings are not merely sentimental but can actively influence people’s judgments and behaviors in ways that may resist social progress. For instance, nostalgia was found to increase opposition to public-smoking bans, even among individuals who were non-smokers or former smokers — groups typically more aware of the harmful consequences of second-hand smoke. This indicates that nostalgia can create a preference for past social norms, even when those norms contradict individuals’ current health knowledge and best interests.

Similarly, the studies revealed that nostalgia reduced the perceived importance of car safety, even among individuals who had previously been victims of traffic accidents. Despite firsthand experience with the dangers of unsafe vehicles, participants were more likely to idealize older, less secure car models, demonstrating how nostalgia can override rational risk assessments in favor of emotional attachments to the past.

Beyond health and safety attitudes, nostalgia also appeared to reinforce traditional gender roles. Participants experiencing nostalgia were more inclined to endorse conventional expectations regarding the behavior and societal roles of men and women. This tendency highlights the potential of nostalgia to subtly undermine contemporary efforts toward gender equality by idealizing and perpetuating outdated social structures.

Furthermore, nostalgic feelings were associated with a greater acceptance of politically incorrect humor. Individuals were more likely to perceive such humor as acceptable or less offensive when in a nostalgic state of mind, reflecting nostalgia’s broader link to conservative social attitudes and a desire to maintain or return to prior cultural norms. Together, these findings illustrate that while nostalgia can provide emotional comfort and a sense of continuity, it may also contribute to resistance against social change and critical evaluation of past practices. “Furthermore, our findings point to an irrationality that was not made explicit in existing work: we found that the effects even extend to people who should understand the undesirability of a return to the past the most.” (Lammers et al., 2025, p. 14). This indicates that nostalgia is not realized at the level of rational understanding, but through idealized sensations and emotional attraction. Thanks to these findings, Lammers et al. (2025) have shown how nostalgia, which is often considered a harmless or even soothing emotion, can reinforce outdated and regressive social norms.

 

Conclusion

Nostalgia is a complex psychological phenomenon that affects a person at different levels of life, such as personal, social, and cultural. In the past, nostalgia was perceived as a medical disorder, but today it has both a beneficial and a negative component. Nostalgia promotes psychological resilience by improving mood, strengthening self-identification, and promoting social connectedness. It can also potentially serve in the fight against dementia. On the other hand, nostalgia can distort the perception of the past, idealizing it in such a way that it promotes resistance to social change, strengthens outdated norms and undermines progressive values. The evidence points to the fact that nostalgia, due to the duality of its nature, affects not only the emotional part, but also the behavioral part in relation to their worldview and faith. Therefore, integrating nostalgia — whether into clinical practice, public messages, or cultural discourse — can help people benefit from their emotional power without falling into the trap of romanticized memories of a bygone past.

 

References

Abramov, R. N. (2012). Time and space of nostalgia. Sociological Journal, (4), 6–23. 

https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/vremya-i-prostranstvo-nostalgii/viewer

Hussain, S. A., & Alhabash, S. (2022). Effect of nostalgia as a motivational force for depressed students to seek professional psychological help. Journal of American College Health, 

70(2), 484–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1754838

Lammers, J., Alaukik, A., & Baldwin, M. (2025). When longing goes wrong: Nostalgia can cause a preference for harmful aspects of the past. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 25, e70000. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.70000

Wood, A. M., & Johnson, J. (Eds.). (2016). The Wiley handbook of positive clinical psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4513033

Umar Ismail, S., Cheston, R., Christopher, G., & Meyrick, J. (2018). Nostalgia as a psychological resource for people with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence of effectiveness from experimental studies. Dementia, 19(2), 330–351. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301218774909

Yang, Z., Wildschut, T., Izuma, K., Gu, R., Luo, Y. L. L., Cai, H., & Sedikides, C. (2022). Patterns of brain activity associated with nostalgia: A social-cognitive neuroscience perspective. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 17(12), 1131–1144. 

https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsac036