Tamerlan Tserenov

ENG21003

Professor Zayas

Literature Review

04.09.2025

 

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 work will be organized as follows: first, the historical and etymological evolution of the concept of nostalgia will be analyzed, 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 mechanism. The work 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 also examine the negative aspects like reality evasion and change resistance (Lammers et. al., 2025). Moreover, some modern implications of nostalgia in the context of media, marketing, consumerism, and psychological health will be discussed, acknowledging its implications in regard to contemporary society. Therefore, the work will explore the multifaceted nature of nostalgia, understanding it as a psychological phenomenon that can foster stability but also create extreme tensions within a person. Applying this understanding brings the possibility of more adequately incorporating nostalgia into clinical settings or sociocultural assessments.

 

Review of Literature

History 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.

 

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 & Johnson, 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, Study 1). Scent‐induced nostalgia increases optimism (e.g., “optimistic about my future”) (Reid et al., 2014).Moreover, nostalgic participants report being more optimistic (e.g., “feel like the sky is the limit”) than their control counterparts (Cheung et al., 2013, Study 2). Importantly, self‐esteem mediates the effect of nostalgia on optimism: nostalgia raises optimism by lifting self‐esteem (Cheung et al., 2013, Study 3)” 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, Studies 1–2; Abeyta et al., 2014). Such memories may serve to reassure the individual of life’s meaningfulness (Lambert, Stillman, Baumeister, Fincham, Hicks, & Graham, 2010).” p. 129. 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 & Johnson, 2016). These benefits for well-being confirm the role of nostalgia not as a form of escapism, but as an acceptable mechanism to support psychological and personal growth.

 

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 substantiate their arguments with the results of six studies, each of which emphasizes that nostalgia affects social and political attitudes in different ways. “For example, nostalgia even increased the desire to undo public-smoking bans among non-smokers and ex-smokers who should realize the deleterious consequences of second-hand smoking (Studies 1 and 5). Similarly, it reduced the perceived impor-tance of car-safety among previous victims of traffic accidents, who know the importance of safety in traffic (Studies 2 and 5).” p. 14. Their research shows that nostalgia is associated with opposition to smoking bans in public places, even among non-smokers. Research has also shown that nostalgic feelings contribute to skepticism about the safety of modern automotive safety systems, with some people preferring older, less secure models from the past. In addition, nostalgia has been shown to support traditional gender roles, undermining progress towards gender equality. Research also shows that nostalgia can enhance the perception of politically incorrect humor, which further illustrates the conservative tendencies associated with nostalgic emotions. The quote from the work states next: “ “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.” 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 and co-authors (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 that has both positive and negative consequences once it occurs. Although nostalgia can be one of the potential solutions to problems of personal and mental well-being, it can also entail a number of difficulties due to the idealization of the past and the resulting reluctance to useful or necessary innovations. While in one case nostalgia can help to cope with certain difficulties occurring in the life of an individual, such as in the case of students in need of psychological help, in another case it can also lead to socially widespread problems in modern society due to the reluctance to change. Therefore, although nostalgia can be a useful tool for people coping with personal difficulties, its social impact requires careful consideration, especially when it contributes to resistance to necessary progress.

 

 

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