title: The past makes the present meaningful: nostalgia as an existential resource.
abstract: The present research tested the proposition that nostalgia serves an existential function by bolstering a sense of meaning in life. Study 1 found that nostalgia was positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that nostalgia increases a sense of meaning in life. In both studies, the link between nostalgia and increased meaning in life was mediated by feelings of social connectedness. Study 3 evidenced that threatened meaning increases nostalgia. Study 4 illustrated that nostalgia, in turn, reduces defensiveness following a meaning threat. Finally, Studies 5 and 6 showed that nostalgia disrupts the link between meaning deficits and compromised psychological well-being. Collectively, these findings indicate that the provision of existential meaning is a pivotal function of nostalgia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105-5075, USA. Clay.Routledge@ndsu.edu
authors.forename: Clay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Routledge
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wildschut
authors.forename: Constantine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sedikides
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juhl
authors.forename: Ad J J M
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vingerhoets
authors.forename: Wolff
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schlotz
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult