title: Heartwarming memories: Nostalgia maintains physiological comfort.
abstract: Nostalgia, a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, is a predominantly positive and social emotion. Recent evidence suggests that nostalgia maintains psychological comfort. Here, we propose, and document in five methodologically diverse studies, a broader homeostatic function for nostalgia that also encompasses the maintenance of physiological comfort. We show that nostalgia--an emotion with a strong connotation of warmth--is triggered by coldness. Participants reported stronger nostalgia on colder (vs. warmer) days and in a cold (vs. neutral or warm) room. Nostalgia, in turn, modulates the interoceptive feeling of temperature. Higher levels of music-evoked nostalgia predicted increased physical warmth, and participants who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary autobiographical) event perceived ambient temperature as higher. Finally, and consistent with the close central nervous system integration of temperature and pain sensations, participants who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary autobiographical) event evinced greater tolerance to noxious cold.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. zhouxyue@mail.sysu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Xinyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wildschut
authors.forename: Constantine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sedikides
authors.forename: Xiaoxi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ad J J M
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vingerhoets
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D010146:Pain; D013696:Temperature; D055815:Young Adult