Nostalgia as a Resource for the Self

Vess, Matthew; Arndt, Jamie; Routledge, Clay; Sedikides, Constantine; Wildschut, Tim

doi:10.1080/15298868.2010.521452

Cited by 192 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Moreover, nostalgia's psychological functions are consistent with Tracy and Robins ' (2004) proposal that self-conscious emotions regulate socially-relevant behavior. Specifically, nostalgia promotes positive affect, selfworth, meaning in life, and optimism (Cheung et al, 2013;Routledge et al, 2011;Vess et al, 2012;Wildschut et al, 2006) as well as pro-social behavior Stephan et al, in press;Zhou et al, 2012). In this respect, nostalgia enhances two vital resources: initiative (agency) and social relationships (communion).…”

Section: Implications and Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Correlational and experimental studies show that nostalgia repairs negative mood and boosts positive mood ; provides self-worth and self-affirmation (Vess, Arndt, Routledge, Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2012;Wildschut et al, 2006); buffers existential threat, boredom, and boosts perceived meaning in life (Juhl, Routledge, Arndt, Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2010;Routledge et al, 2011;Van Tilburg, Igou, & Sedikides, 2013);…”

Section: Why Nostalgia Merits Cross-cultural Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pancultural nostalgia: Prototypical conceptions across cultures.

Hepper¹,

Wildschut

Sedikides

et al. 2014

Emotion

Self Cite

187

178

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Nostalgia is a frequently-experienced complex emotion, understood by laypersons in the United Kingdom and United States of America to (1) refer prototypically to fond, selfrelevant, social memories and (2) be more pleasant (e.g., happy, warm) than unpleasant (e.g., sad, regretful). This research examined whether people across cultures conceive of nostalgia in the same way. Students in 18 countries across 5 continents (N = 1704) rated the prototypicality of 35 features of nostalgia. The samples showed high levels of agreement on the rank-order of features. In all countries, participants rated previously-identified central (vs. peripheral) features as more prototypical of nostalgia, and showed greater inter-individual agreement regarding central (vs. peripheral) features. Cluster analyses revealed subtle variation among groups of countries with respect to the strength of these pancultural patterns.All except African countries manifested the same factor structure of nostalgia features. In Japan, a woman drives past her childhood school and exclaims how natsukashii it is. In Ethiopia, a musician sings a Tizita ballad reliving memories of a lost lover. In the USA, a man smiles nostalgically as he listens to an old record that reminds him of his carefree teenage years. And in ancient Greece, the mythical hero Odysseus is galvanized by memories of his family as he struggles to make his way home from war (Homer, trans. 1921). To what extent are these four characters experiencing the same emotion? Is nostalgia universal?Growing evidence indicates that nostalgia is a self-relevant emotion associated with fond memories (Hepper, Ritchie, Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2012; and that it serves psychological functions (Routledge, Wildschut, Sedikides, & Juhl, 2013;. If nostalgia qualifies as an emotion and an adaptive psychological resource, it may be pancultural. The present article begins to address this issue by examining the equivalence of prototypical conceptions of nostalgia across a range of cultures. The Universality of EmotionThe universality of emotion concepts has long attracted scholarly attention. Darwin (1872/1965) proposed that emotions evolved as adaptive responses to social living, and thus some emotions should be universal. In contrast, Harré (1986) argued that emotions are primarily cultural constructions and thus should vary according to the meanings and practices of different cultural settings. Although the issues are textured, two major lines of research have supported the universality view. The first line of research has identified universally recognized facial expressions, focusing on a core set of "basic" emotions (e.g., anger, joy, sadness; Ekman, 1992;Ekman & Friesen, 1971;Russell, 1991a). The second line of research has examined conceptions of emotion words (Fontaine, Scherer, Roesch, & Ellsworth, 2007; Kuppens, Ceulemans, Timmerman, Diener, & Kim-Prieto, 2006; Páez & Vegara, 1995). This lexical literature has established that, across cultures, emotion (and specific emotions) is a fuzzy c...

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Section: Implications and Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Nostalgia Merits Cross-cultural Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pancultural nostalgia: Prototypical conceptions across cultures.

Hepper¹,

Wildschut

Sedikides

et al. 2014

Emotion

Self Cite

187

178

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Zhou et al (2008) found that nostalgia led to a sense of social support and connections and a way to cope with loneliness. In a study by Vess et al (2012), subjects who thought of nostalgic memories had better coping mechanisms than those whose thoughts were of exciting future ex- periences. Furthermore, the future-thinking subjects showed signs of selfishness and self-centred attributes.…”

Section: Nostalgia As a Competitive Advantage And Its Relationship Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

Nostalgic Sentiment And Cultural And Creative Industries In Regional Development: A Slovak Case Study

Borseková

Cole

Petríková

et al. 2015

Quaestiones Geographicae

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BorseKová K, Cole D., PetríkoVá k., VAňoVá A., 2015. Nostalgic sentiment and cultural and creative industries in regional development: a Slovak case study. Quaestiones Geographicae 34(2), Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań, pp. 53-63, 3 figs, 3 tables. DOI 10.1515/quageo-2015-0015, ISSN 0137-477X.aBstraCt: In Slovakia, there are three unique, historical mining towns, Banská Bystrica, Banská Štiavnica and Kremnica, that have been successfully turned into creative cultural centres. The historical and cultural values of those towns have stood the test of time and become a magnet for a new and creative class of people looking to escape the brutality of high modernity (modern urban centres) and find a source of inspiration based on historical nostalgic sentimentalism -the basis for a new creative and cultural industry for rural areas. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the cultural and creative industries of these three unique historical mining centres with an eye to replicating their knowledge in other communities in economic stress. The paper will first explore concepts relating to cultural and creative industries with an eye towards nostalgic sentimentalism that is an important antithesis to high modernity, and even post-modernity. The second part will analyse the cultural and creative industries of the three centres based on primary data collected from several research projects in this area. The final part will provide some recommendations for the facilitation of creative and cultural enterprises in regional redevelopment. It also contains policy recommendations for the self-government of the region for a more effective and rational exploitation of the existing potential hiding in plain view.

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“…This presents grounds for addressing and redressing ontological insecurities with totemic nostalgia, discursively marshaled as a bulwark to protect the endangered object, as an elemental site of memory and identity formation, from external incursion. As Vess et al (2012) emphasize, nostalgia operates as "a potential mechanism through which individuals buttress the self against a variety of threats" (p. 275).…”

Section: Ghostbusters In (Development) Hellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Understanding that replacing both Murray and Ramis with new actors would be unacceptable for many Ghostbusters fans-called "ghostheads," in fan vernacular-Bridesmaids director, Paul Feig, suggested a new strategy as a way out of the liminal dungeon: to reboot the Ghostbusters film series with a new team, all of them female, and narratively disconnected from the canonical original. Choosing to wipe the slate clean in order to "begin again" (Proctor, 2018), however, raised the hackles of many a ghosthead, who then turned to web 2.0 to vent their chagrin at what was perceived to be a disgraceful violation of what I term the totemic object, that is, a primary text that opens up a mnemonic conduit to an idealized history of "nostalgic narratives" (Vess et al, 2012) comprised by "intimations of selfhood" ( Jenkins, 2004) and "trajectories of the self " (Giddens, 1991).…”

Section: Ghostbusters In (Development) Hellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Bitches Ain’t Gonna Hunt No Ghosts”: Totemic Nostalgia, Toxic Fandom and the Ghostbusters Platonic

Proctor¹

2017

Pacla

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Nostalgia as a Resource for the Self

Cited by 192 publications

References 31 publications

Pancultural nostalgia: Prototypical conceptions across cultures.

Pancultural nostalgia: Prototypical conceptions across cultures.

Nostalgic Sentiment And Cultural And Creative Industries In Regional Development: A Slovak Case Study

“Bitches Ain’t Gonna Hunt No Ghosts”: Totemic Nostalgia, Toxic Fandom and the Ghostbusters Platonic

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