Nostalgia Counteracts Social Anxiety and Enhances Interpersonal Competence

Abstract

Socially anxious individuals struggle with establishing and maintaining social relationships. We hypothesized that, when socially anxious, people often turn to nostalgia, which alleviates the interpersonal competence deficits that accompany social anxiety. We tested and supported this hypothesis in six studies ( N = 1,858), three preregistered. In cross-sectional Study 1, higher (compared with lower) social anxiety individuals more frequently identified interpersonal incompetence as a trigger of nostalgia. In cross-sectional Study 2, social anxiety was associated negatively with interpersonal competence, but positively with nostalgia, which in turn predicted higher interpersonal competence. In the final four studies, we tested causation. Although social anxiety reduced interpersonal competence, it also triggered nostalgia (Studies 3–3S), and nostalgia increased interpersonal competence (Studies 4–5).

More than a barrier: Nostalgia inhibits, but also promotes, favorable responses to innovative technology.

“…Nostalgia is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past” ( The New Oxford Dictionary of English , Pearsall, 1998, p. 1266). The emotion can be evoked by the fond recollection of objects or events experienced in childhood, momentous occasions (e.g., graduation, anniversary), interactions with close others (e.g., friends, relatives), scents, tastes or foods, songs or music, and visual stimuli such as adverts or reading material (Dai et al, 2023; Reid et al, 2015, 2023; Sedikides et al, 2022; Wildschut & Sedikides, 2023a, 2023b; Yang et al, 2021). Nostalgic reverie entails contentment and joy, but also pining for the unattainability of the cherished past (Sedikides & Wildschut, 2016a; van Tilburg, 2023).…”