The Hidden Purpose of Nostalgia
Have you ever been transported back in time by a song and felt a mix of melancholy and happiness, gratitude and longing? Maybe you’ve experienced the compulsion while on an airplane to look back at all photos and reminisce on the past?
That patchwork of emotions is called nostalgia and in this episode of Hold That Thought, hosts Taylor and Becca explore the role nostalgia plays in our human experience. Contrary to early theories, the human tendency towards nostalgia holds a valuable purpose. Rather than keeping you stuck in the past, nostalgia supports personal and existential continuity and can minimize feelings of helplessness, pain and loneliness during periods of uncertainty and transition.
This is episode one of the Hold That Thought miniseries ‘We Called Them Weeds’, exploring the power and beauty of human traits, emotions or experiences we may have dismissed as negative in the past.
Topics: Nostalgia, memory, psychology, social sciences, transition, personal growth, continuity,
Research:
The psychology of nostalgia and getting stuck in the past
Five Ways Nostalgia Can Improve Your Well-Being
Speaking of Psychology: Does nostalgia have a psychological purpose? With Krystine Batcho, PhD
Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia
Gen Z is feeling nostalgic for a life they never knew
The science behind the internet’s unstoppable nostalgia addiction
