The character Nostalgia in the new Inside Out 2 movie is a delightful embodiment of an abstract emotion. An intense longing and wistfulness for specific past periods, nostalgia captures a lingering sentimentality as we recall fleeting yet remarkable experiences. Whether it's reminiscing about the last day of summer camp that was celebrated with a bonfire, music, and s'mores or that one mesmerising sight of the sun setting as we ran along the beach freely against the fresh sea breeze, these memories stir something profound within us. It's intriguing to ponder the existence of this unique emotion in humans. Yet, why do we experience it in such heartfelt ways?
Brief History
First coined in 1688 by Swiss physician Johannes Hofer in his medical dissertation, the term “nostalgia” was equivalent to the German term “Heimweh,” meaning “homesick.” Derived from the Greek words “nostos” and “algos” (meaning “homecoming” and “pain”), nostalgia was negatively associated as a “transient illness” that permeated society throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Since then, the lines between nostalgia and homesickness have been blurred.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that nostalgia reached its turning point. When American sociologist Fred Davis conducted a study on nostalgia, it revealed that participants would associate nostalgia with the keywords “warm,” “old times,” “childhood,” and “yearning” more frequently than with homesickness, suggesting that participants could distinct between the two concepts and perceive nostalgia with a more positive connotation. From then on, nostalgia evolved from a mere sentiment of homesickness to a cherished embrace of sentimental recollection and longing for the past, marking a significant shift in its perception over time.
What triggers nostalgia?
Nostalgia can be triggered externally and internally, which refers to different stimuli or cues that evoke feelings of nostalgia in an individual. External triggers originate from stimuli outside the individual and influence their thoughts, emotions, or behaviours. This includes environmental cues, such as a familiar smell, sound, place, or object; social interactions, like meeting up with an old friend that you haven’t seen in a while or talking about the past; specific times of the year, like seasons and holidays; or cultural references, such as music, television shows, movies, or art, are all factors that could cause nostalgia.
On the other hand, internal triggers arise from stimuli within an individual, such as emotions, thoughts, or memories, that prompt a response or behaviour, such as emotional states, personal reflection, life transitions, dreams and memories. Nonetheless, as long the stimulus you encounter holds sentimental value and familiarity to you, you’re likely to experience nostalgia.
There are three main types of nostalgia individuals experience:
Personal Nostalgia - memories of specific people or events from one's own life
Social Nostalgia - memories of a time when one felt more connected to others
Cultural Nostalgia - memories of a time when one felt more connected to their culture
Neuroscience behind nostalgia
Since nostalgic narratives are filled with highly self-relevant events. Core components of nostalgia :
Self-reflection: nostalgic narratives often feature the self prominently, portraying the self in a favourable light
- These narratives typically follow a redemptive trajectory, showcasing the self from humble beginnings to a happy ending
- Key regions:
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) - requires integrating stimuli in the context of personal thoughts, goals and traits
Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) - stimulates self-reflection as well as self-consciousness
- Activation in these brain regions is heightened when individuals reflect on self-relevant and self-descriptive information
Autobiographical memory: the processing of the self in mental time travel into the past
- Nostalgia, as a trait, fulfills basic autobiographical memory functions by evoking memories, similar to rumination and counterfactual thinking
- However, nostalgia stands out for its strong positive associations with self-regard and intimacy maintenance, while having a weak link to bitterness revival
- Neuroscientifically, autobiographical memory processing primarily involves the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). These brain regions play crucial roles in encoding and retrieving autobiographical memories, including nostalgic recollections
- Nostalgic recollection is considered a unique form of autobiographical memory, characterized by its positive emotional associations and its ability to enhance various aspects of well-being
Emotion regulation: the ability to exert control over one's own emotional state
- Nostalgia stands out from general autobiographical memory due to its strong emotional component, characterized by a potent affective signature that includes both positive and negative emotions
While nostalgia is bittersweet, it predominantly elicits positive affect
- Nostalgia serves as a form of emotion regulation, particularly through cognitive reappraisal
- Individuals engaging in nostalgia often experience a sense of well-being, even when the emotional tone of the memory does not fully warrant it
- Key brain regions involved in emotion regulation, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), play crucial roles in the cognitive reappraisal process associated with nostalgia
These regions are essential for modulating emotional responses and facilitating the regulation of both positive and negative emotions during nostalgic experience
Reward orientation: an event that produces a pleasant or positive affective experience
- A stream of empirical studies has indicated that nostalgia is approach-oriented such that it strengthens approach motivation, encourages risk-taking toward reward and promotes the pursuit of one’s important goals
- Reward-related brain regions are often activated by satisfying stimuli (e.g.: a picture of a loved one, positive social feedback, music and art, etc.)
Does nostalgia serve a psychological purpose?
Psychologists have studied nostalgia extensively and concluded that it can influence our behaviour and emotions both positively and negatively. On the positive side, nostalgia can boost our mental health by enhancing our sense of belonging and confidence, affirming our aspirations for the future, and bringing us a sense of emotional comfort to cope with difficult circumstances. On the negative side, dwelling too much on nostalgia decreases our sense of social belonging and increases loneliness and anxiety instead, leading us to feel more depressed and dissatisfied about our current lifestyle.
Conclusion
As a library of archival history, nostalgia is a wonderfully complex paradoxical experience that humans grapple with. Whether you enjoy wistfully reminiscing with rose-tinted glasses or pondering its contents with a bittersweet aftertaste, nostalgia serves as a reflection of our essence and remains a timeless embrace of our past, intricately woven into the fabric of our present.
Works Cited
American Psychological Association (2022). Speaking of Psychology: Does nostalgia have a psychological purpose? With Krystine Batcho, PhD. [online] American Psychological Association. Available at: https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/nostalgia [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Cuncic, A. (2022). What Is Nostalgia? [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-nostalgia-5272007 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Fuentenebro de Diego, F. and Valiente Ots, C. (2014). Nostalgia: a conceptual history. History of Psychiatry, 25(4), pp.404–411. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0957154x14545290.
Ledesma, C.B. (2023). The Science Behind Nostalgia. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@cecilledesma_20547/the-science-behind-nostalgia-2dfe14c6ff81 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C. and Routledge, C. (2008). Nostalgia - from cowbells to the meaning of life - The British Psychological Society. [online] the british psychological society. Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/nostalgia-cowbells-meaning-life [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Yang, Z., Wildschut, T., Izuma, K., Gu, R., Luo, Y.L.L., Cai, H. and Sedikides, C. (2022). Patterns of Brain Activity Associated with Nostalgia: A Social-Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 17(12), pp.1131–1144. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsac036.
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