Remembrance of Things Past: Temporal Change in the Affective Signature of Nostalgic Events

Two experiments explored the affect and emotion changes over time (i.e., from event occurrence to event recall) that characterise nostalgic events, and how those changes differ from the affect and emotion changes that characterise ordinary (Experiment 1) and neutral (Experiment 2) events (control). Participants rated the affect and discrete emotions associated with events at the time those events occurred as well as when they were recalled. Nostalgic (but not control) events were characterised by a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect over time. These temporal changes in global affect were mediated by parallel changes in certain discrete negative emotions associated with nostalgia (i.e., loneliness and regret), but not by changes in other discrete emotions (e.g., embarrassment, shame). Yet, nostalgic events were associated with more positive than negative affect, particularly at the time they occurred but also when recalled. Further, nostalgic events were associated with more positive affect than were control events, again particularly at occurrence but also at recall. This relative positivity of nostalgic (compared to control) events mediated the effects of recalling nostalgic events on psychological benefits. We discuss theoretical implications and offer suggestions for new research.