The Psychology Of Nostalgia

The Psychology Of Nostalgia: Coined in 1688 as a medical diagnosis for homesick soldiers, nostalgia is now understood as a mostly positive emotion that boosts mood, meaning and social connection, which is exactly why brands, reboots and retro products lean on it so heavily.

Johannes Hofer: The Swiss medical student who invented the word nostalgia in 1688 treated it as a possibly fatal disease, with remedies ranging from leeches and opium to simply sending the patient home.

Kuhreihen: The Swiss cow herding melody was reportedly banned among Swiss mercenaries because hearing it made soldiers so homesick they deserted or fell ill.

American Civil War: Union army doctors officially diagnosed thousands of soldiers with nostalgia, and a number of deaths were attributed to it.

Constantine Sedikides: His research at the University of Southampton helped flip nostalgia's reputation, showing it increases feelings of meaning, optimism and connection to others.

Xinyue Zhou: Her 2012 studies found people feel more nostalgic on cold days, and that nostalgia made people feel physically warmer and keep their hands in icy water longer.

Tim Wildschut: His analysis of nostalgic stories found they often follow a redemption arc, starting with a problem or loss and ending on a positive note.

David C. Rubin: He helped map the reminiscence bump, the finding that older adults recall a disproportionate number of memories from roughly ages 10 to 30.

The Wheel: In this 2007 Mad Men episode, Don Draper sells the Kodak Carousel by calling nostalgia 'the pain from an old wound,' a scene now taught as a masterclass in emotional advertising.

Ostalgie: The German word for nostalgia for life in East Germany fueled a market for revived Communist era brands and the 2003 hit film 'Good Bye Lenin!'

NES Classic Edition: Nintendo's 2016 mini version of its 1985 console sold out almost instantly, with adults paying resale prices several times the original cost to replay their childhood.

New Coke: Coca-Cola's infamous 1985 flop was briefly brought back in 2019 as a tie in with the 1980s set series 'Stranger Things.'

Crystal Pepsi: The clear cola flopped in the early 1990s, yet a fan campaign fueled by nostalgia pushed Pepsi to bring it back in 2016.

Svetlana Boym: In 'The Future of Nostalgia' she split it into two kinds, restorative nostalgia that tries to rebuild the lost home and reflective nostalgia that savors the longing itself.

Katherine Loveland: Her 2010 research found that when people feel socially excluded, they become more drawn to nostalgic brands and products.

Jannine Lasaleta: Her 2014 study found that feeling nostalgic makes people care less about money and more willing to spend it.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: John Koenig's project coined 'anemoia,' nostalgia for a time you never knew, which helps explain why young people crave vinyl and film cameras.

RIAA: In 2020 the recording industry group reported that vinyl records outsold CDs in the United States for the first time since the 1980s.

Impossible Project: When Polaroid stopped making instant film, this group bought the last factory in the Netherlands in 2008 and eventually revived the brand.

Clay Routledge: His research found that thinking nostalgically helps buffer people against anxiety about death by reminding them their lives have meaning.

Marcel Proust: His 1913 description of a madeleine dipped in tea triggering a flood of childhood memory gave its name to the 'Proust effect,' the power of smell to summon the past.

Happy Days: The 1974 sitcom sold 1950s nostalgia to viewers barely two decades later, an early sign that pop culture tends to recycle eras a generation after they end.

Main Street, U.S.A.: Walt Disney modeled the entrance of Disneyland on his boyhood town of Marceline, Missouri, building its upper floors smaller to make it feel cozy and idealized.

Krystine Batcho: She created one of the first psychological scales to measure nostalgia and found people most often long for family, friends and past feelings rather than objects.

Erica Hepper: Her 2014 study across 18 countries found people everywhere describe nostalgia in very similar terms, as a bittersweet but mostly positive feeling.