Feelings, Fantasies, and Memories

Abstract

The article reports the results of a study designed to examine directly the emotional components of nostalgia. Written descriptions of 164 nostalgic experiences provided by 62 individuals were judged in terms of the emotions experienced by the subjects. The resulting ratings were used to assess the emotional content of the descriptions. The ratings were standardized and analyzed using principal components analysis and multiple regression analysis to understand the emotions that differentiate levels of nostalgic intensity. The results reveal the complexity of the emotions elicited in nostalgic experience. Positive emotions such as warmth, joy, affection, and gratitude are linked with sadness and desire to produce a mixed affective response. The article ends with a discussion of implications for marketing and advertising and with suggestions for future research.