personal nostalgia, world view, memory, and emotionality

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Perceptualand Motor Skills, 1998,87, 41 1-432. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1998 PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY, AND EMOTIONALITY ' KRYSTINE IRENE BATCH0 Le Moyrle College Sz~mmary.-Baccho's 1995 Nostalgia Inventory was completed by 210 respon- dents, 88 males and 122 females, ranging m .~gc from 5 to 79 years old. Subjects scor- ing high on the Nostalgia Inventory rated rhc past more favorably than did subjects scoring low on the inventory but did not differ in ratings of h e present or future. High-scoring individuals rated themselves more emotional, with stronger memories, need for achievement, and preference for activities with other people, but not as less happy, risk or thrill seeking, religious, logical, easily bored, or expecting to succeed. In a second study, 113 undergraduates, 32 men and 81 women, completed measures of nostalgia, memory, and personality. figh-scoring subjects showed no advantage in free recall over low-scoring subjects but recalled more people-oriented autobiographi- cal memories. Individuals scoring high on nostalgia were no more optimistic, pessimis- tic, or negatively emotional but scored higher on a measure of emotional intensity. Personal nostalgia was distinguished from social-historical nostalgia and world view. Results were discussed with respect to major theoretjcal approaches. Until this century, nostalgia was of interest because it was considered a psychiatric disorder associated with debilitating, and in the worst cases fatal, consequences (Rosen, 1975). The social-linguistic history of the word nostal- gia illustrates the role of the phenomenon in medicine as a psychiatric disor- der. In 1688, Hofer combined Nostos, return to the native land, and Algos, suffering or grief, to coin the word "nostalgia" to denote the sadness accom- panying the desire to return to one's native land (Jackson, 1986). From case histories, Hofer concluded that those most susceptible to this disease were young people living in foreign lands who could not adjust to their new envi- ronment. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, theorists focused atten- tion on soldiers in the wars of Western Europe (Rosen, 1975) and extended the use of the disease to seamen away from home for long periods of time, to students studying in foreign countries, and to domestics serving abroad (Jackson, 1986). Authors have noted a range of serious symptoms associated with nostal- gia, including sadness, insomnia, loss of appetite, weakness, anxiety, and fe- ver (Havlena & Holak, 1991). By the early 19th century, theorists classified nostalgia as a form of melancholia or depression, and by the end of the 19th 'Publication was supported by the Le Moyne Colle e Faculty Senate Committee on Research and Development. Address enquiries to K. I. ~atcfo, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York 13214-1399.

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Page 1: PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY, AND EMOTIONALITY

Perceptualand Motor Skills, 1998,87, 41 1-432. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1998

PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY, AND EMOTIONALITY '

KRYSTINE IRENE BATCH0

Le Moyrle College

Sz~mmary.-Baccho's 1995 Nostalgia Inventory was completed by 210 respon- dents, 88 males and 122 females, ranging m .~gc from 5 to 79 years old. Subjects scor- ing high on the Nostalgia Inventory rated rhc past more favorably than did subjects scoring low on the inventory but did not differ in ratings of h e present or future. High-scoring individuals rated themselves more emotional, with stronger memories, need for achievement, and preference for activities with other people, but not as less happy, risk or thrill seeking, religious, logical, easily bored, or expecting to succeed. In a second study, 113 undergraduates, 32 men and 81 women, completed measures of nostalgia, memory, and personality. figh-scoring subjects showed no advantage in free recall over low-scoring subjects but recalled more people-oriented autobiographi- cal memories. Individuals scoring high on nostalgia were no more optimistic, pessimis- tic, or negatively emotional but scored higher on a measure of emotional intensity. Personal nostalgia was distinguished from social-historical nostalgia and world view. Results were discussed with respect to major theoretjcal approaches.

Until this century, nostalgia was of interest because it was considered a psychiatric disorder associated with debilitating, and in the worst cases fatal, consequences (Rosen, 1975). The social-linguistic history of the word nostal- gia illustrates the role of the phenomenon in medicine as a psychiatric disor- der. In 1688, Hofer combined Nostos, return to the native land, and Algos, suffering or grief, to coin the word "nostalgia" to denote the sadness accom- panying the desire to return to one's native land (Jackson, 1986). From case histories, Hofer concluded that those most susceptible to this disease were young people living in foreign lands who could not adjust to their new envi- ronment. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, theorists focused atten- tion on soldiers in the wars of Western Europe (Rosen, 1975) and extended the use of the disease to seamen away from home for long periods of time, to students studying in foreign countries, and to domestics serving abroad (Jackson, 1986).

Authors have noted a range of serious symptoms associated with nostal- gia, including sadness, insomnia, loss of appetite, weakness, anxiety, and fe- ver (Havlena & Holak, 1991). By the early 19th century, theorists classified nostalgia as a form of melancholia or depression, and by the end of the 19th

'Publication was supported by the Le Moyne Colle e Faculty Senate Committee on Research and Development. Address enquiries to K. I. ~ a t c f o , Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York 13214-1399.

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century, nostalgia had been subsumed as a variant of melancholia and had disappeared as a separate disorder (Griesinger, 1867/1965).

Current interest in nostalgia as part of human experience rests upon three main considerations. First, since the middle of this century, the mean- ing of the term "nostalgia" has broadened beyond its original denotation as "homesickness" to refer more d&sely to a yearning or affection for the past (Davis, 1979; Jackson, 1986). Davis (1979) argued that the separation of the concept of nostalgia from mllitary applications and its declassification as a disease led to a semantic drift away from its denotation of homesickness to its modern definition. Davis pointed out that only a small minority of people today would consider nostalgia to be equivalent to homesickness. Several dozen college students he surveyed associated words such as "warm, old times, childhood, and yearning" &th the term nostalgia much more frequent- ly than they did homeszckners, which was avadable on a long checklist of possible associations (p. 4).

Secondly, since nostalgia constitutes a blend of cognitive (memory) and affective (bittersweet feehgs) processes, it offers an excellent opportunity to study the interplay between cognition and emotion (Cavanaugh, 1989). Whether nostalgia is conceptualized as remembering with emotion or as feel- ing which evokes memories, questions are raised concerning the mutual in- fluence of thought and feelmi Cavanaugh pointed out that we have no idea why people feel nostalgic or whether nostalgia serves some special function.

Finally, early interest in nostalgia as a chical disorder focused attention on the negative aspect, the bitter, of the bittersweet sentiment; however, current theories allow for the possibiltty of benefits accruing from the nos- talgic experience. For example, Peters (1985) suggested that nostalgia en- ables the individual to relate to others in a way which simultaneously en- sures separateness. Rosen (1975) proposed that nostalgia may constitute an attempt to restore direction and meaning to lde when an individual has been chsplaced from all former links. Nostalgic remembering connects the compo- nents of self over time. Therefore, nostalgia has been viewed as an important vehicle for developing, maintaining, or restoring a sense of self-identity by weaving the threads of one's life history (Cavanaugh, 1989; Mtlls & Cole- man, 1994). As explained by Hertz (1990, p. 195) in nostalgic reverie, ". . . the mind is 'peopled.' Figures of the past are more than abstract remnants of another time; they are current realities as well." Views of nostalgia as a means of enhancing self by remaining connected to others have encouraged theorists to explore the possible therapeutic merits of nostalgia, especially for the elderly (Cavanaugh, 1989; Hertz, 1990; Mills & Coleman, 1994).

Theories of nostalgia as beneficial rest upon the assumption that the term should be restricted to the past actually experienced by the individual. Davis (1979) maintained that the past which is the object of nostalgia must

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have been personally experienced. Davis distinguished nostalgia from a yearning for a time when one has never lived or for a place one has never been, which he designates as an antiquarian feehg . Stern (1992) &stin- guished between two types of nostalgia-historical, the desire to return to a distant past perceived as superior to the present, and personal, which ideal- izes the personally remembered past.

The distinction between personal and historical past may explain under- lying differences across items-in a 20-item survey constructed by Holbrook (1993) to serve as an index of nostalgia proneness. After omitting the item with the smallest item-total correlation and the weakest loading on the first principal component, Holbrook obtained disappointing results for a single- factor model from a maximum-kkehhood factor analysis. A stepwise search to eliminate additional items until the analysis no longer rejected the null hypothesis of fit for the single-factor model yielded eight remaining items to comprise the Nostalgia Scale.

It is interesting to note that the surviving items are all general, if not abstract, statements concerning history or society at large. For example, the scale includes items such as, "We are experiencing a decline in the quality of Me" and "Things used to be better in the good old days." Reversed scoring items include statements such as, "History involves a steady improvement in human welfare" and "Technological change will insure a brighter future" (p. 249). The resulting 8-item scale may actually measure social or historical nostalgia. By contrast, the items removed included statements of a more per- sonal wording, for example, "When I was younger, I was happier than I am today" and "Sometimes, I wish I could return to the womb" (p. 255). With- in DaCis' (1979) framework, the rejected items may be closer to the concept of nostalgia as it is usually understood than the surviving items, which may be closer to Davis' concept of antiquarian f e e h g or to Lears' (1998) use of nostalgia to refer to a respect or desire for the cultural values or political vi- sions of an earlier historical period.

Based upon the definition of nostalgia as yearning for something no longer present, which runs through many theories and dictionary entries, Batcho (1995) constructed a 20-item nostalgia survey on which respondents rate the extent to which they miss each of the items from when they were younger. This instruction is clearly consistent with Davis' (1979) argument that the term nostalgia denotes yearning for things from a personally experi- enced past. It is not clear whether Batcho's inventory measures the same construct measured by Holbrook's (1993) scale. The research reported here investigated individuals' nostalgia for aspects of their past and explores the relationship, if any, between personal nostalgia and historical nostalgia as measured by Holbrook's scale.

The s h h from a conceptudzation of nostalgia as a psychiatric disorder

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to that of a natural and adaptive process has focused interest on questions concerning the nature and etiology of the nostalgic experience. There is gen- eral consensus that the hallmark feature of nostalgia is its inherent emotional ambivalence. For example, Mills and Coleman (1994, p. 205) cited Ross (1991) in defining nostalgia as "the bittersweet recall of emotional past events." Similarly, Cavanaugh (1989) agreed with Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1980) in distinguishing nostalgia from reminiscence by defining reminiscence as the act of remembering the past and nostalgia as the bittersweet affect which ac- companies certain memories. Cavanaugh's description echoes the understand- ing advanced by Werman (1977, p. 392) who defined nostalgia as "an am- bivalently felt, affective-cognitive experience." According to Werman, the cognitive component consists of "a memory of a particular place at a given time" and "The affects associated with their memories are characteristically described as bittersweet, indicating a wistful pleasure, a joy tinged with sad- ness" (p. 393).

However, the presence of bipolar affective components in nostalgia al- lows for disagreement concerning the dominant affect in the experience. For example, Kaplan defined the contemporary understanding of nostalgia as "warm feelings about the past, a past that is imbued with happy memories, pleasures, and joy" and concluded that the mood is ". . . basically one of joy- ousness, producing an air of infatuation and a f eehg of elation" (1987, p. 465).

On the other hand, many modern theorists define nostalgia as a yearn- ing for what is no longer present and emphasize the sad aspect of nostalgia which accompanies the awareness that the past can never be recaptured (Best & Nelson, 1985; Hertz, 1990; Holbrook, 1993; Peters, 1985). Peters described the intensity of the experience as varying from "a fleeting sadness and yearning to an overwhelming craving that persists and profoundly inter- feres with the individual's attempts to cope with his present circumstances" (p. 135).

Conflicting emphases on the p r evahg affect in nostalgia reflect differ- ent concepts of the etiology and impact of the experience. In identdying the condttions likely to promote nostalgia, theorists M e r with respect to the roles they assign perceptions of and attachments to the individual's past, present, and future. While most assume that nostalgic f eehg is one of lik- ing, indeed longing, for the past, not atl agree with respect to the percep- tions of that past, especially as perceived relative to the present or the fu- ture. For example, many who write from a psychoanalyuc perspective main- tain that the nostalgic indvidual, unhappy with the present situation, pos- sesses a romanticized view of the past, regardless of the validity of that view (Bassin, 1993; Kaplan, 1987; K d s h , 1989; Werrnan, 1977). Castelnuovo-Te- desco (1980, p. 121) described nostalgics as past oriented, such that "their

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longing for the past matches their & s u e of the present and their dread of the future."

On the other hand, studies such as Hertz' (1990) work with Holocaust survivors cast doubt upon the notion that a pleasant past, real or imagined, is a necessary condition for nostalgia. Hertz (1990, p. 195) gave examples of nostalgic reminiscences of the Holocaust in elderly survivors, "The concomi- tant affective response may reflect both excitement and pleasure. Survivors may describe food eaten on specific occasions as 'the best I have ever tasted'."

Evidence that one can be nostalgic for a painful past is not restricted to chical observation. Best and Nelson (1985) cited survey findings suggesting that nonwhites were significantly more llkely than Euro-Americans (whites) to report nostalgic feehgs for the past, even when the sample was com- prised of respondents, born before 1905, who had lived through periods of intense racial discrimination. A paradox to theories assuming a romanticized past, such findings are not so troublesome to Werman (1977) who maintain- ed that one can savor the past without wishing to exchange it for the pres- ent. Rather than assuming that nostalgia is necessarily the result of a reaction to an unhappy present, Nawas and Platt (1965) viewed nostalgia as indicat- ing a concern over or dread of the future.

This paper described two studies which initiated exploration into char- acteristics of individuals who score high on Batcho's Nostalgia Inventory. The first study examined high scoring subjects' perceptions of the world as it is now, as it was when they were younger, and as it wdl be 20 years from now, as well as several personality characteristics according to thkir self-re- port. Theories which describe nostalgia as possessing a romanticized view of the past (e.g., Kaplan, 1987; Kulish, 1989) would predict more favorable ratings of the past by high-scoring subjects. Theories which view nostalgia as a dread of the future (e.g., Nawas & Platt, 1965) lead one to expect high- scoring subjects to rate the future as less favorable and themselves as less inched to take risks or to seek thrds. Theorists such as Peters (1985) who view nostalgia as dissatisfaction with the present predict that high-scoring subjects would rate the present as less favorable and would describe them- selves as less happy than would low scoring subjects. On the other hand, theorists who emphasize the pleasant aspect of nostalgia (e.g., Kaplan, 1987) predict favorable ratings of the present and of their own happiness by high- scoring individuals.

Numerous theories which emphasize the ambivalent affect in nostalgia suggest that high-scoring subjects would describe themselves as more emo- tional than low-scoring subjects. Theories which focus attention on the role of memory in nostalgia (e.g., Cavanaugh, 1989) suggest that high-scoring subjects would perceive their memories as stronger, and theories positing the

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role of nostalgia in maintaining connectedness to others (e.g., Mds & Cole- man, 1994) suggest that high-scoring subjects would prefer activities with other people over those done alone.

Characteristics which were significantly ddferent for subjects scoring high and low on th Nostalgia Inventory in the first study were assessed with independent methods in a second study. In this way, the present research begins to chart the relationship of nostalgia to important dimensions of per- sonality, such as memory and emotionality. Independent measures of mem- ory, depression, optimism, pessimism, emotionality, and historical nostalgia will help to &sentangle personal nostalgia from constructs such as historical nostalgia which have contributed to confusion in the literature to date.

Method

Subjects.-Surveys were completed by 210 respondents, 88 males and 122 females, ranging in age from 5 years old to 79 years old (mechan age= 23 yr.). Each of the 70 undergraduates enrolled in two sections of a cogni- tion course at a private, four-year college asked three individuals selected from among their relatives and friends to complete the survey. This proce- dure was not intended to produce a representative national sample but was designed to procure a wider range of ages than would be available on cam- pus. The student body is primarily Euro-American (86%) and middle class, with African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and Other stu- dents each comprising fewer than 5% of the total enrollment. Twenty-one percent of the sample of respondents ranged in age from 5 to 17 years, 25% from 18 to 21 years, 27% from 22 to 42 years, and 27% from 43 to 79 years old.

Procedure.-Students were instructed to follow a uniform, simple set of directions and were provided with responses to be given to anticipated ques- tions from respondents. Surveys were completed individually by respon- dents, and young children had items read to them. Students reported that subjects had no difficulty understanding the instructions. All responses re- mained anonymous.

Part I of the survey, identical to that used by Batcho (19951, included three questions askmg subjects to use a 5-point scale to evaluate the world as it is now (1 =Pretty Bad; 5 =Great), as it w d be 20 years from now (1 = A Lot Worse; 5 =A Lot Better), and as it was when they were younger (1 = A Lot Worse; 5 = A Lot Better).

Part 2 of the survey was comprised of the Nostalgia Inventory (Batcho, 1995) which assesses nostalgia across different aspects of everyday Me. Re- spondents were asked to rate on a >-point scale (1 =Not at all; 5 =Very much) how much they missed each of 20 items from when they were

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younger. Items ranged from concrete categories such as toys, TV shows or movies, pets, friends, and family to abstract categories such as the way society was, the way people were, and not knowing sad or evil things. Items were selected to sample broadly across facets of ordmary experience. The scale is reported to have a split-half reliab1Lity of .78 and test-retest reliability over a 1-wk. interval of .84 (Batcho, 1995).

Part 3 of the survey asked respondents how they would describe them- selves on each of 10 aspects of personality using a 5-point scale (For ad- jectives: 1 = Not very; 5 = Very. For nouns: 1 = Weak or Poor; 5 = Strong or Great. For verbs: 1 =Somewhat or Alone; 5 =A lot or People). Theories of nostalgia reviewed above suggested the inclusion of the aspects emotional, memory, happy, risk or thrd seelung, and preferring activities with people rather than alone. The descriptors of logical, need to achleve, religious or spiritual, easily bored, and expecting to succeed in Me were included as fdl- er items.

Results The first part of the survey asked respondents to rate the world in the

past ("when you were younger"), present ("now"), and future ("twenty years from now"). Mean ratings of the world indcate that, over-all, respon- dents (N=210) perceive the world as having been better in the past (M= 3.6; SD = 0.7; 1 = A lot worse, 5 =A lot better) than the present ( M = 2.7; SD = 0.8; 1 =Pretty bad, 5 =Great), and not hkely to improve in the future ( M = 2.8; SD=O.9; 1 = A lot worse, 5 = A lot better). This pattern is consistent with Batcho's (1995) earlier research with a sample of 648 indviduals rang- ing in age from 4 years old to 80 years old. The present finding is also con- sistent with results obtained with a national sample of 1,500 people age 18 and older for a related item on the 1980 General Social Survey (Best & Nel- son, 1985) in which a majority of men (66%) and women (71%) agreed with the statement "the lot of the average man is getting worse, not better."

The second part of [he survey asked respondents to use a >-point scale to indcate how much they miss each of 20 aspects of Me from their youth. As in Batcho (1995), the average of the ratings for each of the 20 aspects was used as an index of over-all nostalgia. The nostalgia index was used to class* respondents as High Nostalgia and Low Nostalgia by selecting scores obtained by the top 25% of the sample (scores above 3.4) and by the bot- tom 25% of the sample (scores under 2.5).

Respondents' ratings of how they would describe themselves were ana- lyzed in ten separate one-way analyses of variance, with Nostalgia group (H~ghLow) the between-subjects variable (Table 1). Nostalgia groups dlf- fered significantly in their ratings of three of the five variables suggested by the literature. Those in the High Nostalgia group described themselves as

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more emotional, having stronger memory, and more hkely to prefer activities with people rather than alone than did individuals in the Low Nostalgia group. Theories which conceptuahze nostalgia as a response to unhappiness with one's present Me view nostalgia as associated with sadness or depres- sion. Contrary to expectations according to such theories, those in the H ~ g h Nostalgia group did not rate themselves as significantly less happy than &d those in the Low Nostalgia group. Nawas and Platt's (1965) conceptuahza- tion of nostalgia as concern over or dread of the future might suggest that nostalgic indtviduals would be more likely to be conservative and conse- quently less k e l y to enjoy taking risks or seeking thrills; however, nostalgia groups did not drffer significantly in their ratings of themselves as risk or thrill seelung.

TABLE 1 MEAN SELF-RATINGS OF TRAITS BY NOSTNGIA GROUP I N STUDY 1

Trait High Nostalgia Low Nostalgia Fl , ,os (n=53) (n=54)

IM SD M SD Emotional" 3.77 1.08 3 .05~ 123 10.llgt Need to chie eve^ 4.18 0.90 3.57 1.23 8.60t MenioryC 3.81 0.90 3.38 1.22 4.14" Logical3 3.77 0.91 3.83 1 .OO 0.10 Religious or spiritual3 3.20 1.27 2.75 1.08 3.85 Risk or thrill seeking3 2.96 1.30 2.57 1.38 2.24 Easily bored" 3.03 1.30 2.83 1.32 0.65

H a p p y 3.92 0.85 3.83 0.94 0.27 Expecring to succeed in liFed 4.15 0.88 3.81 0.99 3.41 Prefer activities with peoplee 4.01 0.93 3.46 1.19 7.21t

Nofe.-Anchors of rating cales are " 1 =Not very and 5 = Ve I = Weak and 5 = trong, ' 1 =Poor and 5=Gtea t , ' 1 =Somewhat and 5 = A lot. 1 = ~ & b c and 5 =People. 'n=53. gdf= 1,104. *p<.05. tp<.01.

Of the five f~ller items, only ratings of respondents' need to achieve dif- fered significantly by nostalgia group, with the High Nostalgia group's mean rating of their need to achieve stronger than that for the Low Nostalgia group. Nostalgia groups did not differ in their self-ratings of religious, logi- cal, easily bored, or expecting to succeed in life.

Ratings of the past, present, and future from Part 1 of the survey were each analyzed in a separate one-way analysis of variance, with nostalgia (high/low) as the between-subjects factor. High and Low Nostalgia groups differed significantly in their ratings of the past, with those in the High Nos- talgia group rating the world as better when they were younger than did those in the Low Nostalgia group (Table 2). Nostalgia groups did not dffer significantly in their judgments of the world in the present or in the future.

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY

TABLE 2 M w RATINGS OF PAST, PRESENT. AND FUTURE BY NOSTALG~A GROUP I N STUDY 1

Time High Nostalgia Low Nostalgia F,,lo,

M SD n M SD n

Past" 3.84 0.84 52 3.32 0.75 53 11.25" presentb 2.72 0.90 50 2.78 0.75 52 0.17' Future3 2.90 0.94 51 2.96 0.88 54 0.12

Nore.-Anchors of rating scales are " = A lot worse and 5 = A lot betcer, 1 =Pretty bad and 5 =Great. 'df= l,lOO.*p<.Ol.

Two types of world view were defined accordmg to the relative ratings of the past and future. The view of subjects who rated the future as more positive than the past was described as a fonvard-looking or optimistic world view. The backward-looking or pessimistic view was applied to those who rated the future as less favorable than the past. Subjects in the Pessi- mistic group scored significantly higher in over-all nostalgia (Table 3) than did the subjects in the Optimistic group.

TABLE 3 MEAN NOSTALGIA SCORES A N D SELF-RATINGS OF TRALTS BY OPTIMISM I N STUDY 1

Trait Optimist Pessimist F1.1.m (n = 28) ( n = 114)

M SD M SD Nosralgia score Emotionala Need to achieveb MemoryC Logical" Religious or spirituala k s k or thrill seeking" Easily boredn

Happy= Expecting to succeed in lifed Prefer activides wirh oeoplee . .

Note.-Anchors of rating scales are a 1 =Not very and 5 =Very, 1 =Weak and 5 =Strong, C1=Poor and 5=Great , d l =somewhat and 5 = A lot, e l =Alone and 5=People. f n = 113. gdf= 1,139. *p<.05. tp<.01.

Although related, world view and nostalgia do not appear to be redun- danr. As reported above, subjects in the K g h Nostalgia group described themselves as more emotional but not more or less happy than did subjects in the Low Nostalgia group. By contrast, those in the Optimistic group de- scribe themselves as happier, but no more emotional than those in the Pes- simistic group. a g h Nostalgia subjects also described themselves as having better memories, stronger need to achieve, and a stronger preference for ac-

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tivities with people than did Low Nostalgia subjects. The only additional sig- nificant difference in self-ratings between those in the Optimistic group and those in the Pessimistic group was for memory, and Optimistic subjects rated their memories better than did Pessimistic subjects.

Discussion Nawas and Platt (1965) classified theories of nostalgia into three types

according to how they incorporate the role played by time. Past-oriented theories conceptualize nostalgia as warm feelings for or a longing to return to something in the past. Present-oriented theories view nostalgia as a reac- tion against an unhappy present, and future-oriented theories regard nostal- gia as indcative of concern over or dread of the future. Present results are most consistent with past-oriented theories. High Nostalgia group subjects perceived the past as more favorable than &d Low Nostalgia group subjects. Furthermore, contrary to theories which view nostalgia as a preference for a past which was better than the present, High Nostalgia subjects &d not rate the present less favorably than did Low Nostalgia subjects. The f in lng of no dfference in High- and Low-Nostalgia group ratings of the future is in- consistent with Nawas and Platt's (1965) view of nostalgia as concern over or dread of the future.

However, when subjects rated the past, present and future, they were evaluating the world at large, not their individual personal histories. Perhaps more critical to evaluating nostalgia theories is the finding of no difference in reported degree of happiness between High and Low Nostalgia groups. Contrary to theories which regard nostalgia as a reaction against an unhappy present (e.g., Best & Nelson, 1985; Holbrook, 1993; Peters, 1985), High Nostalgia subjects in the present sample did not report being less happy than Low Nostalgia subjects.

High Nostalgia subjects did, however, describe themselves as more emotional than dld Low Nostalgia subjects. This finding suggests a differknt view of the nostalgia-prone person. Rather than a propensity to depression constituting the critical personality trait as in early theories which classified nostalgia as a form of melancholy (McCann, 1941), the present data suggest that the person susceptible to nostalgia may be one who has a greater capac- ity for emotionality. The emotional person is one who when happy is very happy and when sad is very sad. Perhaps it is the capacity to feel more in- tensely or to be sensitive to affective triggers which results in the nostalgic individual's greater &ellhood to feel both the "bitter" and the "sweet" which constitutes the characteristic mixed affect of nostalgia.

This image of an emotionally sensitive individual would take on very different qualities if combined with a disinterest in people or a preference for being alone than it would if combined with a preference for being with

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY 42 1

others. According to McCann's (1941) summary of the literature on nostal- gic temperament, the individual susceptible to nostalgia is timid, nervous, quiet and one who shuns crowds. McCann's own data suggested that the nostalgic-prone person tends to be more neurotic, more emotionally unsta- ble, more introverted, and to live more within themselves than does the non- susceptible individual. On the other hand, McCann reported that nostalgic- prone males tended "to have a greater dlslike for solitude and to seek advice A d encouragement more often than the nonsusceptible males" (p. 172).

However, McCann and the theorists he reviewed had defined nostalgia as homesickness. It is not clear, however, whether their findings should be consistent with the present data. Rather than the "one who shuns crowds" described in the early literature summarized by McCann, the High Nostalgia subjects in this study, like the nostalgic-prone males in McCann's own sam- ple, preferred activities with other people more than did the Low Nostalgia subjects. This finding is consistent with Kaplan's (1987) chical observations of the nostalgic person as one who feels a need to involve others in their ac- tivities. Whether they enjoy collecting baseball cards or watching old movies, they especially want to share them with others.

Together, the present data and observations from psychoanalytic studies such as Kaplan's suggest that nostalgia may be one way for an individual to feel connected to others. In fact, as pointed out by Hertz (1990), one's sense of self identity is to a large extent dependent upon one's relationships with others. Sense of self may also depend upon a consciousness of continuity across time. Davis (1979) argued that nostalgia serves to help an individual construct a sense of identity through fachtating continuity across time. Nos- talgia may serve this special purpose by its unique combination of emotion and cognition, particularly memory.

If memory is critical to nostalgia, one would expect nostalgic individu- als either to possess better memories or at least to perceive their memories as strong. In the present sample, High Nostalgia individuals rated their memories as stronger than &d Low Nostalgia individuals. Without valida- tion, however, it is unclear whether their self-reports are accurate or the re- sult of a possible bias from the nostalgic emotion attached to their memo- ries. The second study compared two types of memory, autobiographical and immediate free recall of words, for High and Low Nostalgia subjects. The study also explored aspects of High and Low Nostalgia subjects' emo- tionahty, using standard measures of depression, pessimism, optimism, and emotionality.

Finally, the finding that subjects with a pessimistic or backward-looking world view were more nostalgic than those with an optimistic or fonvard- loolung world view suggested the possibility of an independent form of nos- talgia, a preference for an historical period in the past, such as the antiquar-

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ian construct suggested by Davis (1979) and the construct measured by Hol- brook's (1993) Nostalgia Scale. The relationship, if any, between personal nostalgia as measured by Batcho's (1995) inventory and historical nostalgia as measured by Holbrook's index was examined in the second study.

STUDY 2 Based upon theories emphasizing memory of one's personal past, as

well as upon the finding in the first study that High Nostalgia subjects rated their memory ability as stronger than dld Low Nostalgia subjects, the second study compared two types of memory in the two nostalgia groups. A stan- dard immediate free recall task was used to measure memory for words in a rote-recall situation. Word selection allowed for a comparison of recall of positively laden, negatively laden, and neutral words. If subjects in the first study were accurate in their self-report, it is possible that nostalgic individu- als will recall more items over-all. Given the emotional character of nostal- gia, it is also possible that nostalgic subjects will have an advantage over low-nostalgic subjects only for emotional words. According to psychoanalytic theories in which selective remembering is viewed as critical to the nostalgic experience, nostalgic individuals may have an advantage in r e c a h g only the positively laden words.

Rote recall serves as one indicator of basic memory but is lunited by its applicabihty to memory for events with minimal personal meaning and con- text. Many theorists, such as MLLIs and Coleman (1994) and Rosen (1975), as- sume that the memories involved in nostalgia, coming from one's own life history, are inherently meaningful. A second task was constructed, therefore, to assess attributes of spontaneous autobiographical memories. The instruc- tion was simple, asking subjects to write brief descriptions of all memories which came to mind. Subjects were told that the researchers were not look- ing for any particular kind of memories, just whatever came to mind, and they were asked to estimate how old they were at the time of the event. The only constraint was to describe memories from life before coming to college.

Given the emphasis of many theories upon the unique emotional in- volvement in nostalgia, as well as the finding in the first study that High Nostalgia subjects rated themselves as more emotional than dld Low Nostal- gia subjects, the autobiographical memories were judged for emotional con- tent. Consistent with chical observations by Kaplan (1987) and by Hertz (1990), H ~ g h Nostalgia subjects in the first study rated their preference for activities with others as stronger than did Low Nostalgia subjects. Therefore, the autobiographical memories were also scored for reference to activities or events involving other people.

As described by Nawas and Platt (1965), theories conceptualize nostal- gia as dependent upon either one's longing for the past, one's reaction

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY 423

against an unhappy present or one's concern over the future. Consistent with past-oriented theories, I-hgh Nostalgia subjects in the first study per- ceived the past as more favorable than did Low Nostalgia subjects, but there was no evidence that they preferred the past over the present, or that they wished to exchange the present for the past. On the contrary, High Nostal- gia subjects rated the present no less favorably than did Low Nostalgia sub- jects, and they rated themselves no less happy than &d Low Nostalgia sub- jects. The vali&ty of the ratings was explored in the second study which ex- amined the emotional state of the two nostalgia groups with independent measures of depression, pessimism, optimism, and emotionality.

Nostalg~a, defined as missing objects, events, or people from one's per- sonal past, was assessed with Batcho's (1995) Nostalgia Inventory. Hol- brook's (1993) scale of nostalgia proneness was used to explore the relation- ship of personal nostalgia, as measured by Batcho's inventory, to the type of nostalgia referred to as historical by Stern (1992).

Method

Subjects.-The sample consisted of 113 college students, including 81 women and 32 men, ranging in age from 18 to 27 years, with a medan age of 20 years. Students volunteered by answering ads posted around campus offering a small stipend for participating in a psychology study in which they would be asked to complete questionnaires.

Materzals.-Materials for assessing two types of memory were con- structed. A list comprised of 8 nouns high in positive affect (pleasant), 8 nouns high in negative affect (unpleasant), and 8 neutral nouns was con- structed for an immediate free recall task. Nouns were selected from Paivio's (1978) norms to yield a group of positive nouns averaging 5.9 in pleasant- ness (Pleasant), a group of unpleasant nouns averaging 2.0 in pleasantness (Unpleasant), and a neutral group averaging 3.9 in pleasantness (Neutral). Half the nouns in each group were concrete, and half were abstract. To minimize possible confoundmg with other variables, nouns were selected so that the three groups were comparable in average Frequency, Imagery Value, Concreteness, and Meaningfulness, accordmg to Paivio, Yudle, and Ma&- gan's (1968) norms. The words were arranged in random order with the con- straint of no more than three nouns from one pleasantness category to ap- pear consecutively.

Optimism was measured by Scheier and Carver's (1985) Life Orienta- tion Test, a scale based upon a definition of optimism as a favorable outlook on the world with the belief that good rather than bad things will happen. On the Life Orientation Test respondents rate the extent of their agreement with 12 statements (8 test items plus 4 f~Uer items to disguise somewhat the purpose of the test) describing generalized outcome expectancies.

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In developing the Hopelessness Scale, Beck and Weissman (1974) de- fined pessimism as a system of negative expectancies concerning one's self and future and considered it a core feature of depression. The Hopelessness Scale was included in this study, therefore, as a measure of pessimism and as one aspect of depression. The Scale consists of 20 true-false statements re- flecting different facets of negative attitudes about the future.

Two different conceptualizations of emotionahty were assessed. The Pittsburgh Scale of Emotionahty (Bendig, 1962), consisting of 30 true-false statements modified from three existing scales, was developed for use in re- search with American college students. However, since 12 of the items were from Eysenck's Neuroticism scale and 11 were from Taylor's Manifest Anxi- ety Scale, a majority of the Pittsburgh Scale items describe negative mood states such as "feelmg miserable," being "high strung," or the experience of "loneliness." The remaining seven statements, selected from Gudford's Thinking Introversion scale items, describe introspective characteristics such as meditating, analyzing oneself, and philosophizing.

A different notion of emotionality was assessed by Larsen and Diener's (1987) Affect Intensity Measure. By affect intensity, Larsen and Diener (p. 1) refer to "stable individual ddferences in the typical intensity with which individuals experience their emotions." The Affect Intensity Measure con- sists of 40 statements expressing intense emotional reactions to life events. Respondents rate how often they experience each of the 40 strong emotional reactions, including positive descriptors such as "overly enthusiastic," and "exuberance," and negative reactions such as "pretty bad," and "shaky all over." The Affect Intensity Measure assesses emotional intensity, irrespective of positive or negative valence of the emotion, whereas the Pittsburgh Scale assesses primarily negative mood states.

Procedure.-After completing informed consent and basic demographic information forms, subjects were allowed five minutes for the recall of auto- biographical memories. Nouns for the immediate free recall task were dis- played on slides at a 2-sec. presentation rate. All subjects completed their re- call within a 3-min. period. Follo\ving the free recall task, subjects com- pleted each of the six inventories at their own pace, placing each survey in an envelope as it was completed. Inventories were completed in the follow- ing order: Batcho's Nostalgia Lnventory, Holbrook's Nostalgia Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Affect Intensity Measure, The Pittsburgh Emotionality Scale, and the Hopelessness Scale. The two nostalgia inventories were com- pleted first and the two measures of depression last, to avoid the risk of mood-induction by readmg the negative self-referent statements in the Hope- lessness and the Pittsburgh Scale of Emotionality (Teasdale & Russell, 1983). At the end of the session, each subject received a $10 stipend for participat- ing.

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY 425

Results As in the first study, the average of the ratings for each of the 20 items

in Batcho's Nostalgia Inventory was used as an index of over-all nostalgia. The nostalgia index was used to identdy High Nostalgia and Low Nostalgia respondents by selecting scores obtained by the top 25% of the sample (scores above 3.9) and by the bottom 25% of the sample (scores below 3.1).

Memory.-Free recall, measured as the number of nouns recalled cor- rectly, was compared for High Nostalgia and Low Nostalgia subjects in a 3 x 2 mixed analysis of variance, with type of noun (Pleasant, Unpleasant, Neutral) within-subjects and scores on nostalgia (Highkow) between-sub- jects. A significant main effect of type of noun was obtained (F,,,,, =3.57, p < .04), with pleasant nouns remembered best (Table 4). However, High and Low Nostalgia groups did not differ significantly in their recall (F,,, =0.02, p > .05), and the effect of type of noun &d not ddfer for the two nostalgia groups (F,,,,, = 0.55, p > .05).

TABLE 4 M m CORRECT RECALLED FOR PLEASANT, UNPLEASANT, AND

NEUTRAL NOUNS BY NOSTALGIA GROUP IN STUDY 2

Type of Noun High Nostalgia Low Nostalgia (n = 28) (n = 28)

M SD M SD

Pleasant 4.00 1.54 3.89 1.70 Unpleasant 3.21 1.03 3.57 1.54 Neutral 3.35 1.22 3.21 1.81

Autobiographical memories of the two nostalgia groups were compared with respect to the age of the earliest memory reported, age of the most re- cent memory, average age of the memories, and the number of memories in separate one-way analyses of variance (Table 5). Subjects in the High and Low Nostalgia groups recalled about the same number of memories. Nostal- gia groups d d not ddfer significantly on any of the three age variables. The earliest memory reported by both groups occurred at about age 11 years and the most recent memory at about age 17 years. The average age at which memories took place was about 15 years for both groups.

The autobiographical memories were scored for two dimensions, emo- tionality and people drectedness (Table 5). The emotional intensity of each memory was rated on a 7-point scale with 1 =Low and 7 = Jihgh. The ratings were averaged separately for pleasant memories and for unpleasant memo- ries. Emotionahty was compared for High and Low Nostalgia groups in a 2 x 2 mixed analysis of variance, with level of nostalgia (highAow) the be- tween-subjects factor and type of memory (pleasant/unpleasant) within-sub-

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TABLE 5

Attribute H ~ g h Nostalgia Low Nostalgia F M SD tt M SD n

Age variables for memories Number 4.9 3.0 28 4.1 2.1 28 1.45 Age of subject for earliest 10.7 5.4 28 11.6 5.2 25 0.37 Age of subject for most recent 16.9 3.7 28 17.5 2.7 26 0.52 Average age of subject 14.3 4.1 28 15.4 3.6 26 1.04

Rated attributes of memories Pleasant emotionalitf 2.3 0.8 25 2.5 0.8 21 0.97 Unpleasant emociondityl 2.0 0.7 22 1.9 0.7 24 0.06 People directednessb 4.6 0.7 28 2.6 1.0 28 73.78*

Note.-Anchors of rating scales ace 1 =Low and 7 =High, 1 =None with others and 7 =All with others. * p < .0001.

jects. Emotion was rated as more intense for pleasant than for unpleasant memories (F,,35 = 10.48, p < d l ) , and this pattern did not differ significantly for the two nostalgia groups (F,,,,=1.92, p>.05). Over-all, the nostalgia groups did not dlffer in the emotional intensity of the memories they re- ported (F,,,, < 1.0, p>.O5), and separate one-way analyses of variance con- firmed that the groups did not ddfer for pleasant or unpleasant memories (Table 5 ) .

Autobiographical memories were scored for the presence of another person or other people integral to the memory, e.g., death of a parent, birth of a sibling, etc. Since the number of events recalled varied across subjects, for each subject the number of people-drected memories was converted to a uniform 7-point scale, with I. =No memories with others and 7 =All memo- ries with others. The extent to which others appeared in their memories was compared for the High and Low Nostalgia groups in a one-way analysis of variance. Significantly more of the H ~ g h Nostalgia subjects' memories were people-directed than were the memories of Low Nostalgia subjects.

Personalziy measures.-As in the first study, over-all, subjects perceived the world to have been better in the past (M=3.8, SD=0.8) than it is in the present (M=2.9, SD=0.9) or will be twenty years from now (M=2.8, SD= 1.0). High Nostalgia subjects rated the world when they were younger more favorably than did Low Nostalgia subjects (Table 6); however, the two nos- talgia groups did not ddfer in their ratings of the world as it is now or as it might be twenty years from now.

As expected, if Holbrook's (1993) scale measures a different construct than Batcho's (1995) inventory, High and Low Nostalgia subjects, as classi- fied on the basis of Batcho's inventory, did not ddfer in their scores on Holbrook's Nostalgia Scale (Table 7). The nostalgia groups also did not dd- fer in scores on optimism, as measured by the Life Orientation Test, or in

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY

TABLE 6

Time I g h Nostalgia Low Nostalgia F , ,54

( r z = 28) (12 = 28) M SD M SD

Past" 4.14 0.89 3.50 0.83 7.73" presentb 2.89 1.03 2.57 0.79 1.72 Future" 2.85 1.29 2.60 0.99 0.66

Note.-Anchors of rating scales are 1 =A lot worse and 5 = A lot better, 1 =Pretty bad and 5 =Great. *p< .01.

pessimism, as measured by the Hopelessness Scale. Emotionality as mea- sured by the Pittsburgh Scale &d not differ for High and Low Nostalgia subjects, but intensity of emotion, as assessed by the Affect Intensity Mea- sure, was significantly stronger for High than for Low Nostalgia individuals.

TABLE 7 MEAN SCORES ON PERSONALITY MULSURES BY NOSTALGIA GROUP IN STUDY 2

Measure High Nostalgia Low Nostalgia FI5., (n = 28) (n = 28)

M SD M SD

Holbrook's Index of Nostalgia" 41.64 8.28 41.85 8.93 0.01 Life Orientation ~ e s r ~ 18.85 5.34 19.21 4.57 0.07 Meet Lntensity MeasureC 4.47 0.46 3.85 0.57 20.16* Pittsburgh Emotionality scaled 18.28 6.75 15.32 6.77 2.69 Hopelessness Scalee 2.82 2.90 3.89 4.02 1.31

a 1 =Strongly Disagree; 9 = Strongly Agree. Minimum score= 8, Maximum score = 72. b~ = Strongly Disagree; 4=Strongly Agree. Minim m score=O, Maximum score=32. l=Never; 6 =Always. Score = Average across 40 items. '~alse = 0; True = 1. Wnimurn score = 0, Maxi- mum score= 30. eFalse=O; True= 1. Minimum score = 0, Maximum score = 20. "p c.0001.

Discussion The present study provides some initial insights into the role of memory

in nostalgia. Consistent with theories which assume that memory is an inte- gral component of the nostalgic experience, High Nostalgia subjects in the first study rated their memories as stronger than did Low Nostalgia subjects. However, in the second study memory ab~lity operationalized as rote recall of material with little personal relevance was not stronger for the High Nos- talgia group than for the Low Nostalgia group. Both nostalgia groups show- ed the same advantage for recatling pleasant over unpleasant items.

Coming from an indvidual's life history, however, nostalgic memories are personally meaningful, suggesting that any difference in memory between nostalgic and low-nostalgic individuals would be more likely found in auto- biographical memories than in rote recall of lists of unrelated words. High Nostalgia subjects did not recall a greater number of memories or memories

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from events which occurred at younger ages than did Low Nostalgia sub- jects.

Most theories define the nostalgic experience in terms of its characteris- tic bittersweet affect. One might expect, therefore, that subjects in the High Nostalgia group would reminisce about more emotional events or feel more emotional about events they recall. In this study, however, the nostalgia groups did not appear to differ with respect to the emotional character of their spontaneously recalled autobiographical memories. Their memories did ddfer though with respect to content. Subjects in the High Nostalgia group recalled more events in which another person or people were integral to the memory. For example, more of the High Nostalgia subjects' memories in- volved births, deaths, accidents to other people, etc. This findmg is consis- tent with theories which view nostalgia as a factor in maintaining one's im- age of self by remaining connected to others (Cavanaugh, 1989; Mds & Coleman, 1994). In Hertz's (1990, p. 195) articulation, the mind is "peo- pled" with "figures of the past" who retain a current reahty through the nos- talgic experience. Subjects in the Low Nostalgia group recalled more solitary events, such as talung quiet walks in a private getaway spot or achieving a personal goal or attaining an award.

As in the first study, subjects in the High Nostalgia group perceived the past as more favorable than those in the Low Nostalgia group did. This pos- itive outlook on the past is not, however, a statement against either the present or the future. The present data do not support theories which con- ceptualize nostalgia as a desire to exchange the present for the past. The N g h Nostalgia group did not rate the present as any less favorable than I d the Low Nostalgia group. The finding that High Nostalgia subjects rated the future as no less favorable than &d Low Nostalgia subjects is inconsistent with the view that nostalgia ties to the past the in&vidual who fears the fu- ture. Theories based upon anxiety or unhappiness with either the present or the future in effect define nostalgic in negative terms and conceive of it as a by product of dissatisfaction. By contrast, the present data support concep- tualizing nostalgia as a positive construct, that is, as good feehgs toward the past, rather than as negative feelings toward the present or future.

The present findmgs represent a first step in distinguishing nostalgia from other constructs. The present data suggest that personal and historical nostalgia may be independent phenomena. Individuals high and low in per- sonal nostalgia, as measured by the author's inventory, did not score differ- ently on Holbrook's (1993) Nostalgia Scale, which Davis (1979) and Stern (1992) would consider a measure of historical nostalgia.

Subjects in the H ~ g h Nostalgia group did not score differently on the Life Orientation Test, a measure of optimism def ied as a system of expect- ing favorable outcomes in one's own life as well as in the world. This find-

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY 429

ing raises doubts concerning theories which posit that nostalgia-prone indi- viduals believe that their lives will never be as good as in their past. Such a view characterizes nostalgia as inherently maladaptive, since living "in" or "for the past" interferes with one's ability to adapt successfully to one's cur- rent reabty as well as with one's potential to grow and to strive toward future goals.

Also inconsistent with theories which model the nostalgic as trapped in the past is the finding that High Nostalgia subjects were no more pessimistic as measured by the Hopelessness Scale. The absence of a difference in Hope- lessness Scale scores casts doubt upon theories which view the nostal- gia-prone indvidual as unhappy in their current set of circum- stances, since hopelessness comprises one important characteristic of depres- sion.

Although labeled a measure of emotionahty, the Pittsburgh Scale assess- es primarily negative affect such as anxiety or lonehess. Consistent with the findings for optimism and pessimism, the two nostalgia groups did not dif- fer in negative emotionahty as measured by the Pittsburgh Scale. However, subjects in the High Nostalgia group d d score higher on the Affect Inten- sity Measure which defines emotionality as the intensity of one's affective ex- perience. Since the Affect Intensity Measure assesses emotional reactions to both positive and negative events, the present findmg suggests that High Nostalgia indviduals are not necessarily either happier or sadder than Low Nostalgia individuals. Together with the absence of ddferences in optimism or pessimism, the higher Affect Intensity Measure scores suggest that the nostalgia-prone person feels emotions, including the bittersweet sentiment of nostalgia, more intensely.

GENERAL DISCUSSION The studies reported here were not designed to assess whether there are

normal and pathological forms of nostalgia, as maintained by some theorists (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984; Kaplan, 1987; Werman, 1977). Researchers must investigate whether nostalgia consists as one phenomenon with a spec- trum of intensity or as normal and pathological forms characterized by sub- stantial qualitative dfferences. The present studies are intended to explore the ordinary or "normal" nostalgic experience referred to by many as uni- versal.

It is not clear why the High Nostalgia subjects rated their memories as stronger than the Low Nostalgia subjects did in the first study. Data from the second study indcate that the difference in their self estimates cannot be accounted for by better rote memory or by a greater fluency in the recall of autobiographical memories. It also cannot be explained by the High Nostal- gia group remembering more emotional events or events from younger ages.

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Perhaps the tendency of High Nostalgia individuals to recall more events in- volving others is somehow related to their feehg more confident about their memories. On the other hand, the nostalgia groups may differ in some other feature of memory, not tested here, which explains the greater confidence of the nostalgic rememberer.

What does emerge from the present studes is a clearer image of the nostalgic individual. The largely negative picture of a fearful, unhappy, de- pendent person which had dominated many years of nostalgia theory is replaced by a more positive image of an individual with the capacity to feel intensely and for whom other people are a high priority. This view suggests that the nostalgic person is neither trapped in the past nor afraid to live in the present or for the future. Within this framework, the longstanding view of nostalgia as harmful or even debhating is replaced by a view of nostalgia as helpful and adaptive. Perhaps nostalgia can help the individual to main- tain a sense of connectedness with parts of self over time, and with other people throughout life. Such connectedness could help to foster a firm sense of continuity of self and to sharpen one's sense of identity within a network of personal relationships.

Individuals are not nostalgic because they have superior memory, but they tend to remember events which take their significance from the role played by others. Of course, it is legitimate to argue that the memories solic- ited in the second study reported here are not necessarily nostalgic memo- ries. In fact, the instructions d d not explicitly request nostalgic autobio- graphical memories. The intent was to examine the characteristics of those personal memories which came to mind spontaneously, without prompting for selective recall. Whether memories solicited as nostalgic would differ be- tween nostalgic and less nostalgic individuals remains a question for further research.

The position proposed here on the basis of the present findings sug- gests that nostalgia may facilitate the retrieval of "peopled" memories and thereby provide the connections which solidify one's identity. It is having a past, whether pleasant or painful, which is so necessary. Case studies of indi- viduals wanting (or needmg?) to relive pasts fdled with unpleasant, even trag- ic, experiences, force us to consider the question of why humans feel nostal- gic. Does nostalgia serve some special purpose or function? Psychoanalytic perspectives often portrayed nostalgia as dysfunctional (Kdsh , 1989; Peters, 1985), but cognitive approaches propose a variety of adaptive functions served by nostalgic remembering. In addtion to strengthening the sense of continuity of self and identity, nostalgic reminiscence may also decrease feel- ings of ahenation or loneliness by deepening the sense of connectedness with others. For example, nostalgia may serve as one vehicle for valuing the con- tributions of remembered people to our lives, to our development, to our

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PERSONAL NOSTALGIA, WORLD VIEW, MEMORY 43 1

identity. When one reminisces nostalgically about people in the past one is in effect recognizing their importance in their own right as well as their im- portance to us. In his defense of historical nostalgia, Lears (1998, p. 66) argued that nostalgia should be taken seriously because "The effort to reval- ue what has been lost can motivate serious historical inquiry; it can also cast a light on the present. Visions of the good society can come from recollections and reconstructions of the past, not only fantasies of the fu- ture. "

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Accepled June 18, 199 8.