Nostalgia’s place among self-relevant emotions

ABSTRACT

How is nostalgia positioned among self-relevant emotions? We tested, in six studies, which self-relevant emotions are perceived as most similar versus least similar to nostalgia, and what underlies these similarities/differences. We used multidimensional scaling to chart the perceived similarities/differences among self-relevant emotions, resulting in two-dimensional models. The results were revealing. Nostalgia is positioned among self-relevant emotions characterised by positive valence, an approach orientation, and low arousal. Nostalgia most resembles pride and self-compassion, and least resembles embarrassment and shame. Our research pioneered the integration of nostalgia among self-relevant emotions.

KEYWORDS:

• Nostalgia
• self-relevant emotions
• emotion
• multidimensional scaling
• affect

Acknowledgements

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. All authors consented to the submission of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

1. Although the methods and procedures were identical across Studies 1–4, we treated them as separate studies for several reasons. One is expositional clarity. Another is methodological: We collected these data across different student cohorts, with a significant passage of time between collections (approximately 1 year in each case). The third reason is statistical: This practice also allowed us to assess the consistency and stability of our models across samples.

2. For Study 5, the events elicited the full range (1–10) of intensities for all emotions. The average intensities, in declining order, were: gratitude (M = 6.47, SD = 3.28), nostalgia (M = 6.38, SD = 3.06), inspiration, (M = 6.38, SD = 3.27), pride (M = 6.29, SD = 3.32), passion (M = 6.22, SD = 3.18), self-compassion, (M = 6.05, SD = 2.93), unrequited love (M = 4.22, SD = 3.53), hurt feelings, (M = 3.10, SD = 3.02), embarrassment, (M = 2.85, SD = 2.57), guilt, (M = 2.59, SD = 2.55), and shame, (M = 2.42, SD = 2.43).

3. In a separate study, 50 MTurk participants (28 women, 22 men; M_age = 37.02, SD = 12.51) evaluated positive and negative valence separately (1 = not at all positive, 10 = extremely positive; 1 = not at all negative, 10 = extremely negative). This allowed us to explore their potential independence (Russell & Carroll, 1999). Positive and negative valance were highly and negatively correlated, r = −.988, indicating that it is appropriate, in the present context, to treat valence as a uni-dimensional attribute.

4. The non-expert participants in Study 4 also completed these attribute ratings (after comparing the emotions). Their ratings closely resembled the reported ratings by Study 6 experts and are available upon request.

5. Replicated MDS analysis permits the simultaneous analysis of multiple matrices, which suited our data structure. Each participant in Study 1–4 contributed a similarity/dissimilarity matrix; in Study 5, each event produced such a matrix.

6. For Study 5, a unidimensional model also fitted adequately (Stress = .035). We adopted the two-dimensional model, however, because Stress approximately halved by adding this second dimension. Furthermore, adopting the slightly more complex two-dimensional model allowed us to draw comparisons between the models from Studies 1–4 and Study 5, enriching understanding of the self-relevant emotions. We consider the secondary dimension in the General Discussion.