By John Salak–
Those who long for the past, keep close ties with old friends and are prone to sentimentality are arguably sappy. But that’s not a bad thing. Being sappy & social is invigorating; it reflects a deep appreciation for connection, memory and meaning.
Staying nostalgic and keeping connected actually gives these people a leg up compared to less sentimental types when it comes to their health and well-being, according to a U.S. and European study.
The study’s conclusions are based on a review of almost 1,500 U.S. and European residents undertaken by researchers from the University at Buffalo and Japan’s Kyoto University.
Previous studies have reported that people with friends and confidants are happier and less likely to suffer from depression. They are also less likely to die prematurely. It is believed that having strong ties with others also provides valuable support during difficult times.
Social interactions and close relationships seem particularly important. However, social circles tend to shrink for people as they age.
This U.S.-European study explored the impact of social networks from a unique perspective, examining potential links between nostalgia and the size of an individual’s social network. In what it reports to be the first study of its kind, the researchers broke out their examination into three pieces.
In the first experiment, U.S. undergraduate students with an average age of 19 were surveyed about how nostalgic they were and about their friendships.
Nostalgia was measured by asking questions such as “How important is it for you to bring to mind nostalgic experiences?” and “How often do you experience nostalgia?” Other queries examined how motivated they were to make new friends and to maintain their existing friendships, while also assessing how many people were in their social circle.
This group averaged seven close friends— so close that they reported it would be difficult to imagine life without them. They also had another 21 people who were still important to them.
The researchers reported that those who said they were nostalgic also put more importance on maintaining their friendships and had the most close friendships and other relationships.
The second experiment looked at whether the same was true of non-students in the U.S. An online panel of adults answered the same questions as the students. They also did a short personality test.
These participants, whose average age was 40, had smaller social networks than the students. They had five people they were very close to, on average, and about 14 other people who were still important to them.
Once again, however, those who were nostalgic put more effort into maintaining their friendships and had the highest number of close friendships and other relationships.
The third experiment used data from a long-running Dutch survey to examine the effect of nostalgia on social networks over a seven-year period.
This found that the participants became more nostalgic as they aged. When questioned in 2013, they scored an average of 3.95 for nostalgia, out of a possible seven. By 2019, this had risen to 4.21.
The participants who scored “high” or “medium” for nostalgia kept the same number of strong social ties over this period—people they could talk to about important matters.
In contrast, those with low levels of nostalgia had almost 20 percent fewer close relationships.
Taken together, the three sets of results indicate that a tendency to reminisce about happy times helps people realize the importance of such relationships—and motivates us to maintain them.
“People who feel nostalgic more often and value those memories are more aware of their important relationships and the need to nurture them,” reported researcher Kuan-Ju Huang, a Ph.D. student at Kyoto University. “This means these friendships may be more likely to last, even as we get older and our lives, interests and responsibilities change.”
Nostalgia and social connections may be especially important as people age, but it doesn’t necessarily start later in late in life.
“There is evidence showing that young adults report nostalgic feelings slightly more frequently than middle-aged adults, while older adults report dramatically higher levels of nostalgia,” Huang noted. “High levels of nostalgia in young and older adults occur for different reasons. Life transitions during emerging adulthood, including leaving the family home and entering college or the workforce, may trigger a psychological need to find solace in nostalgia.”
Regardless of the reasons, sentimentality and nostalgia can be a driving force toward a happier and healthier life.
