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When bittersweet turns sour: Adverse effects of nostalgia on habitual worriers
Author(s) -
Verplanken Bas
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.1852
Subject(s) - worry , psychology , rumination , thought suppression , anxiety , perspective (graphical) , distress , affect (linguistics) , mindfulness , social psychology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , cognition , clinical psychology , psychiatry , communication , artificial intelligence , computer science
Nostalgic memories can be pleasant, albeit bittersweet, and have been found beneficial for well‐being. This study demonstrated that for individuals who habitually worry, nostalgia may not be such a nourishing experience. Nostalgia was experimentally induced using a visual imagery task and resulted in positive affect. Although this was also the case for participants who habitually worry, these individuals subsequently showed more signs of anxiety and depression than habitual worriers in a control condition. The findings fit within a control theoretical perspective; as habitual worriers' actual chronic state of anxiety contrasts with nostalgic memories of a carefree past, this may instigate further rumination leading to distress. A more present‐oriented time perspective, such as mindfulness, is discussed as being beneficial for habitual worriers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.