Compared with sadness and anxiety, "nostalgia" usually does not give people a negative feeling, and sometimes it can even bring people a warm and cordial feeling. However, some psychologists have found through research that the essence of "nostalgia" is still an unpleasant emotion. Curiosity Daily introduced the research.
The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Dr. David Newman of the University of Southern California and his team found that most of the previous studies on nostalgia caused nostalgia by "reminding participants of a past", which usually led to positive memories, but could not fully explain the reasons for nostalgia. Therefore, his research team chose another angle and followed more than 200 students for 14 days, recording their daily interpersonal communication, study and any other events that may cause nostalgia.
The result of the study is that the "nostalgia" obtained by this method, whether it is the inducing factor or the emotion itself, is more negative than that found in previous studies. When people encounter negative experiences, they are more likely to have nostalgia, which in turn makes people more depressed and lonely. In other words, people are more likely to have nostalgia when the status quo is unsatisfactory, and they will be more unhappy after nostalgia.
If nostalgia is a negative emotion, then why do businesses often take nostalgia as a selling point in marketing activities? 20 14 A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research pointed out that people are in nostalgia, and when they recall past memories, they don't care much about money, including spending money on shopping. Therefore, the retro nostalgia propaganda you often see in advertisements or shopping malls is actually an effective marketing strategy.
In addition, neuroscience research shows that nostalgia is not a patent for the elderly. In fact, since the age of seven, human beings have known how to "recall" happy past events. This probably explains why young people also welcome the "nostalgic" theme marketing method of merchants.
The above is a new study on nostalgia. The essence of nostalgia is an unhappy mood. Shopping is easier to save money when people are in nostalgia.