Nostalgia is not only sad, but also has unexpected benefits
2022-06-20
[psychological words] The older people are, the more nostalgic they are, which is related to people's subconscious fear of death. When people really realize that time is gone forever and that life is an irreversible journey, they must be terrified. Nostalgia can make people repeatedly experience the beauty of childhood and the joy of youth, build a positive meaning of life, and resist the negative experience brought by aging and death. Wang Xinling, a Taiwanese female singer who had not been confused for a long time, quickly "came out of the circle" because she sang her former masterpiece in an entertainment program. On a second-hand trading platform, a large number of tapes, CDs and other commodities previously issued by Wang Xinling were on sale, and the price of some signature CDs even exceeded 1000 yuan. This old song has "exploded" many middle-aged fans of Wang Xinling, awakened their youth memories and set off a wave of nostalgia. So why do people nostalgia? What benefits can nostalgia bring to people and what help can it provide? It's easy to miss the past when you're in a bad situation The word "nostalgia" was invented by Swiss doctor johansenhofer in 1688. Nostalgia originally specifically refers to homesickness. The symptoms of this disease include pain, depression, insomnia, fever, loss of appetite, etc. From the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century, nostalgia has been regarded as a painful and even pathological experience caused by homesickness. Until the end of the 20th century, western scholars did not distinguish nostalgia from homesickness. They began to pay attention to the positive role of nostalgia and defined nostalgia as a positive emotion. The general understanding of nostalgia in modern psychology is: longing and love for the past. Psychologist wildschutter believes that nostalgia is the "storeroom" of positive emotions, which stores positive emotions such as happiness, happiness and tranquility. However, psychologist Wilman believes that nostalgia is a mixed emotion, which includes not only the happiness brought by recalling the past, but also the loss and sadness of "never going back". So, why do people have this kind of psychology? One is that people miss the past because they are dissatisfied with the current personal situation. It is difficult to change the present, but it is easy to find happy times from the past. The past cannot be changed. It consists of a series of certain events, but people can filter out the difficult and unhappy memories, and choose the good memories they want, so as to temporarily forget the current troubles. The second is that people are more willing to gain a sense of certainty through nostalgia because they are worried about the future. When people believe that the future is bright and predictable, they are more willing to spend time working hard and less nostalgic. But when people are in a bad situation, they are prone to negative emotions. At this time, they want to go back to the certain past. Nostalgia can bring people a sense of belonging, security and identity So, what benefits can nostalgia bring or help people? First of all, nostalgia helps alleviate people's loneliness. When people are nostalgic, they not only miss the past things, but also the people who have experienced these things together and the warm and beautiful emotional connection between people, which can meet people's instinctive needs for a sense of belonging. The way of life in modern society makes people feel lonely and alienated. Nostalgia is like a key that can open the door to their hearts. It makes people more eager to connect. Wildeshu's research shows that people with nostalgia can show better social connection, they can feel more love, and have stronger interpersonal skills. Secondly, nostalgia can bring people positive emotional experience. Dr. stickett, a psychologist at North Dakota State University, found that nostalgia can make people feel better through experiments. In the experiment, some subjects listened to some past pop songs and read some of their favorite lyrics, which stimulated their nostalgia. Compared with the control group (without listening to songs or reading lyrics), these subjects could feel the meaning of life better. Thirdly, nostalgia helps dispel people's fear of death. The older people are, the more nostalgic they are, which is related to people's subconscious fear of death. When people really realize that time is gone forever and that life is an irreversible journey, they must be terrified. Nostalgia can make people repeatedly experience the beauty of childhood and the joy of youth, build a positive meaning of life, and resist the negative experience brought by aging and death. Finally, nostalgia can improve people's self-identity. Susan Klaus whitburn, a professor of psychology and brain science at the University of Massachusetts, said that the process of shaping and reshaping their life stories in memory can make people more aware of who they are. The theory of narrative psychology has a similar point of view, which holds that how people tell stories will shape who they are. Nostalgia can make people connect with themselves in the past, let people know how they came along, let people more confirm their own existence and identify with themselves. Finally, it is worth mentioning that although nostalgia can bring people a sense of belonging, security and identity, we still need to remind ourselves not to dwell too much on the past, but to play a positive role of nostalgia to better live in the present. (outlook new era)
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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