The conclusion belongs to a new scientific investigation

Nov 13, 2013 16:02 GMT  ·  By

British researchers with the University of Southampton say that nostalgia may sometimes boost optimism levels in the human mind, making us look towards the future with more favorable eyes. This study may highlight new potential ways of addressing depression and other mental illnesses.

What the team suggests is that the nature of nostalgia may be more complicated than first thought. Previous works suggested that it may be a past-oriented emotion, whereas this research suggests it may also contain a component whose scope extends well into the future, EurekAlert reports.

The investigators published details of their study in the latest issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The team built its work upon the notion that nostalgic reverie can reduce feelings of loneliness, and set out to discover if additional positive effects existed.

“Nostalgia raises self-esteem which in turn heightens optimism. Our findings have shown that nostalgia does have the capacity to facilitate perceptions of a more positive future,” says Dr. Tim Wildschut, a member of the research team and a co-author of the new study.