Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Loneliness Assuaged: Eye-Tracking an Audience Watching Barrage Videos
Published on: May 29, 2020
Counteracting loneliness: on the restorative function of nostalgia
Xinyue Zhou1, Constantine Sedikides, Tim Wildschut
1Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Four studies tested whether nostalgia can counteract reductions in perceived social support caused by loneliness. Loneliness reduced perceptions of social support but increased nostalgia. Nostalgia, in turn, increased perceptions of social support. Thus, loneliness affected perceived social support in two distinct ways. Whereas the direct effect of loneliness was to reduce perceived social support, the indirect effect of loneliness was to increase perceived social support via nostalgia. This restorative function of nostalgia was particularly apparent among resilient persons. Nostalgia is a psychological resource that protects and fosters mental health.
Related Concept Videos
Bonanno's Theory of Grieving
Resilience
The resilience...
Horney's Sociocultural Approach
Importance of Need for Affiliation
Factors Influencing Attraction IV: Reciprocity
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Social Relationships and Well-Being