Evoking nostalgia by presenting hit-song lists

This study investigates the nostalgia evoked by informational music cues, specifically lists of hit songs presented as text, without auditory presentation. The primary aim is to clarify the psychological characteristics and functions of nostalgia elicited by recognizing culturally shared music-related information, rather than examine nostalgia induced by music listening.

We examined nostalgia, its function, and mood while looking at hit-song lists, by collecting large-scale data on specific ages and hit-song lists in a controlled manner. Participants between 20 and 69 years of age responded to the hit-song lists in Japan between 1983 and 2022, and a total of 3,741 responses were obtained.

The results showed that nostalgia was effectively evoked by simply observing the song titles and musicians' names, and that the more songs the participants knew, the stronger the response. The strongest correlation within the nostalgia function was with self-continuity. Nostalgia peaked in the music hit lists that were associated with participants' late adolescence, which was consistent with the reminiscence bump phenomenon. No significant relationship was observed between nostalgia and mood change.

Text-based music cues such as hit lists can function as powerful triggers for nostalgia. The present study highlighted a previously underexplored pathway through which nostalgia can be triggered in everyday contexts. Associations were observed between nostalgia and both self-continuity and social bonding, suggesting that informational musical cues may support psychological connections with oneself and others through symbolic cultural artifacts.