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Self-Regulatory Interplay Between Negative and Positive Emotions: The Case of Loneliness and Nostalgia

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Emotion Regulation and Well-Being

Abstract

Much of the impetus for the burgeoning interest in positive emotions was provided by the influential idea that these emotions play a vital role in the regulation of psychological distress and the maintenance of psychological and physiological homeostasis. Following in these footsteps, the authors review empirical research that highlights the role of nostalgia (a positive emotional state) in the regulation of loneliness (a negative psychological state). Specifically, they propose that the psychological significance of nostalgia resides in part in its capacity to regulate feelings of loneliness by increasing perceived social connectedness. The authors review findings showing that loneliness increases nostalgia and that, in turn, nostalgia increases perceived social connectedness. They then present evidence for the vital implication that, whereas the direct effect of loneliness is to reduce perceived social connectedness, its indirect effect is to increase perceived social connectedness via nostalgia. Finally, they examine how the relation between loneliness and nostalgia is shaped by individual differences that play a governing role in emotion regulation: resilience and the attachment-related dimensions of avoidance and anxiety.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, England, UK

    Tim Wildschut

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  1. Tim Wildschut
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  2. Constantine Sedikides
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  3. Filippo Cordaro
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Correspondence to Tim Wildschut .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Center of Research on Psychology in Soma, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Ivan Nyklíček

  2. , Department of Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Ad Vingerhoets

  3. Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economi, Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Marcel Zeelenberg

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Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Cordaro, F. (2011). Self-Regulatory Interplay Between Negative and Positive Emotions: The Case of Loneliness and Nostalgia. In: Nyklíček, I., Vingerhoets, A., Zeelenberg, M. (eds) Emotion Regulation and Well-Being. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6953-8_5

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