DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/AHTY-1568
Defense Date
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Jeffrey Green
Abstract
There are many positive outcomes from feeling nostalgic, including reductions in loneliness and greater meaning and social connectedness. My primary research goal was to investigate whether I could trigger feelings of nostalgia from re-reading an old favorite book, and whether this elicited nostalgia would increase feelings of connectedness and meaning in life and reduce loneliness. I designed a two-study package (one correlational study and one experiment) to assess re-reading novels. Trait nostalgia was positively associated with enjoyment of re-reading books (Study 1). Re-reading a favorite novel, relative to reading a new novel or a set of newspaper articles, elicited nostalgia. Further, nostalgia mediated the relation between reading condition on loneliness, meaning in life, and social connectedness (Study 2). Future work should focus on evaluating the nostalgic benefits of other forms of storytelling.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-6-2020