“People who are nostalgic are generally not people who think life is on a declining path,” says Tim Wildschut, a professor of social and personality psychology at the University of Southampton in the U.K.
Wildschut is the author of two recent papers that contrast nostalgia with what he terms “declinism.” Nostalgia, he says, is all about the recollection of personal memories. These memories promote feelings of affiliation and social connectedness. “Important people in our lives, including people who may no longer be around, are brought to life through nostalgic memory, and through these memories we feel closer to them,” he explains. By reconnecting us with our past experiences, nostalgia also provides a sense of continuity that fosters feelings of meaningfulness and optimism, he says.
Declinism, on the other hand, is an unrealistic glorification of the past coupled with the belief that things are steadily going downhill. It’s less about personal memory and more about feelings of dissatisfaction. “Declinism is more related to grievance and pessimism, not to social connectedness and growth,” he says. “It’s this belief that society is getting worse.”
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