One of the natural consequences of lockdowns is social isolation (Panchal et al., 2021), where individuals are unable to achieve their social goals. College students were sent home on March of 2020 by the Mexican government to try to reduce the number of people infected with COVID-19. During data collection and until August of 2021, students had not returned to their universities. Consequently, students spent more than 17 months taking classes online until some universities reopened in the middle of August of 2021. Consequently, it is safe to say that most students experienced threats to the self.

Nostalgia represents a coping mechanism that individuals could turn to when feeling lonely, isolated, stressed out or meaningless (Sedikides et al., 2015; Sedikides and Wildschut, 2018). The problem is that, naturally, individuals spend more time thinking about the future than the past (Baumeister et al., 2016). Empirical findings on nostalgia suggest that experiencing nostalgia by recalling important life events could help individuals achieve their social goals indirectly (Juhl et al., 2021). Similarly, conceptual developments on the functions of autobiographical also indicate the achievement of social goals as an important function (Harris et al., 2014). This positive effect of nostalgia has been well-documented across several studies (Cheung et al., 2013, 2016; Hepper et al., 2021; Jiang et al., 2021). Given the social threats experienced by many individuals (Panchal et al., 2021), including college students in Mexico, we posit that this social context represents a research opportunity to examine how remembering special moments from the past can help cope momentarily with some of the threats to the self, experienced by many and help individuals see a brighter future. Looking at our COVID-19 free past might help shed light onto our COVID-19 relatively free future (Sedikides and Wildschut, 2020).

As documented extensively (Sedikides et al., 2015; Sedikides and Wildschut, 2020), the main source of nostalgia is the recollection of important life events. The recollection of mundane daily events does not lead to the same positive outcomes as the recollection of important moments (Newman et al., 2020). These special memories tend to be more positive than negative, involving interaction with others, in which the self, as the protagonist, transports itself back to those good all times (Evans et al., 2021). Instead of using the standard event reflection task, in which participants are asked to bring to mind a nostalgic event (Sedikides et al., 2015), we asked participants to recall an important life event, without requesting a nostalgic event, from the past to test the following hypothesis:

Two consequences of nostalgia are its relational outcomes and motivational potency. Regarding its relational outcomes, nostalgia often leads to feeling connected to close others and appreciated (Cheung et al., 2013; Juhl et al., 2021). These feelings of connection and appreciation are usually accompanied by motivational outcomes such as optimism and approach motivation, among others (Stephan et al., 2014; Sedikides and Wildschut, 2020). The self-regulatory model of nostalgia suggests that when the self feels threatened, nostalgia is a resource that helps restore balance by given meaning to life and helping individuals look forward to the future (Stephan et al., 2014). Hence, we use this model to examine first how nostalgia leads to feeling connected and grateful in the form of the satisfaction of the need for relatedness (Ryan and Deci, 2017) and a social emotion such as gratitude (Smith et al., 2017). Two studies showed that the “causal link” going from social outcomes to motivational outcomes provided a better fit than the sequence of motivational to social outcomes (Cheung et al., 2013, 2016). Hence, we posit first a connection between nostalgia and social outcomes. To our knowledge, this is first study to test a connection between nostalgia and the satisfaction of the need for relatedness. Conversely, the connection between nostalgia and gratitude has been explored before (van Tilburg et al., 2018). Specifically, one study found that recalling grateful moments could also elicit nostalgia (van Tilburg et al., 2018), suggesting communalities between both emotions. Similarly, another study found a moderate, positive zero-order correlation between gratitude and nostalgia and some similarities in their appraisal profile (van Tilburg et al., 2019). Both studies identified the emotional profiles of gratitude and nostalgia, without paying special attention of how nostalgia might relate to gratitude under a social threat. Consequently, we test the following two hypotheses:

Motivation is particularly relevant given the threats to the self, posed by the pandemic. Hence, we examine two motivational consequences in the form of optimism (Carver and Scheier, 2001) and subjective vitality (Ryan and Frederick, 1997). The core characteristic of optimism is expecting good things in the future (Carver and Scheier, 2001). Similarly, vitality is characterized by feeling alive, alert, and with energy, which are crucial to enjoy the present and plan for the future (Ryan and Deci, 2001; Sedikides et al., 2016; See Figure 1 for conceptual model). Previous studies have shown a positive relationship between nostalgia and optimism (Cheung et al., 2013, 2016) and between nostalgia and vitality (Sedikides et al., 2016). Yet, these studies did not use a social threat or conducted their studies with less extensively-studied countries. Hence, we replicate the examination of the following hypotheses:

In sum, the purpose of the present investigation is twofold. First, we test the influence of recalling important events on nostalgia. Second, we examine how nostalgia relates to feeling connected with important others and feeling grateful and how these two positive outcomes might be connected positively with optimism and subjective vitality under the difficult conditions of prolonged lockdowns. Our basic premise is that nostalgia helps achieve social goals indirectly, which then facilitates seeing a brighter future.

We conducted a power analysis with G^∗Power (Faul et al., 2007) to determine the number of participants needed for a power of 0.95 with an effect size of 0.25 and two groups. From the empirical literature on nostalgia, we observed that the effect sizes were small to medium (e.g., Sedikides et al., 2015; Sedikides and Wildschut, 2020). This is why we used a value of 0.25 to calculate the sample size needed. Results showed that we needed a sample size of at least 210. Hence, we decided to collect data for 8 weeks seeking reach our goals of having at least 210 participants. After 8 weeks of data collection, participants were 332 (66% women and 34% men; 97% were in the 18–25 age range) college students from two universities in Mexico. The data was collected in the fall of 2020 online using Google forms. All participants stopped attending school on March 21st of 2020 due to the restrictions set by the Mexican government and they did not go back until August of 2021 (17 months).

We first asked participants from to tell us how the pandemic has affected their lives. This open-ended question served two important purposes. First, it allowed us to validate whether the pandemic has represented a threat to the self. Second, it allowed to contextualize our investigation, given that participants were probably not always thinking about the pandemic and its effects, consistent with models of situated cognition (Schwarz, 2010). This contextualization helped test with more confidence the potential implications of special memories and nostalgia for social and motivational outcomes. It helped us test how the past can help see a brighter future under difficult conditions.

After, participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: special moment from their years in high school or ordinary moment from the previous week. Participants read the following instructions taken from the relevant literature on nostalgia (e.g., Sedikides et al., 2015):

Special moment: For this activity, we would like you to think about your last year in high school. Within this year, we would like you to find a special moment that you personally experienced, a moment that represents a significant memory for you. Please, describe this moment in the space below with as many details as possible.

Recent ordinary moment: For this activity, we would like you to think about last week. Within this week, we would like you to find an ordinary moment that you personally experienced, a moment that represents an ordinary memory for you. Please, describe this moment in the space below with as many details as possible.

While we could test a model in which gratitude mediates the relationship between the experimental condition and nostalgia, research on appraisal and emotions has shown that one of the defining features of nostalgia is its greater temporal distance, which is not shared with gratitude (van Tilburg et al., 2019). We followed the guidelines set by Hayes (2018) to test our mediation model and the sequential effect of recalling a special moment from high school versus recalling an ordinary moment from the previous week. A bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 4, Hayes, 2018) showed that in the mediation model, there was a significant effect of the experimental condition on nostalgia, b = 2.56 p < 0. 001. The relationship between nostalgia and gratitude was significant, while controlling for the influence of the experimental condition, b = 0.49, p < 0.001. Conversely, the influence of the experimental condition was not significant, b = 0.18, p = 0.36. Last, the indirect effect of the experimental condition on gratitude was significant, 1.25, CI = 0.89, 1.62. The effect size was 0.38, CI = 0.26, 0.50. Hence, our results showed that bringing to mind a special moment from high school led indirectly to feeling grateful and appreciated, in the form of gratitude, through its influence on nostalgia. In addition, a bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 6, Hayes, 2018) showed a significant sequential indirect effect of the experimental condition on optimism, 0.33, CI = 0.17, 0.56., via its influence nostalgia and the relationship between nostalgia and gratitude. The effect size was 0.24, CI = 0.12, 0.37, which could be interpreted as a quarter standard deviation gain in optimism when recalling a special moment versus an ordinary moment. Hence, participants felt more optimistic after bringing to mind a significant memory from their years in high school.

Feelings of nostalgia were elicited by the experimental condition, consequently, the position of nostalgia was fixed. Yet, we could test a model in which optimism precedes gratitude. A bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 6, Hayes, 2018) showed that the alternative sequential indirect effect of the experimental condition on gratitude was not significant, 0.03, CI = −0.03, 0.09., via its influence nostalgia and the relationship of nostalgia with optimism.

Our results were consistent with the vast literature on nostalgia showing the relational and motivational consequences of nostalgia (Sedikides et al., 2015; Sedikides and Wildschut, 2018, 2020). Participants asked to recall a special moment from their high school years reported higher levels of nostalgia, which was then positively associated with gratitude. Participants were then able to achieve their social goals briefly. In addition, gratitude had a positive relationship with optimism. In order to increase the validity of our results, we conducted a conceptual replication by asking participants to recall a special moment from their years in junior high or an ordinary event from the same life period to address the limitation of using an event from the previous week as the control condition in study 1. In addition, we extended our examination of relational goals by assessing the satisfaction of the need for relatedness and added one motivational outcome in the form of vitality as two potential consequences of nostalgia.

For our second study, we collected data for 8 weeks, seeking to have at least 210 participants. After 8 weeks of data collection, participants were 477 (65% women and 35% men; 93% were in the 18–25 age range) college students from two universities in Mexico. The data was collected online in the spring of 2021.

As in study 1, participants first reported how the pandemic has affected their lives. After, participants were then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: special moment from their years in junior high or ordinary moment from the same life period. Participants read the following instructions taken from the relevant literature on nostalgia (e.g., Sedikides et al., 2015):

Special moment: The instructions were the same as study 1 with the only difference that we asked participants to recall a moment from their years in junior high.

Ordinary moment: The instructions were similar to study 1, but asked participants to recall an ordinary moment from their years in junior high.

The same nostalgia items as study 1 were used. The levels of internal consistency were acceptable (α = 0.93).

As in study 1, we followed the guidelines set by Hayes (2018) to test our mediation model and the sequential effect of recalling a special moment from high school versus recalling an ordinary moment from the same period of life. A bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 4, Hayes, 2018) showed that in the mediation model, there was a significant effect of the experimental condition on nostalgia, b = 0.58, p = 0.01. The relationship between nostalgia and need for relatedness was significant, while controlling for the influence of the experimental condition, b = 0.32, p < 0.001. Conversely, the influence of the experimental condition was not significant, b = 0.10, p = 0.54. Last, the indirect effect of the experimental condition on need for relatedness was significant, 0.19, CI = 0.04, 0.34. The effect size was 0.10, CI = 0.02, 0.17. Hence, our results showed that bringing to mind a special moment from high school led indirectly to the satisfaction of the need for relatedness, through its influence on nostalgia. In addition, a bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 6, Hayes, 2018) showed a significant sequential indirect effect of the experimental condition on vitality, 0.08, CI = 0.02, 0.15., via its influence nostalgia and the relationship of nostalgia with the satisfaction of the need for relatedness. The effect size was 0.04, CI = 0.01, 0.08, which could be interpreted as a five percent of a standard deviation gain in vitality when recalling a special moment versus an ordinary moment. The observed effect size was smaller than in study 1. Hence, participants felt more vitality after bringing to mind a significant memory from their years in junior high (See Figure 2 for summary of results and Table 1 for descriptive statistics).

As in study 1, feelings of nostalgia were elicited by the experimental condition, consequently, the position of nostalgia was fixed. Yet, we could test a model in which vitality precedes the satisfaction of the need for relatedness. A bootstrap test (PROCESS, model 6, Hayes, 2018) showed that the alternative sequential indirect effect of the experimental condition on need for relatedness was not significant, 0.003, CI = −0.01, 0.02, via its influence nostalgia and the relationship of nostalgia with vitality.

Results showed additional support for the proposition that recalling important moments led to greater nostalgia, which was then positively associated with relatedness and vitality. The results were consistent with the proposition that turning back to the past helps individuals see a brighter future (Sedikides and Wildschut, 2020). It was also consistent with the idea that nostalgia helps achieve social goals (Juhl et al., 2021). Yet, the effect size of the experimental condition on nostalgia was smaller than the one observed in study 1.

This study had several limitations. First, we used a sample of convenience, which limits our ability to generalize our results. As shown in our results, our participants did experience economic challenges and threats to the self, coming from the extensive lockdowns, yet these challenges might not be as detrimental as the ones faced by older adults who experienced high unemployment and domestic disputes, among others. Second, our experimental manipulation was brief. Even though we observed positive results, future studies should use longer interventions to examine how and whether nostalgia is a constant resource to achieve social goals and see a brighter future. Third, even though we asked participants how the pandemic has affected their lives in general and almost all answers were negative, indicating the presence of social threats, we did not assess the level of threat and whether individual differences could influence the results. Future studies could start with the same open-ended question, followed by some questions regarding the level of perceived threat. Fourth, even though similar items have been used before to assess state gratitude (Frias et al., 2011), not everyone would agree that feeling appreciated and understood are relevant indicators of state gratitude.

In sum, we found a positive influence of recalling important moments from the past on nostalgia. In addition, nostalgia was positively related to social outcomes in the form of gratitude and satisfaction of the need for relatedness, which were then positively related to optimism and vitality. Hence, during extensive and prolonged lockdowns, nostalgia could be a coping resource that individuals could turn to feel connected to others and see a brighter future.