Nostalgic reflection is linked to a number of psychological benefits, including enhanced mood, greater sense of meaning in life, and bolstered social belongingness—but its effects on everyday cognition are less clear. Given that nostalgia is a complex emotion linking the past to the present, this project explores its effects on time perception across two scales: subjective lifespan and perceived duration of tasks in the present.  

In a between-groups study, 112 participants completed an Event Reflection Task (Sedikides & Wildschut, 2018), during which they wrote about either a nostalgic memory or an ordinary autobiographical memory for five minutes. Then, participants completed three scales measuring subjective lifespan. One scale captured the perceived distance of the memory they wrote about (i.e., how far away the memory feels relative to when it actually occurred), and two scales captured perceived lifespan (i.e., how old one feels they have been alive relative to their chronological age). Participants then estimated the duration of three in-lab tasks, including time spent writing about their memory during the Event Reflection Task, the length of a neutral film clip (low cognitive load task), and time spent completing a pattern recognition test (high cognitive load task). 

Preliminary analyses suggest that nostalgic memories feel further away in time than ordinary memories, that nostalgic reflection (compared to ordinary autobiographical reflection) expands the perceived length of one’s life, and that nostalgic reflection increases the perceived duration of low cognitive load tasks, but not high cognitive load tasks.  

These findings contribute to emerging conversations surrounding the use of nostalgia as a therapeutic tool. Specifically, its effects on subjective flow of time may be relevant to mindfulness and stress reduction techniques. Furthermore, the benefits of nostalgic reflection may be relevant to those living with disorders known to alter time perception, such as ADHD and schizophrenia.