Unfolding Nostalgia: Spatial Visualization, Nostalgia and Wellbeing

Research has shown that nostalgia can have psychological benefits, for example, by recreating comforting memories from the past. These memories often unfold in mental space, where one recreates events, people, objects, etc. Therefore, individual differences in nostalgic experience may relate with ability to process spatial information. The aim of the current study was to investigate the links among spatial ability, imagery, nostal-gia and wellbeing. 521 participants (Mage 27.7 years; SD = 12.14; 400 women) had completed the following measures: Well-Being Inventory (WHO5), Neuroticism scale from BFI-2-S, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Inventory (GAD7), Southampton Nostal-gia Proneness test, Nostalgia content test and Paper folding – a spatial visualization test (SV). SV did not correlate with nostalgia proneness. However, when only spatial-ly-related items were selected from Nostalgia content questionnaire, “Spatial Nostal-gia Score” was positively linked with SV and nostalgia proneness. This measure also positively linked with wellbeing after controlling for anxiety (but not neuroticism). The current study provided new insights into the links between nostalgia and wellbeing by incorporating spatial visualisation as an important element of nostalgia. Taken to-gether the results suggest that individual differences in SV may be linked to spatial as-pects of nostalgic experiences. The study identified directions for further measurement development and future experimental studies.