Buffering acculturative stress and facilitating cultural adaptation: nostalgia as a psychological resource

Immigration and migration, albeit a steady force throughout human history, are reaching unprec-edented proportions. There were 191 million immigrants in 2005, projected to reach 350 million by the year 2025 (United Nations, 2002, 2006). Adding to this statistic are the short-term migrants: assorted sojourners or expatriates, approximately one million international students each year (Open Doors, 1996/1997), and 874 million tourists in 2005, projected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020 (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2006, 2008). Our focus in this chapter is on immigrants, although our discussion is also relevant to migrants— especially sojourners, expatriates, and international students. We first discuss the negative experi-ences or stressors facing immigrants as they strive to adjust in their host country (also referred to as recipient society or society of settlement). We proceed with a consideration of a crucial psycho-logical consequence of these stressors: acculturative stress. Next, we introduce the construct of nostalgia, elaborate on its properties and triggers, and highlight its functions as a psychological resource. In the ensuing section, we offer and develop the central claim of this chapter. Specifically, we emphasize the role of nostalgia as a coping strategy for alleviating acculturative stress and for contributing to successful acculturation patterns (e.g., integration). IMMIGRANT STRESSORS Immigrants typically flee their home country to find relief from unfavorable conditions such as poverty, human rights violations, famine, natural disasters, or wars (push factors; Sam, 2006). They may also be motivated by conditions that promise a better financial future or guarantee personal and civic liberties in the host country (pull factors; Richmond, 1993). Regardless, immigrants are likely to be vulnerable from the get-go. Moreover, they encounter in the host country unrelenting economic, cultural, and social obstacles (i.e., stressors) that may exacerbate their vulnerability to the risks involved. Let us elaborate on this point. According to Pettigrew’s (1997) model of personality and social structure and its adaptation