The term ‘nostalgia’ was coined by a Swiss doctor in the 17th century to describe the homesickness experienced by mercenaries fighting far from home (from the Greek ‘nostos’ – the desire to return home –and ‘algos’, meaning pain).
That’s not so different from how we use the term to refer to thinking fondly or wistfully of the past, such as places you’ve been or people you’ve known. In fact, psychologists have shown that nostalgia of this kind has various psychological benefits, such as countering feelings of loneliness or existential anxiety. But a yearning for a past that you never actually experienced is different (and has its own name, ‘anemoia’, according to the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows).
Traditionally, psychologists thought of nostalgia as being based on a person’s recollections of their own experiences, which makes it difficult to fit what you’ve described into their account. More recently, however, the philosopher Prof Felipe De Brigard at Duke University has proposed that nostalgia is broader, and includes your yearnings.
De Brigard was inspired by research on memory that’s shown it’s a creative process. When you recollect memories, it’s not like you’re looking up a recording of what happened, it’s more like your brain creates a simulation of those past events.
In this way, De Brigard argues that nostalgia can be based on memories – simulations of pleasant past experiences – but doesn’t have to be. Given the role of imagination in memory, he says it’s not a huge leap to propose that nostalgia can also be based on imagined positive past experiences.
This kind of imagination-based nostalgia is likely to be influenced by stories and propaganda about the past. So it’s quite likely that you’ve read or heard rose-tinted accounts of historical periods or places. Based on those accounts, your mind creates a simulation of what those places or times would have been like and you then feel a yearning to experience them for yourself. De Brigard says this is more likely if you’re feeling dissatisfied with your current situation.
You’re far from the only one experiencing this kind of nostalgia and recently social psychologists and political scientists have started to wonder whether anemoia could be playing a part in the rise of populist movements, such as the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement in the US, or the Brexit campaigns in the UK.
Older populist voters might be inspired by conventional nostalgia, for times they really did experience (that’s not to say their memories are necessarily accurate). But many young voters also seem to be susceptible to nostalgia-based propaganda and anemoia helps to make sense of this.
Like you, they could be experiencing rose-tinted nostalgia for past places and times, especially if they’re struggling in present circumstances. In turn, perhaps this attracts them to politicians who promise a return to the ‘good old days’ – even if those days are little more than a figment of the imagination.
Read more:
- Why you never forget how to ride a bike, explained by neuroscience
- Dream-reality confusion: Why old dreams can feel like real memories
- What causes déjà vu? The quirky neuroscience behind the memory illusion
- Where do memories form and how do we know?
Asked by: Max Hooper, Southampton
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