Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Unique affective profile of music-evoked nostalgia

An extension and conceptual replication of Barrett et al.’s (2010) study

Bibliographic Data

ID17764942
AuthorsSarah Hennessy (0000-0002-6308-3427, University of Southern California, corresponding author), Timothy Greer (0000-0002-0833-8060, University of Southern California), Shrikanth Narayanan (0000-0002-1052-6204, University of Southern California), Assal Habibi (0000-0002-1420-3568, University of Southern California)
Year2024
Volume24
Issue8
Pages1803-1825
Publication date2024-06-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEmotion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1528-3542 • E-ISSN: 1931-1516
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1037/emo0001389
PMID38913707
OpenAlexW4399985092
LanguageEN
Citations received1

Nostalgia is a mixed emotion, often evoked by music. This study sought to conceptually replicate and extend Barrett et al.'s (see record 2010-09991-008) pioneering work exploring music-evoked nostalgia, where the authors identified person- and context-level predictors of the experience of nostalgia in music. In a sample of 582 adults across the United States, we identified self-selected nostalgic and musically matched nonnostalgic, familiar songs for each individual, using an online survey in 2021. The participants listened to music and indicated feelings of valence and arousal, followed by assessments of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Short Form) and personality (Ten-Item Personality Inventory, Brief Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales, and Southampton Nostalgia Scale). Nostalgic songs were rated higher in valence and arousal than familiar, nonnostalgic control songs, and higher in mixed valence in some metrics. Individuals with higher trait-level Trait Nostalgia reported higher nostalgia ratings across nostalgic and control songs. Interactions between context- and person-level factors indicated that personality influenced the felt valence and arousal profile of music-evoked nostalgia, distinct from familiar control music. While some personality types found nostalgic music to make them feel more aroused and positive (those high in care, trait nostalgia, anger), others felt more negative while listening (those high in sadness). Last, we extend the personality profile of a highly nostalgic person; trait-level Trait Nostalgia was associated with care, play, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism. We demonstrate affective and person-level contributors to music-evoked nostalgia observed in Barrett et al.'s (2010) hold even when controlling for familiarity and musical features. We provide novel insights on complex interactions supporting this emotion, in a larger and more diverse sample with personalized stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Cognitive psychology · Media Influence and Health · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology

  • Principles of nostalgia

    Open Access•Evan Weingarten, Ziwei Wei et al.•Journal of Experimental Social…•2026

Unique citing works1
Citations per year1
Citation span2026 - 2026 (1)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1

Tools

Open DOI
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae