When the new decade pushed in, people were just too quick to judge it as the worse decade yet. Jamil Zaki, in an article for The Huffington Post, discussed how people dissed the 00s, or the noughties politically, economically and even musically. Connected to this feeling is the longing for the distant past, when things were supposedly better. But nostalgia, Zaki discusses, may not always be 20-20. People tend to think of the past in the context of their memories, rather than through a rational viewpoint.
Looking at the distant past through rose tinted lens apparently serves us according to researchers Zhou et al. In four studies conducted on the interconnections of loneliness and nostalgia, it was found that loneliness is associated with decreased perceived social support, that loneliness is associated with increased nostalgia and that nostalgia is associated with increased perceived social support. This relationship was mostly pronounced in highly resilient individuals. Nostalgia may thwart loneliness by increasing perceived social support among lonely individuals. Researchers look at it as a possible coping strategy that can be honed as a tool in cognitive therapy and others.
Zaki, Jamil. Play Nice with the 2000s
Zhou et al (2008). Counteracting Loneliness: On the Restorative Function of Nostalgia. Philosophical Science
