Hanin: Nostalgia among Syrian refugees
Abstract
We examined the psychological functions of nostalgia (hanin in Arabic) among Syrian refugees residing in Saudi Arabia, who were forcibly displaced during the Syrian civil war. Forced displacement entails disruption, loss, and mourning, creating a salient contrast between one's past and present circumstances, which could attenuate the benefits of nostalgia. Studying this population thus affords a strong test of the boundaries of nostalgia's functionality. We experimentally induced nostalgia via vivid autobiographical recall and then assessed various psychological functions, as well as current affect. A supplemental objective was to examine the role of dispositional resilience. Most established benefits of nostalgia also accrued to Syrian refugees. However, contrary to previous findings, nostalgia decreased optimism, highlighting the limits of its palliative capacity among displaced individuals. As hypothesized, the impact of nostalgia was moderated by dispositional resilience, which acted as a catalyst of the emotion's benefits and as an inhibitor of its costs.
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Nostalgia increases social connectedness among Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia.
“Another experiment testing Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia also demonstrated that nostalgia (induced via the Event Re fl ection Task) increases social connectedness, assessed with the Nostalgia Functions Scale (Wildschut et al., 2019).”
From Nostalgia across cultures (2022) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
Experimentally induced nostalgia elevates meaning in life among Syrian refugees.
“Experimentally induced nostalgia elevated meaning in life among Syrian refugees (Wildschut et al., 2019).”
From Nostalgia across cultures (2022) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
Nostalgia raised self-continuity among Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia.
“This effect was replicated among Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia (Wildschut et al., 2019).”
From Nostalgia across cultures (2022) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
The assertion that nostalgia for a lost past creates a painful contrast received only qualified support in an ERT experiment among Syrian refugees resettled in Saudi Arabia.
“We found only qualified support for this assertion in an ERT experiment among Syrian refugees who were resettled in Saudi Arabia (Wildschut etal., 2019).”
From Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia (2023) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
Even civil-war refugees who had been forcibly separated from their past life derived psychological benefits from nostalgia, although those low in resilience also incurred some costs.
“Even civil-war refugees, who had been forcibly separated from their past life, derived psychological benefits from nostalgia, although those who were low in resilience also incurred some costs-a finding in need of replication.”
From Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia (2023) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
For high-resilience refugees, nostalgia (compared with the control condition) increased four of the six psychological functions examined, with no significant effect on optimism or inspiration.
“For high-resilience refugees, nostalgia (compared with the control condition) increased four of the six aforementioned psychological functions (there was no significant effect on optimism or inspiration).”
From Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia (2023) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
Among Syrian refugees resettled in Saudi Arabia who scored low on dispositional resilience, nostalgia (compared with the control condition) increased self-continuity and meaning in life but reduced optimism and inspiration, with no significant effect on self-esteem or social connectedness.
“For refugees who scored low on a measure of dispositional resilience, nostalgia (compared with the control condition) increased self-continuity and meaning in life but reduced optimism and inspiration (there was no significant effect on self-esteem or social connectedness).”
From Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia (2023) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2019
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The hedonic character of nostalgia: an integrative data analysis
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Self-citationWater From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia
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- Authors
- Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., & Alowidy, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wildschut, Tim
- Venue
- European Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-05-31
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1368-1384
- ISSN
- 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0992
- OpenAlex
- W2936725726
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 11.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Memory, History, Trauma, Identity
- Keywords
- nostalgia, Syrian refugees, forced displacement, Syrian civil war, optimism, resilience, autobiographical recall, affect
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