Examining the Effects of Nostalgia on Authenticity, Empathy, and Meaning in Life Among Counseling Students

Abstract

This study examined the effects of nostalgia, a bittersweet emotion that is felt as a person reminisces on cherished autobiographical memories on master’s-level counseling students’ authenticity, empathy, and perceptions of meaning in life. Previous research has shown that nostalgia has self, social, and existential capacities. In this respect, previous studies have reported that nostalgia can promote authenticity, empathy, and meaning in life. Focusing on these objectives, this online research study randomly assigned 132 master’s-level counseling students from CACREP-accredited programs across the U.S. to either a nostalgia group or an ordinary memories group. To induce nostalgia, the “The Event Reflection Task” was used, in which participants in the nostalgia group were asked to reflect and briefly write about a nostalgic memory, while participants in the ordinary memories group were asked to do so in connection with an ordinary memory. Following a manipulation check, in which participants in the nostalgia group reportedly felt more nostalgic than those in the ordinary memories group, all participants were asked to complete the Authenticity Scale, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. One-way ANOVA tests showed there were no significant differences in ratings of authenticity, empathy, and meaning in life between the nostalgia and the ordinary memory groups. This study’s findings contribute to the counselor education literature and provide insightful implications for future research on nostalgia within the counseling profession.