The Role of Nastalgia in the Human Psyche

Nastalgia is an emotional experience that unifies. It helps to unite our sense of who we are, our self, our identity over time. The other way that nastalsia serves an essential psychological function is that it is a highly social emotion. In the beginning, when we're very ong, it's part of what bonds us to the most important people in our life. And as we go through life, it can broaden out and extend to a wider sphere of the people we interapt with. Nastalsia is, in that sense, a very healthy, pro social emotion.