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Revisiting nostalgia for current and ex-romantic partners: Affective profiles and the moderating effect of relationship duration.

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Nostalgia is a self-relevant, socially grounded emotion marked by a sentimental longing for the past. Compared to the well-documented benefits known about general personal nostalgia, most nostalgia studies in both emotion and relationship science rely heavily on Western samples, and nostalgic effects of former partners are mixed. With an Asian sample, the present research had two main aims: (a) Experimentally replicate the nostalgic effects of current and ex-partners on current relationship quality, and (b) examine the moderating role of relationship duration. Results revealed both ex- and romantic nostalgia increased relationship satisfaction, and, more interestingly, romantic nostalgia decreased relationship commitment in shorter relationships. Furthermore, exploratory analyses highlighted distinct affective patterns within romantic nostalgia. Implications and contributions are further discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Emotion

DOI: 10.1037/emo0001676

Authors: Soo Yeon Park, Ye Ji Im, Hyun Moon, Sun W. Park, Gregory D. Webster

Institutions: Korea University, University of Florida, Korea University, The University of Texas at Austin

Language: English

Topic: Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

OpenAlex ID: W7154022753

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