PSYCHOLOGY OF NOSTALGIA
New Book on Nostalgia
Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life
Based on decades of research on the psychology of nostalgia and how you can use it to improve your mental health and wellbeing.
Channel the power of the past to move forward.
How Nostalgia is Making The World a Better Place — One Memory at a Time
Read an excerpt in Profectus Magazine from the book Past Forward on how nostalgia can transform lives by inspiring positive change and growth.
Academic Resource on Nostalgia
Once viewed as a disease, nostalgia is now considered to be an important psychological resource. It involves revisiting personally cherished memories that involve close others. When people engage in nostalgia, they experience a boost in positive psychological states such as positive mood, feelings of social connectedness, self-esteem, self-continuity, and perceptions of meaning in life.
This book explains in detail what nostalgia is, how views of it have changed over time, and how it has been studied by social scientists.
Videos
Articles
Why Gen Z Is Resurrecting the 1990s
The New York Times, by Clay Routledge | August 24, 2025
Why Gen Z is nostalgic for a world it never knew
Big Think, by Clay Routledge | July 9, 2026
BACK FOR THE FUTURE: WHY GEN Z’S HISTORICAL NOSTALGIA SHOULD GIVE US HOPE
Profectus Magazine, by Clay Routledge | September 17, 2025
In defense of nostalgia: Why rewatching "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars" is actually good for you.
Business Insider, by Clay Routledge | Jan 30, 2024
Today’s nostalgia craze isn’t about the past. For Americans of all generations, it’s about a brighter future
Fortune, by Clay Routledge | December 22, 2023
Remember the Good Old Days? No Need to Feel Ashamed if You Do: Nostalgia can bring comfort and meaning, even inspiration. It’s about the future more than the past.
Wall Street Journal, by Clay Routledge | Feb. 26, 2021 at 3:12 pm ET
HOW NOSTALGIA AND ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY CAN ENGAGE YOUNGER WORKERS
Profectus Magazine, by Jason Dressel & Clay Routledge | January 28, 2026
The Psychology of Gen Z’s Historical Nostalgia: What Brands Need to Know
PR News, by Clay Routledge & Nicola Avis | February 5, 2025
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are betting on nostalgia to win your vote. Here’s why
Fortune, by Clay Routledge | September 17, 2024
America’s generational divide doesn’t apply to technology. Gen Zers and boomers share the same techno-optimism–and nostalgia
Fortune, by Will Johnson and Clay Routledge | August 24, 2023
Nostalgia Can Be an Engine of Progress: The journey to the past that nostalgia takes us on is really about the present and the future
Discourse, by Clay Routledge | December 07, 2023
The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work
Harvard Business Review, by Clay Routledge | April 26, 2021
Podcasts
The Atlantic
How to Touch Grass: The Power of Pre-Internet Nostalgia
Available from July 27, 2026
Apple News In Conversation
How to Make Nostalgia Your Psychological Superpower
Streamed April 16, 2026
History Factory
S4E7: Back to the Future: How Nostalgia Fuels a Meaningful Life with Dr. Clay Routledge
Available from August 12, 2024
The Analog Hour
You’re Not Stuck in the Past — You’re mining It: The Science of Nostalgia with Dr. Clay Routledge
Streamed February 26, 2026
Future Dimensions: The Podcast from Mercedes-Benz
#10 What if memories shaped our future?
Available from November 16, 2023
The Ringer: Sports Cards Nonsense
Why the Power of Nostalgia in Card Collecting Matters
Streamed October 28, 2024
Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam
The Time Machine: How Nostalgia Prepares Us For The Future
Aired May 29, 2020 • 8:46 PM ET
The Art of Manliness
Podcast #353: Nostalgia — Its Benefits and Downsides
Recorded November 2, 2017 • Last updated: September 29, 2021