‘Nostalgic food heals for us’: A qualitative exploration of experiences with nostalgia, food, and mood

Kate Simpson Miss; Douglas Jozef Angus Dr; Megan Lee

doi:10.1002/hpja.873

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‘Nostalgic food heals for us’: A qualitative exploration of experiences with nostalgia, food, and mood

Journal article

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‘Nostalgic food heals for us’: A qualitative exploration of experiences with nostalgia, food, and mood

Kate Simpson Miss, Douglas Jozef Angus Dr and Megan Lee

Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol.35(4), pp.1343-1351

10/2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.873

PMID: 38772549

Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications

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Abstract

nostalgia

food

mood

psychological wellbeing

food-evoked nostalgia

Health psychology

Health promotion

Behaviour and health

Issue addressed: Nostalgia-the bittersweet reliving of the past-has been linked to social connection and psychological wellbeing. Although food consumption is often an intrinsically social experience, relatively little research has examined how individuals experience and understand how food consumption relates to feelings of nostalgia, food and mood. Methods: In the current study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Australians from varying cultural backgrounds to explore their experiences with nostalgia, food and mood. Results: Reflexive thematic analysis identified three key themes from the data: (i) The bittersweet experiences of food-evoked nostalgia-individuals' descriptions of food-evoked nostalgia and how it impacted their mood both positively and negatively (ii) social connection and identity continuity-participants' description of food-evoked nostalgia and how this provides an opportunity for social connection and identity continuity throughout life, which positively influences mood, and (iii) the role and relationship of food-evoked nostalgia and mood-individual descriptions of the important role that nostalgic food plays in their life, in addition to their relationship with food, and how this impacts mood. Conclusions: Understanding the positive component of nostalgic foods allowed individuals to bolster positive mood states with food-evoked nostalgia, increasing their quality of life. SO WHAT?: Understanding the link between food-evoked nostalgia and mood has significant implications, suggesting that negative mood states altered by nostalgic foods may result in positive mood states. Appropriate use of food-evoked nostalgia may increase the quality of life for individuals experiencing.

Details

Title: ‘Nostalgic food heals for us’: A qualitative exploration of experiences with nostalgia, food, and mood
Creators: Kate Simpson Miss (Author) - Bond University
Douglas Jozef Angus Dr (Author) - Bond University
Megan Lee (Corresponding Author) - Southern Cross University, Faculty of Education
Publication Details: Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol.35(4), pp.1343-1351
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Australia
Number of pages: 9
Identifiers: 991013189613702368
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.
Academic Unit: Faculty of Education
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

‘Nostalgic food heals for us’: A qualitative exploration of experiences with nostalgia, food, and mood

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