Article ID: TJSKE-D-24-00040
This study investigated the psychological impact of nostalgia trigged by confectionery consumption. Participants (N = 149, ages 22-79) were instructed to eat caramels and thereafter respond to a scale on moods, the timing of nostalgic evocation, autobiographical-cultural memory, the nostalgic function, questions about remembrance, and free-answer questions. The results showed that eating the test food evoked both autobiographical and cultural memory, suggesting the possibility of using the food as a new trigger to evoke nostalgia. Furthermore, it was shown that nostalgic evocation enhances social ties, temporal continuity of the self, meaning of life, and other psychological functions, as well as facilitates seeing value in traditional products, clarifying that these functions contribute to higher enjoyment and can have various positive effects. It was suggested that evoking nostalgia with the eating of test food can have psychological effects that lead to well-being.
