1. Odor presentation has been shown in various studies to elicit autobiographical and
episodic memories (Rubin, Groth & Goldsmith, 1984; Chu & Downes, 2000). These studies
suggest that memories cued by odor presentation are more emotional and give people a sense
of being brought back in time. In fact, the mean age for these memories is typically reported to
be in the first decade of life (Larrson & Willander, 2009). Given that odors appear to elicit strong
memories of past events in life, we were interested in assessing whether presentation of odors
might change the way in which participants would respond to two commonly used measures of
“nostalgia”. We hypothesized that after participants were exposed to various olfactory stimuli,
they would have higher scores on the Southampton Nostalgia Scale (Barrett et al., 2010) and
on the Nostalgia Inventory (Batcho, 1995). In addition, we hypothesized that, following odor
presentation, participants might write more in response to an open-ended prompt asking them
to describe a memory from their past that evoked good feelings.
Odor presentation has been shown in various studies to elicit autobiographical and
episodic memories (Rubin, Groth & Goldsmith, 1984; Chu & Downes, 2000). These studies
suggest that memories cued by odor presentation are more emotional and give people a sense
of being brought back in time. In fact, the mean age for these memories is typically reported to
be in the first decade of life (Larrson & Willander, 2009). Given that odors appear to elicit strong
memories of past events in life, we were interested in assessing whether presentation of odors
might change the way in which participants would respond to two commonly used measures of
“nostalgia”. We hypothesized that after participants were exposed to various olfactory stimuli,
they would have higher scores on the Southampton Nostalgia Scale (Barrett et al., 2010) and
on the Nostalgia Inventory (Batcho, 1995). In addition, we hypothesized that, following odor
presentation, participants might write more in response to an open-ended prompt asking them
to describe a memory from their past that evoked good feelings.
A
All procedures were approved by the Utica College Institutional Review Board.
38 Utica College undergraduates were recruited to participate in this study.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group was
presented with a series of four odorants, another was presented with a series of
eight odorants and the third group was not presented with any odors but was given
a shape preference task in lieu of odorant presentation (i.e., to control for time
elapsed and to provide them with a “rating task”). The participants who were
presented with odorants were asked to indicate on a 170-mm visual analog scale
how much they “liked” each of the odors and to rate the intensity of the odor. After
the task, participants were asked to complete the Southampton Nostalgia Scale
and Batcho’s Nostalgia Inventory. The order of the two surveys was
counterbalanced. In addition to these two established measures of nostalgia, we
also prompted participants, in an open-ended format, to write about a memory that
evoked good feelings for them. They were then asked to indicate how old they were
in the memory (i.e., when the event had originally occurred).
All procedures were approved by the Utica College Institutional Review Board.
38 Utica College undergraduates were recruited to participate in this study.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group was
presented with a series of four odorants, another was presented with a series of
eight odorants and the third group was not presented with any odors but was given
a shape preference task in lieu of odorant presentation (i.e., to control for time
elapsed and to provide them with a “rating task”). The participants who were
presented with odorants were asked to indicate on a 170-mm visual analog scale
how much they “liked” each of the odors and to rate the intensity of the odor. After
the task, participants were asked to complete the Southampton Nostalgia Scale
and Batcho’s Nostalgia Inventory. The order of the two surveys was
counterbalanced. In addition to these two established measures of nostalgia, we
also prompted participants, in an open-ended format, to write about a memory that
evoked good feelings for them. They were then asked to indicate how old they were
in the memory (i.e., when the event had originally occurred).
DISCUSSIONDISCUSSIONMethodsMethods
Southampton Nostalgia Scale
According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘nostalgia’ is defined as a ‘sentimental longing for the past.’
Using the scale below [respondents are referred to a 7-point Likert scale] please rate each of
the following statements.
_____ How valuable is nostalgia for you?
_____ How important is it for you to bring to mind nostalgic experiences?
_____ How significant is it for you to feel nostalgic?
_____ How prone are you to feeling nostalgic?
_____ How often do you experience nostalgia?
_____ Generally speaking, how often do you bring to mind nostalgic experiences?
Southampton Nostalgia Scale
According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘nostalgia’ is defined as a ‘sentimental longing for the past.’
Using the scale below [respondents are referred to a 7-point Likert scale] please rate each of
the following statements.
_____ How valuable is nostalgia for you?
_____ How important is it for you to bring to mind nostalgic experiences?
_____ How significant is it for you to feel nostalgic?
_____ How prone are you to feeling nostalgic?
_____ How often do you experience nostalgia?
_____ Generally speaking, how often do you bring to mind nostalgic experiences?
Introduction
Batcho Nostalgia Inventory
Separate analyses of variance were conducted on the scores from the
Southampton Nostalgia Scale (SNS), the Nostalgia Inventory (NI) and the word
counts for responses to the open-ended prompt. The analyses revealed no
statistically significant differences between the odor groups and the no odor group for
the SNS (F(2,35) = 0.37; n.s.), the NI (F(2,35) = 0.66; n.s.) and the word count data (F(2,35)
= 0.52; n.s.). We also assessed the inter-correlations of the three nostalgia
measures. Not surprisingly, the SNS and NI nostalgia scores were highly correlated
(r(36) = 0.45; p < .01). What was unexpected, was the fact that there was a statistically
significant negative correlation between nostalgia scores on the SNS and the word
count data for the open-ended memory responses (r(36) = -0.34; p < .05). That is,
participants with higher mean scores on the SNS used fewer words when asked to
describe a “memory that evokes good feelings for you”.
Our primary hypothesis was that after odor presentation, participants would
respond with higher scores on the Southampton Nostalgia Scale and the Nostalgia
Inventory. We also hypothesized that exposure to odors might enhance open-ended
responses about personal memories. Neither of these hypotheses was supported.
However, when we examined inter-correlations between the three primary dependent
variables in this study, an interesting relationship was revealed -- there was a
significant negative correlation between SNS scores and word count for the open-
ended responses. Participants who had higher scores on the Southampton Nostalgia
Scale used fewer words when asked to describe a “memory that evokes good
feelings for you”. Conversely, participants who had lower SNS scores, used more
words. This relationship seems counterintutitive. It may be that individuals who report
being more nostalgic are accustomed to thinking or talking about their personal
memories more often and that those who report being less nostalgic are not.
Consequently, when presented with a specific prompt to write about their memories,
perhaps less nostalgic individuals are writing more because it is a relatively novel
opportunity to “explore” their own past experiences.
Nostalgia Measures Results