The relationship between life satisfaction and nostalgia: Perceived social support and meaning in life chain mediation

Much of the previous research has used experimental studies to explore the positive predictive effect of nostalgia on life satisfaction. However, the possible mediating effects involved remain unclear. To analyze the chain mediating mechanism between perceived social support and meaning in life in the relationship between nostalgia and life satisfaction and to improve the positive application of nostalgia to life satisfaction to ensure the physical and mental health of individuals, this study adopted the method of questionnaire survey, applied the Southampton Nostalgia scale, Perceived Social Support scale, Meaning in Life Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale. This study conducted a horizontal survey on 452 subjects recruited online from Gansu Province, Guangdong Province, Qinghai Province, and other places in China. The results showed that (1) there was a significant positive correlation between nostalgia and perceived social support, presence of meaning in life, searching for meaning in life, and life satisfaction. (2) Perceived social support and meaning in life play a chain mediating role in the relationship between nostalgia and life satisfaction. (3) Perceived social support and different dimensions of meaning in life are different in the relationship between nostalgia and life satisfaction. The findings contribute to understanding the chain-mediated mechanism between life satisfaction and nostalgia and provide recommendations for psychological service providers to apply nostalgia to enhance individual life satisfaction.