Fighting cyberbullying with past: The buffering effect of nostalgia

Abstract

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one's past, as a buffer against psychological threats has been well-established across various domains. However, whether nostalgia could alleviate cyberbullying's adverse effects has never been investigated. We have conducted two studies (N = 471) to examine nostalgia as a buffer against cyberbullying victimization on social media. We found that people who have been cyberbullied more frequently reported a lower level of psychological well-being. Notably, they also reported more proneness to feel nostalgic, which led to a higher level of psychological well-being (Study 1). We complemented these findings with an experiment in which we simultaneously manipulated cyberbullying victimization and nostalgia and assessed the psychological well-being associated with being cyberbullied (Study 2). Nostalgia induction increased psychological well-being in the wake of cyberbullying victimization. Therefore, nostalgia is a psychological resource that can be harnessed to buffer cyberbullying.