Con-grad-ulations are in order if you have an upcoming reunion.
And while many of us may cringe at our high school days and fashion missteps, if you’re on the fence about attending, science says you should go.
New research has found a connection between celebrating a scholarly anniversary and a simple mood booster that may come as a surprise.
There’s a lot of pressure around heading off to your 10, 20 or even 30-year high school reunion and seeing old classmates.
But the experience could increase feelings of gratitude, according to a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Engaging in nostalgic experiences — whether reuniting with former school friends, listening to old music or even revisiting former memories — can strengthen feelings of social connection.
Across several studies conducted by researchers, some participants answered questions about their feelings of nostalgia, gratitude and their levels of social connection.
Other studies had participants listen to nostalgic songs and then rate their feelings of gratitude and social connectedness.
The researchers concluded that nostalgic memories lead people to consider their social ties, prompting gratitude for their lives.
Another way to put it is that reminiscing about the past leads to appreciation through the sense of connection we feel socially.
It should come as no surprise that our social lives play a role in boosting our mood, as well as our health.
Psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Robert Waldinger, the director of the longest-running scientific study of adult life, revealed that how connected we are to others is the biggest predictor of a long life.
And lacking social connections has also been linked to a range of health problems, including mental distress, insomnia, a weaker immune system and cognitive decline.
Previous research has also found that purposefully looking back at the past by smelling certain scents or looking at old photographs can increase mental well-being.
But while modern-day social media can lead to comparison traps, the researchers believe that our real-life connections outweigh what we see online.
“I think if you have to boil it down to one thing — happiness, life satisfaction, meaning, all these related concepts — you usually get back to quality connections with other human beings,” study lead and professor of psychology Jeffrey Green said. “Gratitude is one of these meta approaches, where it’s focusing on what you have rather than what you don’t have.”
