Researchers discover seaside perfect place to feel nostalgic

Traditional beach resorts in Essex could be the perfect places to get nostalgic and feel more positive according to Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg from the University of Essex.

He was one of the researchers on a University of Cambridge-led project which found that people in the UK and US are more likely to feel nostalgic towards places by the sea, lakes or rivers than they are towards fields, forests and mountains, according to new research.

Now Historic England is using the research to celebrate our links to our coastal heritage with the public encouraged to share their seaside stories online of much-loved holiday destinations such as Clacton, Southend and Mersea Island through the Missing Pieces Project.

Seaside is best place for feeling positive

The research, published in Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, suggests that coastlines may have the optimal visual properties to make us feel positive emotions, and argues that ‘place nostalgia’ offers significant psychological benefits.

The study found seaside and oceanside spots account for over a quarter of nostalgic places identified by UK residents (26%) and one-fifth (20%) of US residents.

Rivers and lakes raise the figure to around a third (35% UK; 30% US). Over one-fifth of nostalgic places are urban (UK 20%; US 22%), while agricultural areas only account for around 10% (UK and US). Mountains and forests also only account for 10% each.

"Emotional connection to the seaside"

Dr Van Tilburg, from the Department of Psychology, said: “Our recent research shows how nostalgia for 'blue' environments—like the coast and seaside—can support wellbeing. We’re really excited this work is now part of Historic England’s nationwide celebration of our emotional connection to the seaside.

“We’ve found in the UK and the United States that these places can hold powerful personal and cultural meaning, perhaps memories such as playing at arcades with friends and eating fish and chips with your family or just enjoying the calming sound of the waves.

“I live in Essex and have a particular soft spot for Mersea as I have visited it many times with my family so can understand the restorative power of the seaside.”

"Blue places are the hallmark feature of place nostalgia"

Dr Elisabeta Militaru, who led the research during her PhD at Cambridge’s Psychology Department, said: “We expected people to be more often nostalgic for green places since so many studies emphasise the psychological benefits of green, natural environments. We were surprised to find that blue places are the hallmark feature of place nostalgia.”

“Our findings add to the growing evidence that blue places are associated with increased psychological well-being,” Dr Militaru said.

UK participants were particularly nostalgic about places in Cornwall and Devon with Essex and Norfolk having medium-levels.

US participants were especially nostalgic for places in California and Florida, states that host some of the countries’ most sought-after coastal destinations. New York also stood out for its many national parks and urban landmarks such as New York City.

Around 800 US residents and 200 UK residents took part in the study. Participants – ranging in age from 18 to 94 years and evenly split between men and women – were asked to identify and describe the places they were nostalgic about.

Combining natural language analysis and geolocation data

The team of psychology researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Essex, Southampton and Korea University isolated the defining characteristics of nostalgic places by contrasting them against ordinary places.

“The idea that places serve as an emotional anchor is not new. Nearly 3,000 years ago, Homer wrote of Ulysses’ longing to return to his homeland, Ithaca. We wanted to understand what makes certain places more likely to evoke nostalgia than others. What are the physical and psychological features that give a place its nostalgic pull?” said Dr Militaru.

“This is the first study to combine natural language analysis and geolocation data to identify what makes places more likely to resurface in our minds at a later date.”

The researchers behind the study have published maps showing the most nostalgic regions of the UK and US, identified by participants from each country.

See full story and maps of locations on the University of Cambridge website.