We
formulated, tested and supported, in six studies, a theoretical model according
to which individuals use nostalgia as a way to re-inject meaningfulness in
their lives when they experience boredom. Studies 1-3 established that induced
boredom causes increases in nostalgia, when participants have the opportunity
to revert to their past. Studies 4-5 examined search for meaning as a mediator of
the effect of boredom on nostalgia. Specifically, Study 4 showed that search
for meaning mediates the effect of state boredom on nostalgic memory content, whereas
Study 5 demonstrated that search for meaning mediates the effect of
dispositional boredom on dispositional nostalgia. Finally, Study 6 examined the
meaning re-establishment potential of nostalgia during boredom: nostalgia
mediates the effect of boredom on sense of meaningfulness and presence of
meaning in one’s life. Nostalgia counteracts the meaninglessness that
individuals experience when they are bored.