Imagine walking into a home with cassettes and VHS tapes on the shelves, a Polaroid on the desk, and print magazines on the coffee table. You may assume the house belongs to someone who grew up in the 1980s or ‘90s and never moved on, but there’s a good chance they’re a Gen Z adult who wasn’t alive then. Far from being stuck in the past, they may be using nostalgia for an era that predates them to improve their lives and build a better future.
Modern life is increasingly mediated by computer technology. We shop, socialize, entertain ourselves, and engage in public discourse online in ways that have steadily replaced in-person equivalents. As digital natives, Zoomers are at the center of this shift and are also the ones most actively pushing back, searching for more tangible ways to spend their time.
You can see it in several recent trends driven largely by young people. Physical media — records, cassettes, books — is rebounding. Hands-on hobbies like knitting, pottery, and woodworking are increasingly popular. And gathering places like music festivals, boutique fitness studios, independent bookstores, and shopping malls are drawing more people.
It’s too soon to know how far these trends will go, especially given the decades-long decline in in-person socializing. But they suggest a meaningful turn is happening, particularly among Gen Z, who are more likely than any other generation to report ditching screens.
Nostalgia for a previous era is an animating force behind these consumer and behavioral trends. In a nationally representative survey conducted by our team at the Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab, 68% of Gen Z respondents reported feeling nostalgic for eras before their lifetime, and 73% said they are drawn to media, styles, hobbies, or traditions from earlier periods. Additionally, 78% said they believe new technologies and products should incorporate ideas and design elements from the past.
What would lead history’s most digitally immersed generation to feel nostalgic for pre-digital eras? To answer that question, it helps to understand how nostalgia works.
Nostalgia is a warm sentimentality toward the past. It typically centers on cherished personal memories, but it can also encompass a broader appreciation for ideas, traditions, and ways of life one has never directly experienced. Though often characterized as light-hearted entertainment, nostalgia is an important self-regulatory resource for navigating life’s difficulties. It lets us step away from our current troubles and tap into the past for comfort, guidance, and inspiration.
For example, our research on how nostalgia helps us fulfill our need for social connection found that when people are pessimistic about their social lives, they become nostalgic for a time of socially fulfilling experiences. Being reminded of social success can give them confidence to overcome current challenges, motivating them to pursue goals focused on building and strengthening relationships.
A large body of research documents a similar self-regulatory process across a wide range of challenges and cultures. Though nostalgia can be evoked by many stimuli, from hearing a song to seeing an old friend, we tend to feel most nostalgic when dissatisfied or distressed. Nostalgia provides comfort, but it also mobilizes us to improve our situation.
Continue reading from Big Think’s Summer 2026 special issue, The Opt-Out Nation.
Clay Routledge, PhD, is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Archbridge Institute, where he also leads the institute’s Human Flourishing Lab. As a thought leader in existential psychology and human motivation, Clay translates research into practical insights that help people reach their full potential, build meaningful lives, and advance human progress and flourishing. Dr. Routledge received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is co-editor of Profectus Magazine, an online publication dedicated to human progress and flourishing. He writes the weekly newsletter "Flourishing Friday."
Psychology of Flourishing
Imagine walking into a home with cassettes and VHS tapes on the shelves, a Polaroid on the desk, and print magazines on the coffee table. You may assume the house belongs to someone who grew up in the 1980s or ‘90s and never moved on, but there’s a good chance they’re a Gen Z adult who wasn’t alive then. Far from being stuck in the past, they may be using nostalgia for an era that predates them to improve their lives and build a better future.
Modern life is increasingly mediated by computer technology. We shop, socialize, entertain ourselves, and engage in public discourse online in ways that have steadily replaced in-person equivalents. As digital natives, Zoomers are at the center of this shift and are also the ones most actively pushing back, searching for more tangible ways to spend their time.
You can see it in several recent trends driven largely by young people. Physical media — records, cassettes, books — is rebounding. Hands-on hobbies like knitting, pottery, and woodworking are increasingly popular. And gathering places like music festivals, boutique fitness studios, independent bookstores, and shopping malls are drawing more people.
It’s too soon to know how far these trends will go, especially given the decades-long decline in in-person socializing. But they suggest a meaningful turn is happening, particularly among Gen Z, who are more likely than any other generation to report ditching screens.
Nostalgia for a previous era is an animating force behind these consumer and behavioral trends. In a nationally representative survey conducted by our team at the Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab, 68% of Gen Z respondents reported feeling nostalgic for eras before their lifetime, and 73% said they are drawn to media, styles, hobbies, or traditions from earlier periods. Additionally, 78% said they believe new technologies and products should incorporate ideas and design elements from the past.
What would lead history’s most digitally immersed generation to feel nostalgic for pre-digital eras? To answer that question, it helps to understand how nostalgia works.
Nostalgia is a warm sentimentality toward the past. It typically centers on cherished personal memories, but it can also encompass a broader appreciation for ideas, traditions, and ways of life one has never directly experienced. Though often characterized as light-hearted entertainment, nostalgia is an important self-regulatory resource for navigating life’s difficulties. It lets us step away from our current troubles and tap into the past for comfort, guidance, and inspiration.
For example, our research on how nostalgia helps us fulfill our need for social connection found that when people are pessimistic about their social lives, they become nostalgic for a time of socially fulfilling experiences. Being reminded of social success can give them confidence to overcome current challenges, motivating them to pursue goals focused on building and strengthening relationships.
A large body of research documents a similar self-regulatory process across a wide range of challenges and cultures. Though nostalgia can be evoked by many stimuli, from hearing a song to seeing an old friend, we tend to feel most nostalgic when dissatisfied or distressed. Nostalgia provides comfort, but it also mobilizes us to improve our situation.
Continue reading from Big Think’s Summer 2026 special issue, The Opt-Out Nation.
Clay Routledge
Clay Routledge, PhD, is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Archbridge Institute, where he also leads the institute’s Human Flourishing Lab. As a thought leader in existential psychology and human motivation, Clay translates research into practical insights that help people reach their full potential, build meaningful lives, and advance human progress and flourishing. Dr. Routledge received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is co-editor of Profectus Magazine, an online publication dedicated to human progress and flourishing. He writes the weekly newsletter "Flourishing Friday."
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