As Evans explained to PsyPost, previous studies explored how nostalgia could help us to feel closer to those around us.

“Coming from a background investigating romantic relationships early in my academic career, I was really interested in understanding how this connectedness benefit could extend to romantic relationships,” Evans said. “Surprisingly, the work investigating nostalgia within a romantic context was fairly limited, so I was thrilled at the prospect of extending the nostalgia research to investigating its relevance to romantic relationships,” he added.

In their first study, they found that people who looked back on past moments of their relationship with nostalgic fondness were more likely to experience relationship closeness, satisfaction and commitment.

In another study, Evans asked a select group of university students to write about a nostalgic experience from their relationship. They reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction after the exercises. Then, Evans asked the participants to listen to a song that reminded them of their partners – again, the participants felt higher levels of satisfaction with their relationship.

“Experiencing romantic nostalgia through recalling a significant event involving one’s current romantic partner can, at least briefly, enhance their perceptions of closeness, commitment and satisfaction with their partner,” Evans explained.

Relationships that last: how ‘romantic nostalgia’ keeps love strong