Article Version of Record

Nostalgia and sentimentality among minority elderly people (Bulgarian Roma people and Hungarians living in Romania)

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Stoyanova, Stanislava
Doseva, Natali
Gergov, Teodor
Virginás-Tar, Emese

Abstract / Description

Nostalgia and sentimentality are very typical for the old age. There are some characteristics that are perceived as typical for the elderly people in the different cultures, such as being dependent, and needing long-term care. There are also some similarities between the population tendencies in Bulgaria and Romania. The simultaneously acceptance in European Union of both countries also suggests the existence of some similar attitudes towards the past among elderly minority people in both countries. The hypothesis of the study was that together with some similarities, the elderly people from both ethnic minorities in the two countries would differ cross-culturally in their sentimentality and nostalgia related to the past. Sentimentality and nostalgia in elderly minority people (26 Roma people in Bulgaria and 21 Hungarians in Romania) were measured by means of a questionnaire created by Gergov & Stoyanova (2013). The results indicated that the Hungarian minority in Romania was more sentimental and nostalgic than the Roma minority in Bulgaria. More thoughts about the past reported the minority young elders than the minority oldest old. The females from the minority groups were more sentimental than the males from the minority groups. Higher sentimentality and nostalgia among elderly Hungarians could be explained by their higher conservatism and more satisfaction with the hystorical past than Roma people. Roma people living in institutions felt a sense of stability in their present and they shared some positive expectations for the future.

Keyword(s)

sentimentality nostalgia ethnic minority elderly

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2015-04-30

Journal title

Psychological Thought

Volume

8

Issue

1

Page numbers

82–93

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Stoyanova, S., Doseva, N., Gergov, T., & Virginás-Tar, E. (2015). Nostalgia and sentimentality among minority elderly people (Bulgarian Roma people and Hungarians living in Romania). Psychological Thought, 8(1), 82–93. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v8i1.116
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Stoyanova, Stanislava
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Doseva, Natali
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Gergov, Teodor
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Virginás-Tar, Emese
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-28T10:02:03Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-28T10:02:03Z
  • Date of first publication
    2015-04-30
  • Abstract / Description
    Nostalgia and sentimentality are very typical for the old age. There are some characteristics that are perceived as typical for the elderly people in the different cultures, such as being dependent, and needing long-term care. There are also some similarities between the population tendencies in Bulgaria and Romania. The simultaneously acceptance in European Union of both countries also suggests the existence of some similar attitudes towards the past among elderly minority people in both countries. The hypothesis of the study was that together with some similarities, the elderly people from both ethnic minorities in the two countries would differ cross-culturally in their sentimentality and nostalgia related to the past. Sentimentality and nostalgia in elderly minority people (26 Roma people in Bulgaria and 21 Hungarians in Romania) were measured by means of a questionnaire created by Gergov & Stoyanova (2013). The results indicated that the Hungarian minority in Romania was more sentimental and nostalgic than the Roma minority in Bulgaria. More thoughts about the past reported the minority young elders than the minority oldest old. The females from the minority groups were more sentimental than the males from the minority groups. Higher sentimentality and nostalgia among elderly Hungarians could be explained by their higher conservatism and more satisfaction with the hystorical past than Roma people. Roma people living in institutions felt a sense of stability in their present and they shared some positive expectations for the future.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Stoyanova, S., Doseva, N., Gergov, T., & Virginás-Tar, E. (2015). Nostalgia and sentimentality among minority elderly people (Bulgarian Roma people and Hungarians living in Romania). Psychological Thought, 8(1), 82–93. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v8i1.116
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2193-7281
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1593
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1959
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v8i1.116
  • Keyword(s)
    sentimentality
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    nostalgia
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    ethnic minority
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    elderly
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Nostalgia and sentimentality among minority elderly people (Bulgarian Roma people and Hungarians living in Romania)
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Psychological Thought
  • Page numbers
    82–93
  • Volume
    8
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record