Memorial distortions and homesickness following relocation

These studies compared homesick and control subject's ratings of their affe ctive reaction to public events and autobiographical events. Homesick indiv iduals often report persistent rumination about pleasant experiences from t heir home (pre-transition) environment. It is, however, unclear whether suc h experiences were in fact originally experienced as pleasant or whether ho mesickness results in a distortion of the affective nature of pre-transitio n experiences. Study 1 asked homesick and control subjects to rate their af fective reaction to public events that occurred before and after they had r elocated to attend university. Homesick subjects rated the events from befo re transition as having been less unpleasant compared to the ratings from t he control subjects. Furthermore, events that occurred after transition to university were found to be rated as more unpleasant by the homesick subjec ts when compared with control subjects' ratings. Study 2 partially replicat ed the results obtained in Study 1. Study 3 employed a repeated measures de sign in which autobiographical events were recorded and rated for affect on two occasions by homesick and control subjects. Results were in general ac cord with those from Studies 1 and 2, and homesickness was analysed with re spect to depression, anxiety, and stress. The results are discussed in term s of the affective and memorial aspects of homesickness.