Rosy retrospection

Rosy retrospection is a proposed psychological phenomenon of recalling the past more positively than it was actually experienced.

The highly unreliable nature of human memory is well-documented and accepted amongst psychologists. Some research suggests that negative emotions are exaggerated in memory as well as positive ones.

Despite being a cognitive bias which distorts a one's view of reality, it is suggested that rosy retrospection serves a useful purpose in increasing self-esteem and sense of well-being.

Simplifications and exaggerations of memories (such as occurs in rosy retrospection) may also make it easier for the brain to store long-term memories, as removing details may reduce the burden of those memories by requiring fewer neural connections.

Declinism - the predisposition to view the past more favourably and the future more negatively - may be related to cognitive biases like rosy retrospection.

Rosy retrospection is very closely related to the concept of nostalgia; though the broader phenomenon of nostalgia is not usually seen as based on a biased perspective.

The English idiom "rose-colored glasses" or "rose-tinted glasses" refers to perceiving something more positively than it is in reality.

The Romans occasionally referred to this phenomenon with the Latin phrase "memoria praeteritorum bonorum", which translates into English roughly as "memory of good past", or more idiomatically as "good old days".