Rosy Retrospection
Etymology
A descriptive coinage in cognitive psychology, pairing "rosy" (as in rose-tinted) with "retrospection," from Latin "retrospicere" (to look back). It captures a documented bias in how we re-rate experiences after the fact.
noun phrase · /ROH-zee ret-ruh-SPEK-shun/
The tendency to remember past events as more pleasant than they actually felt at the time.
What it names
Why "the good old days" glow — memory quietly edits out the boredom and friction.
Example
Rosy retrospection had them praising a road trip they’d spent half of stuck in traffic and arguing.
Related idea
Rosy retrospection sweetens the past; the closely related declinism uses that glow to insist the present and future are worse by comparison.