The Paradox of Music-Evoked Sadness: An Online Survey

Summary

This study explores listeners’ experience of music-evoked sadness. Sadness is typically assumed to be undesirable and is therefore usually avoided in everyday life. Yet the question remains: Why do people seek and appreciate sadness in music? We present findings from an online survey with both Western and Eastern participants (N = 772). The survey investigates the rewarding aspects of music-evoked sadness, as well as the relative contribution of listener characteristics and situational factors to the appreciation of sad music. The survey also examines the different principles through which sadness is evoked by music, and their interaction with personality traits. Results show 4 different rewards of music-evoked sadness: reward of imagination, emotion regulation, empathy, and no “real-life” implications. Moreover, appreciation of sad music follows a mood-congruent fashion and is greater among individuals with high empathy and low emotional stability. Surprisingly, nostalgia rather than sadness is the most frequent emotion evoked by sad music. Correspondingly, memory was rated as the most important principle through which sadness is evoked. Finally, the trait empathy contributes to the evocation of sadness via contagion, appraisal, and by engaging social functions. The present findings indicate that emotional responses to sad music are multifaceted, are modulated by empathy, and are linked with a multidimensional experience of pleasure. These results were corroborated by a follow-up survey on happy music, which indicated differences between the emotional experiences resulting from listening to sad versus happy music. This is the first comprehensive survey of music-evoked sadness, revealing that listening to sad music can lead to beneficial emotional effects such as regulation of negative emotion and mood as well as consolation. Such beneficial emotional effects constitute the prime motivations for engaging with sad music in everyday life.

Related articles

• Locating Myself in the Socio-Political Context Through Transactional Analysis

  This document explores a personal journey of self-discovery and growth from a socio-political perspective, using the framework of Transactional Analysis (TA) to analyze experiences and the impact of societal systems.

• My Socio-Political Journey and Transformation through Transactional Analysis

  This reflective document chronicles a personal journey of self-discovery and empowerment within socio-political contexts, emphasizing the author's experiences related to identity, privilege, marginalization, and the transformative potential of Transactional Analysis.

• The Concept of Stress Adaptation

  This document explores the concept of stress adaptation, detailing definitions, physiological responses, and coping strategies related to stress as a biological response, environmental event, and transactional relationship.

• 3 Concepts of Psychobiology

  This chapter explores key concepts in psychobiology, focusing on the interplay of genetics, neuroendocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology, and psychopharmacology in understanding psychiatric disorders and their implications for nursing practice.

• Psychological Disorders and Specific Symptoms

  This document outlines various psychological disorders, including their symptoms, classifications, and characteristics, focusing particularly on dissociative and depressive disorders. It serves as an educational resource for understanding these mental health conditions.