Art may help us face the hard truths

What is it about?

Can’t look away from art with tragic themes, like Picasso’s Guernica or Goya’s Black Paintings? You’re not alone. While curiosity about unpleasant topics isn’t exclusive to art—just think of the popularity of true crime—art stands out for how it presents haunting, sad, or shocking imagery. Could art reshape how we experience such content? Do we engage with tragic stories in art more readily than through real-life images? Our research explored this by giving over 1,000 participants a choice: engage with negative content (like war or suffering) through an artwork or a non-art photograph showing the same subject. We tracked what they chose and how long they engaged with each option. We found that people preferred engaging with negative content presented through art. Our participants chose artworks more often and spent more time with these compared to non-art photos. Why? Compared to non-art images, art was more aesthetically appreciated and created a sense of distance from the painful reality it depicted, making engagement emotionally less taxing—though not completely free of distress. Participants were most drawn to negative content they expected to be aesthetic, thought-provoking, and offering a fresh perspective—whether in art or non-art—while avoiding content they expected to be emotionally taxing. However, art alleviated these concerns, encouraging people to engage despite the emotional costs. In other words, art may help us tolerate difficult emotions, encouraging us to confront challenging topics we might otherwise avoid. Our findings show that art is a powerful way to present negative content that people might otherwise avoid, allowing us to engage with difficult yet critical topics in a meaningful way. Real-life images of war, suffering, or injustice can feel overwhelming, leading to emotional burnout or avoidance. Art, however, may allow us the space to sit with a negative topic, providing a clearer perspective from a slight distance, less clouded by the weight of negative emotions.

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Photo by Redd Francisco on Unsplash

Photo by Redd Francisco on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Understanding people’s preference for engaging with negative content through art has important implications. Artists, journalists, educators and communicators can leverage the arts to create more effective ways to capture attention and spark meaningful conversations about critical social issues. Whether online, in museums, films, or news media, art can connect us to the realities of the world and its people. By making difficult topics more accessible, art may bridge the gap between awareness and action, inspiring engagement with the challenges we face as a society.