Memorable Experiences with Sad Music—Reasons, Reactions and Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences

What is it about?

Our ability to derive pleasure from tragedy and sadness portrayed in fiction has been acknowledged for millennia. This study clarified the actual emotional experiences involved in listening to sad music. A large survey, carried out in Finland and the UK, showed three fundamental types of emotional experiences involved: pleasurable experiences that are intrinsically connected to music itself, experiences of comfort comprising of memories and companionship, and intense and painful experiences associated with personal loss (death of loved one, divorce, etc.).

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The findings have implications for understanding the paradoxical nature of enjoyment of negative emotions within the arts and fiction. The results demonstrate that not all people enjoy these paradoxical emotions and any close association with genuine loss renders the emotion into a painful, genuine grief. The results may help to pinpoint the ways people regulate their mood with the help of music, as well as how music rehabilitation and music therapy might tap into these processes in order to induce comfort, relief, and enjoyment through music.