Why does listening to sad music make you feel comfortable?

A song that resonates can make people feel comfortable and at the same time avoid social interaction with others.

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Editor’s note: Have you ever had this experience in your daily life? After experiencing a sad thing, listening to the same sad music, or watching the same sad movie and appreciating some art that conveys sad emotions, Would you feel better? Don't worry, you are not the only person to have this experience, and the process of listening to sad music or watching sad movies is actually the process of self-treatment. This article is translated from medium, author Markham Heid, original title Why Listening to Sad Music Makes You Feel Better.

Photo by: Kieran Blakey

a tweet in 2018, the country music star Reba McEntire said that for her, singing plaintive melody of the song is a method to "a healing, because it allows the pain of exposure to the sun , Let people get out of the darkness." The words of

McEntire involve a paradox that psychology researchers call "one of the most interesting problems in the history of music." In other words, why do people like sad music? From Beethoven to The Beatles, many of the most popular songs in the world are full of melancholy. This phenomenon is not limited to music. People have special feelings for tragic movies, tragic literature and other forms of tragic artistic expressions.

But why on earth? Research on what some researchers call "happy sadness" shows that different people appreciate the art of sadness for different reasons. Jonna Vuoskoski, associate professor of the Department of Music at the University of Oslo in Norway, said: "For this problem, many recent studies have pointed to a specific reason, that is, the feeling of being moved." Some studies by

Vuoskoski found that people with high empathy tend to It is most easily moved by sad music or movies, and this emotion is related to greater pleasure. She said: "The empathy related to compassion and the strong sense of identification with fictional characters in books and movies seem to be the most likely reason for resonating with sad music."

Her research also found that gloomy sad music In addition to moving people with other forms of art, it can also evoke many emotions that people consider to be pleasant. She and her research colleagues wrote that people are prone to emotions such as "nostalgia, calm and surprise" when faced with sad art, and many people just can't stop these emotions. Another explanation for

is that being immersed in a certain sad mood can alleviate a person's sadness. A 2019 study by the University of South Florida (USF) explored the musical tastes of patients with major depression. The authors of the research report stated that there is ample evidence that depressed people tend to "sad stimuli", including sad music. Some researchers believe that this is a kind of abnormal attraction that will maintain or intensify people's sadness. But the USF team disagrees with this view. They wrote: "The strong attraction of sad music to depression patients may be related to its calming effect, rather than increasing or maintaining the desire to be sad."

Others who study the attractiveness of sad music say that listening to sadness Music may be healing for those who are sad. Tuomas Eerola, a professor of music cognition at Durham University in the United Kingdom, said: “Our inner psychological, hormonal and physiological systems help to process (these emotions).” He pointed out that these systems can feel the stimulation of music.

Eerola said that when you chat with a kind friend or family member, they will bring you comfort and give you a shoulder on which to cry. "In fact, music or art is non-interactive, which is an advantage in situations of loss and sorrow, because in some cases you may be unwilling to reveal your privacy. A piece of art or song that resonates can It makes people feel comfortable without the burden of social interaction with others." A 2011 study by

made another possibility for the attractiveness of sad artExplanation. The study explored how to accept negative emotions more, rather than trying to ignore or suppress them. The authors of the study wrote: "It is somewhat paradoxical that trying to ignore or avoid negative emotions may lead to more negative results, and accepting or embracing negative emotions may bring positive results." Their research is such a kind of The view provides support that for some people, watching sad movies or music may be a way to accept or embrace therapy.

If a sad song, a sad movie or other work of art holds a special place in a person's heart, it may provide a unique way of catharsis. Eerola said: “There are many studies that show how certain personal emotion-related music can provide comfort and comfort in situations full of negative emotions.”

sad songs, books and movies do not seem to extend the time of sadness. On the contrary, it brings relief and happiness to people-and may even bring people a stronger emotional connection with others. Why not do such an effective method?

Translator: 喜汤