Attitudes toward sad music are related to both preferential and contextual strategies.

Eerola, Tuomas; Peltola, Henna-Riikka; Vuoskoski, Jonna K.

doi:10.1037/pmu0000096

Cited by 18 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This may include, for example, the energising properties of music that evokes highly arousing negative emotions. Indeed, in contrast to the argument that the enjoyment of negative emotions in music is restricted to a small set of low arousal emotions such as sadness [19, 45], we found evidence that individuals can report enjoyment of negative emotions with a range of arousal levels. Further research is required to assess the possibility that specific, discrete negative emotions being evoked by music, such as fear and anger, can be enjoyed.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of possible alternative explanations for our findings, Eerola and colleagues [19] have argued that the finding of enjoyment of negative emotion in music could be an artefact of sampling (e.g. a tendency to select participants who are likely to enjoy such music).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…While evidence supports that grief, tragedy, sadness and other negative emotions are enjoyed in all art-forms [18], researchers remain sceptical (for a review, see [19]). This scepticism stems from the idea that negative emotions, such as sadness and grief, are associated with withdrawal and aversion under normal circumstances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This scepticism stems from the idea that negative emotions, such as sadness and grief, are associated with withdrawal and aversion under normal circumstances. Thus, there must be some extenuating circumstance to explain the concomitant pleasure response, and as such, ‘real’ negative emotion is not experienced [19, 20]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music

2016

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Little is known about the role of state versus trait characteristics on our enjoyment of music. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of state and trait absorption upon preference for music, particularly preference for music that evokes negative emotions. The sample consisted of 128 participants who were asked to listen to two pieces of self-selected music and rate the music on variables including preference and felt and expressed emotions. Participants completed a brief measure of state absorption after listening to each piece, and a trait absorption inventory. State absorption was strongly positively correlated with music preference, whereas trait absorption was not. Trait absorption was related to preference for negative emotions in music, with chi-square analyses demonstrating greater enjoyment of negative emotions in music among individuals with high trait absorption. This is the first study to show that state and trait absorption have separable and distinct effects on a listener’s music experience, with state characteristics impacting music enjoyment in the moment, and trait characteristics influencing music preference based on its emotional content.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music

2016

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“…Listening to self-selected sad music has been linked to hedonic enjoyment and positive emotions, which are considered important for drawing solace from song (Eerola, Peltola, & Vuoskoski, 2015;Hanser, ter Bogt, Van den Tol, Mark, & Vingerhoets, 2016;Sachs, Damasio, & Habibi, 2015;Taruffi & Koelsch, 2014;Van den Tol & Edwards, 2013). Van den LISTENING TO MUSIC WHEN SAD Tol and Edwards (2015) also found that listening to self-selected sad music perceived as having high aesthetic value predicted affective enhancement.…”

Section: Self-selected Versus Experimenter-selected Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

I Get Knocked Down but I Get Up Again: The Effects of Listening to Music When Sad on Young Adults

Jl¹,

Dingle²

2018

Preprint

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*THIS PAPER HAS NOT YET BEEN PEER REVIEWED* Listening to music is a strategy many people use to regulate their emotions, especially sadness. However, there is disagreement about whether listening to music is a healthy way to regulate emotions, with some research finding that sad music worsens a sad state, especially for people high in rumination. To further explore the immediate consequences of music listening when sad 128 young adults (41% male, aged 18 to 25 years) were induced into a sad emotional state prior to random assignment to listening of either self-selected music, experimenter-selected sad music, or no music. Results revealed that listening to either self-selectedor experimenter-selected music led to a decrease in sadness. No difference was found between groups at post-listening. However, participants who listened to self-selected music reported a return to baseline levels of sadness, while this did not occur for participants who listened to experimenter-selected or were in the no music control. Rumination was also measured but did not moderate the impact of music listening on sadness for either musiccondition. Furthermore, there was no impact of rumination on participants’ perceptions of sadness in music. These results support the notion that listening to sad music does not worsen a sad state—even for those high in rumination—although it does appear to slow the emotion regulation process in cases where sad music is not self-selected.

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The appeal of sad music: A brief overview of current directions in research on motivations for listening to sad music

Tol

2016

The Arts in Psychotherapy

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Sadness is the most common emotion attributed to music after happiness. A recent surge in research has explored why sad music is so popular. This work aimed to summarise the results of these studies. It is indicated that sad music is listened to more commonly in sad mood and negative situation. Many different motivations have been found with regards to listening to sad music such as validating emotions, providing solace, providing rewarding emotional experiences, and aiding reflection and relaxation. With regards to listening sad music being an adaptive way to cope, some evidence in this review indicates that this may be more so the case for psychologically healthy people (rather than depressed or anxious individuals) who are also more like to apply healthy coping strategies. In contrast, findings indicate that depressed individuals and ruminators use sad music both adaptively and maladaptive. Sad music also might be particularly helpful when people are experiencing negative life events, as it enables the expression, identification, and understanding of the situation that can aid to consolation and acceptance coping. Future directions for research and the potential application of sad music listening to therapeutic settings are discussed.

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Attitudes toward sad music are related to both preferential and contextual strategies.

Cited by 18 publications

References 36 publications

The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music

The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music

I Get Knocked Down but I Get Up Again: The Effects of Listening to Music When Sad on Young Adults

The appeal of sad music: A brief overview of current directions in research on motivations for listening to sad music

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