The features of sadness and their trend of temporal change based on six sadness-eliciting situations

Is Sadness Only One Emotion? Psychological and Physiological Responses to Sadness Induced by Two Different Situations: “Loss of Someone” and “Failure to Achieve a Goal”

“…The higher tear ratings in the loss condition are believed to be due to the features of a loss situation being more passive, and there is a smaller possibility of changing the results by oneself compared to a failure situation (Shirai and Suzuki, 2013). This finding is consistent with previous findings (Shirai and Suzuki, 2015, in press) and suggests that the sadness states in loss and failure reflect subjectively different types of sadness.…”

“…A questionnaire was used to assess the characteristics of sadness (Shirai and Suzuki, 2015). It consisted of the three factors: “tears,” “chest ache,” and “powerlessness,” which were rated on a 7-point Likert scale that ranged from (1) not being expressed to (7) being expressed very well.…”

“…In contrast, the features of sadness induced by the failure to achieve a goal (failure) decreased over time. According to the results, Shirai and Suzuki (2015) identified that sadness has at least two subtypes at the subjective level. Based on these findings, if sadness is regarded as an emotion with subtypes, the physiological responses attached to these subtypes could also differ.…”

“…In an earlier study Shirai and Suzuki (2015) examined the characteristics of sadness based on six situations via subjective ratings. The characteristics were assessed using expressive words for the following three factors: “tears,” “chest ache,” and “powerlessness.” Participants were asked to imagine the situation at four time points (event occurrence, after 1 week, after 1 month, and after 6 months), and assess the characteristics at each time point.…”

“…Verduyn et al (2011) also identified that sadness is prolonged compared to other emotions. In addition, studies showing different types of sadness at the subjective level have taken time course into consideration as a factor (Shirai and Suzuki, 2015). …”