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Sadness is an emotion that we usually run away from. For this reason, many people believe that listening to a sad song can make a person’s mood even more depressed.
However, the reality is quite different: studies indicate that listening to this kind of song can make a person happier. How does this make sense? We tell you now!
What emotion do you feel when listening to sad music?
Scientists Liila Taruffi and Stefan Koelsch from the University of Berlin gathered a group of people to study the emotions they feel listening to sad music. The participants were instructed to list feelings such as nostalgia, sadness, admiration, and power.
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When listening to the songs, the most common emotion was nostalgia, followed by tranquility and tenderness – feelings that belonged to the sublime group. The “negative” emotions, such as sadness, were in the discomfort group.
Most participants reported more than 3 feelings when listening to a song, which suggests that our emotional relationship with sounds is more complex than we imagined.
Why do we like to listen to sad music?
According to psychologist Adrian North of Curtin University, there are two possible explanations of why we like to listen to sad music, one from the social psychology side and one from cognitive neuroscience.
From the social psychology point of view, listening to a depressing song makes us feel better about ourselves, since someone else is having an even worse day. Another hypothesis is that people like songs that reflect their current life.
On the cognitive neuroscience side, some scientists believe that the melancholy of music activates the hormone prolactin, a chemical that helps contain pain. Furthermore, thanks to studies with brain imaging scans, it has been found that listening to music releases dopamine, a substance associated with happiness.
In addition, melancholic songs also provide a sense of catharsis, helping to overcome bad feelings. Science has already found that crying is a great way to provide catharsis and improve mood, and sad songs can facilitate this kind of emotional journey.
