Health

Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs?

In the second part of the experiment, which involved 450 new subjects, the researchers asked each participant to express emotions such as ‘contempt’, ‘narcissism’, ‘inspiration’ and ‘lust’. gave 72 descriptions of the song. For comparison, participants were also given a prompt describing a conversational exchange in which someone expressed their emotions. (e.g., “An acquaintance is telling you about the past week, and you are expressing sadness”). It was also an emotion that made people feel more deeply. Love, joy, loneliness, sorrow, ecstasy, tranquility, sadness, etc. are connected to each other in conversation.

The study’s lead, philosopher Mario Ati Picker of Chicago’s Loyola University, said the results were compelling. After reviewing the data, he proposed a relatively simple idea. Perhaps we weren’t listening to the music because many of the subjects reported that sad music was artistic but not particularly enjoyable, not because of the emotional response, but because we felt connected to others. may be listening to music. Applying the sad music paradox, our love of music does not value grief directly, but rather the connection. Dr. Nobu and Dr. Venkatesan joined immediately.

“I already believe,” Dr. Ehrora said when told about the study. In his own research, he found that people who are particularly empathetic have the following characteristics: more likely to be moved With unfamiliar sad music. “They happily participate in this kind of imaginary grief that music brings,” he said.These people are viewing more significant hormonal changes Respond to sad music.

But sad music has layers, it’s like an onion, and this explanation raises further questions. Who are we connected to? that artist? our past selves? fictional character? And how can sad music be “everything”? Isn’t the power of art derived, in part, from its ability to extend experience beyond abstraction?

One by one, the researchers acknowledged the complexity of their subject and the limitations of existing research. And Dr. Ati Picker offered a less philosophical argument for the results. “It just feels right,” he said.

audio creator Adrian Hurst.

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