In a recent research paper entitled ‘Interpersonal relationships and preferences for Mood-congruency in aesthetic experiences’, psychologists have determined there was evidence to support the fact that ‘people are more likely to prefer mood-congruent to mood-incongruent aesthetic stimuli’, meaning that The Velvet Underground, Oasis, The Cars, David Byrne, Elton John, Olivia Newton-John were onto something (they all have a song entitled ‘sad song(s)’): people prefer listening to sad songs when they are sad.
In the Journal of Consumer Research, Chan Jean Lee, Eduardo Andrade, Stephen Palmer suggested that listening to sad songs when feeling sad is actually what we do and should do. The researchers demonstrated that, when we experience emotional distress, we prefer to listen to music that matches our mood and this is especially true after a failed relationship, a break-up for example. Curiously, we have a tendency to think that uplifting music or some other upbeat stimulus would cheer us up in this case, effectively wouldn’t you think to console a friend who is going through a bad break-up by bringing him to some cheerful event for example? But hell no, this research totally contradicts the common opinion which suggests that we should go for the opposite when we are feeling sad. The researchers showed that sad music serves as a surrogate the same way that an empathic friend would put an arm around us and cry with us!
‘Emotional experiences of aesthetic products are important to our happiness and well-being’, declared co-author Dr Stephen Palmer, from the University of California at Berkeley. ‘Like a sympathetic friend, music, movies, paintings, or novels that are compatible with our current mood and feelings are more appreciated when we experience broken or failing relationships’.
How did they determined this findings exactly? The participants were simply asked to rate different kinds of music (angry, joyful, relaxing,…) when presented with various situations. Other participants were also asked to remember about personal situations involving loss. Angry music was preferred when participants were frustrated either by a personal or non-personal situations (losing a competition, natural disasters,…) whereas sad music was significantly preferred in case of break-ups.
There are plenty of sad songs, and everybody has his or her favorite one, but honestly, this is not the first time I hear about such findings. However, I would even go further, as I have the feeling that certain persons, me included, are attracted to what could be considered as sad music, whatever is going on in their life. For example, dance music in general has no real appeal for me, and I would greatly prefer a regimen of Radiohead’s ‘No surprises’, Beck’s ‘Lost Cause’, David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ for the rest of my life than… ? I don’t know, feel yourself the blank with your favorite carefree, uplifting, happy tunes,… I realize I have no truly happy songs in my library, so what’s going on?
I don’t think I am the only one, as these previously cited artists are not exactly commercial failures! There’s something unique and really intimate about a song that has sad elements, either in the music or the lyrics, it makes you relate more, and if happy dancing music is a collective experience, sad music is a personal one, and this is what I expect from music.