Researcher looked into why people sometimes seek out sad music despite the fact that it brings on melancholy feelings.
Researchers surveyed 722 people from across the globe on sad songs, and found there are a number of reasons why they can be found intriguing, the Pacific Standard reported.
"Sadness is typically assumed to be undesirable and is therefore usually avoided in everyday life. Yet the question remains: Why do people seek and appreciate sadness in music?" the researchers stated in their study abstract for an article published in a recent edition of the journal PLOS One.
The team found some individuals who listened to sad music could actually experience positive emotional effects.
"Music-evoked sadness can be appreciated not only as an aesthetic, abstract reward, but (it) also plays a role in well-being, by providing consolation as well as regulating negative moods and emotions," the researchers wrote in the study, the Pacific Standard reported.
The study participants were mainly from Europe, but some hailed from Asia and North America as well. The subjects were asked how often they listened to sad music, what situations prompt them to listen to it, and what emotions it evoked.
The researchers determined sad music brings up "a wide range of complex and partially positive emotions, such as nostalgia, peacefulness, tenderness, transcendence, and wonder," the researchers wrote, Pacific Standard reported.
The team found most participants reported feeling upwards of three emotions while listening to sad music, the most common of which was nostalgia.
"This suggests that a multi-faceted emotional experience elicited by sad music enhances its aesthetic appeal," the researchers wrote.
They also found people tend to listen to sad music most often when experiencing emotional distress or feeling lonely. Most people who listen to sad music finds it helps regulate their negative moods and even provide consolation, it can also allow individuals to vent their negative emotions or find a more creative way to deal with their issues.
The most common "favorite sad songs" among the participants were "Beethoven's"Moonlight" Sonata; "Moon Reflected in the Second Spring," by the Chinese composer Ah Bing; and Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," the Pacific Standard reported.
