People love listening to sad songs, but why?

New research suggests listening to sad songs can actually enhance the music.

Transcript

00:00 "I love the Smiths."

00:04 "Sorry?" "I said I love the Smiths."

00:07 From the Smiths, to Adele,

00:11 to Radiohead, people all around the world

00:15 love to listen to sad songs. But why?

00:18 New research from the University of New South Wales

00:23 suggests that people paradoxically enjoy the sadness

00:27 of a vote in these songs. Author of the study,

00:30 Professor Emery Schubert, said,

00:34 "It's paradoxical to think you can enjoy something

00:37 that makes you feel a negative emotion. But this research

00:41 shows the first empirical evidence that sadness

00:44 can positively affect the enjoyment of music directly."

00:48 The study argues

00:51 that the sadness in the songs is mediated

00:54 by an inexplicable feeling of being moved.

00:58 The paradox has been well documented

01:01 throughout history, suggesting that humans find a strange comfort

01:05 in experiencing sadness in a controlled environment,

01:09 as a sort of catharsis.

01:12 Some research even suggests that listening to sad songs

01:16 can release the hormone prolactin that reduces feelings of grief

01:21 and sadness and makes people feel more connected with others.

01:25 Do you like making people cry?

01:29 I think yes, actually. It's kind of cool to see people crying

01:33 at a show. Whatever the reason

01:36 that people enjoy sad songs, the research will continue to provide

01:40 insights on the human psyche.

01:42 [Music]

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]