People may prefer sad music after a romantic breakup because it allows them to validate and process their emotions. The lyrics and melodies resonate with their feelings of heartbreak and serve as a source of comfort or catharsis during this difficult time.
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People often turn to sad music as a form of solace and emotional support following a romantic breakup. This preference for melancholic tunes can be attributed to several reasons. Firstly, sad music allows individuals to validate and process their emotions in a supportive environment. The lyrics and melodies of sad songs often resonate with their feelings of heartbreak, loneliness, and despair, offering a sense of solidarity and understanding. According to psychologist Adrian North, “When you’re experiencing negative emotion, listening to sad music can give you an external context for your pain, making you feel understood and less alone.”
Furthermore, sad music provides a cathartic outlet for releasing pent-up emotions. It allows individuals to channel their sadness, anger, and longing into a non-destructive expression. In the words of American writer and philosopher Elbert Hubbard, “Music expresses feeling and thought without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words.” Therefore, sad music serves as a means of catharsis, enabling individuals to find release and ultimately move forward.
Importantly, music also has the power to regulate one’s mood. Studies have shown that listening to sad music can evoke a sense of nostalgia, which can be comforting during challenging times. According to psychologist Liila Taruffi, “Music-evoked nostalgia can be a particularly powerful and often positive emotional experience that helps individuals to cope with difficult situations, such as the end of a romantic relationship.”
Here are a few interesting facts about the topic:
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A study by researchers at the University of California found that sad music is often preferred during times of emotional distress as it can provide a sense of comfort and emotional release.
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Sad music has been shown to increase the production of oxytocin, a hormone associated with bonding and social connection. This may explain why individuals seek solace in sad songs after a breakup.
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Research has also suggested that sad music can activate the reward centers in the brain, leading to feelings of pleasure and emotional satisfaction.
Table:
| Reasons for Preferring Sad Music After Breakup | Quote |
|---|---|
| Validation and processing of emotions | “When you’re experiencing negative emotion, listening to sad music can give you an external context for your pain, making you feel understood and less alone.” – Adrian North |
| Cathartic release of emotions | “Music expresses feeling and thought without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words.” – Elbert Hubbard |
| Mood regulation and nostalgic comfort | “Music-evoked nostalgia can be a particularly powerful and often positive emotional experience that helps individuals to cope with difficult situations, such as the end of a romantic relationship.” – Liila Taruffi |
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But research shows there are pathways through the heartache. Listening to sad music is a major one. It can help you begin to feel joy and hopefulness about your life again. It can activate empathy and the desire to connect with others—both avenues through the prison of heartache and despair.
People often prefer sad music after a romantic breakup because it is soothing and helps release the hormone prolactin, the same self-soothing hormone released during breast-feeding. A 2021 paper published in the journal Psychology of Music found that people listen to sad music for aesthetic pleasure, to cope with negative emotions, and to find comfort. A recent study discovered that listening to sad songs when you’re already feeling down actually acts as a cognitive reward for your brain.
That’s why, after a romantic breakup, people often prefer sad music. "It’s kind of counter-intuitive, but it’s soothing," Greenberg says, adding that one theory is that sad music helps release the hormone prolactin, the same self-soothing hormone released during breast-feeding.
A recent theory proposes that even a fictional sadness is enough to fool our body to trigger such an endocrine response, intended to soften the mental pain involved in real loss. This response is driven by hormones such as oxytocin and prolactin, which actually induce the feelings of comfort, warmth and mild pleasure in us.
A 2021 paper published in the journal Psychology of Music found that people listen to sad music for aesthetic pleasure, to cope with negative emotions, and to find comfort.
A new study from Freie Universität Berlin has found what all of us sad sorts already knew: sad music can make a miserable person feel better after a breakup. The study of 772 participants discovered that listening to sad songs when you’re already feeling down actually acts as a cognitive reward for your brain.
Video related “Why do people prefer sad music after a romantic breakup?”
In a discussion between Sam and Neil, Professor David Huron’s theory on why some people like sad music more than others was mentioned. According to the professor from Ohio State University, the hormone prolactin produces a comforting effect that makes people who enjoy sad music receive an excess amount of it, while those who do not like it enough are not receiving enough of it. The hosts also define some new vocabulary words such as “comforting” and “can’t stand” before concluding the episode by thanking their listeners and promoting the various platforms to find more content from the BBC Learning English team.