Why We Like Sad Music
Sadness is an emotion we usually try to avoid. So why do we choose to listen to sad music?
.. If this is true, what we experience when we listen to sad music might be thought of as “vicarious emotions.”
.. We need to study vicarious emotions further. In doing so, we may be able to improve our understanding of a neglected feature of our emotional system — namely, its sensitivity to something other than palpable needs or threats. When we weep at the beauty of sad music, we experience a profound aspect of our emotional selves that may contain insights about the meaning and significance of artistic experience — and also about ourselves as human beings.