Durham University, UK.
University of Jyväskylä, Finland; University of Oslo, Norway.
Phys Life Rev. 2018 Aug;25:100-121. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2017.11.016. Epub 2017 Nov 23.
The recent surge of interest towards the paradoxical pleasure produced by sad music has generated a handful of theories and an array of empirical explorations on the topic. However, none of these have attempted to weigh the existing evidence in a systematic fashion. The present work puts forward an integrative framework laid out over three levels of explanation - biological, psycho-social, and cultural - to compare and integrate the existing findings in a meaningful way. First, we review the evidence pertinent to experiences of pleasure associated with sad music from the fields of neuroscience, psychophysiology, and endocrinology. Then, the psychological and interpersonal mechanisms underlying the recognition and induction of sadness in the context of music are combined with putative explanations ranging from social surrogacy and nostalgia to feelings of being moved. Finally, we address the cultural aspects of the paradox - the extent to which it is embedded in the Western notion of music as an aesthetic, contemplative object - by synthesising findings from history, ethnography, and empirical studies. Furthermore, we complement these explanations by considering the particularly significant meanings that sadness portrayed in art can evoke in some perceivers. Our central claim is that one cannot attribute the enjoyment of sadness fully to any one of these levels, but to a chain of functionalities afforded by each level. Each explanatory level has several putative explanations and its own shift towards positive valence, but none of them deliver the full transformation from a highly negative experience to a fully enjoyable experience alone. The current evidence within this framework ranges from weak to non-existent at the biological level, moderate at the psychological level, and suggestive at the cultural level. We propose a series of focussed topics for future investigation that would allow to deconstruct the drivers and constraints of the processes leading to pleasurable music-related sadness.
最近，人们对悲伤音乐所产生的矛盾愉悦感产生了浓厚的兴趣，由此产生了一些理论和一系列关于这个主题的实证探索。然而，这些都没有试图以系统的方式权衡现有证据。本研究提出了一个综合框架，该框架分为三个解释层面——生物学、心理-社会和文化——以有意义的方式比较和整合现有发现。首先，我们回顾了神经科学、心理生理学和内分泌学领域与悲伤音乐相关的愉悦体验的证据。然后，将音乐背景下识别和引发悲伤的心理和人际机制与从社会替代和怀旧到感动的感觉等假设解释结合起来。最后，我们探讨了矛盾的文化方面——它在多大程度上嵌入了西方将音乐视为审美、沉思对象的观念——通过综合历史、民族志和实证研究的发现。此外，我们通过考虑艺术中描绘的悲伤在某些感知者中能唤起的特别重要的意义来补充这些解释。我们的核心观点是，不能完全将对悲伤的享受归因于这些层面中的任何一个，而是归因于每个层面提供的一系列功能。每个解释层面都有几个假设的解释和自己向正价的转变，但没有一个能够将高度负面的体验完全转化为完全愉快的体验。在这个框架内的现有证据在生物学层面上从弱到不存在，在心理层面上为中等，在文化层面上为暗示。我们提出了一系列有针对性的未来研究课题，这些课题将允许我们分解导致愉快的音乐相关悲伤的过程的驱动因素和限制因素。
