Department of Psychology.
Department of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making.
Emotion. 2021 Dec;21(8):1650-1659. doi: 10.1037/emo0001011. Epub 2021 Sep 30.
Meaningful endings lead people to experience mixed emotions, but it is unclear why. We hypothesized that it is in part because meaningful endings lead people to reminisce on good times. In Study 1, college students who took part in our study on their graduation day (vs. a typical day) reported having spent more time that day reminiscing on good times. Moreover, reminiscence on good times partially mediated the effect of graduation on happiness, sadness, and mixed emotions. In Study 2, we asked undergraduates to reminisce on good (vs. ordinary) times from high school and found that reminiscence on good times elicited happiness, sadness, and mixed emotions. In Study 3, we found that reminiscing on good times that were not (vs. were) repeatable elicited especially intense sadness and mixed emotions. Taken together, results indicate that reminiscing on good times, especially good times gone, elicits mixed emotions and that these emotional consequences help explain why meaningful endings elicit mixed emotions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
有意义的结局会让人体验到复杂的情绪，但不清楚原因是什么。我们假设，这在一定程度上是因为有意义的结局会让人回忆起美好的时光。在研究 1 中，参与我们在毕业日（而非典型日）进行的研究的大学生报告说，那天他们花了更多的时间回忆美好的时光。此外，回忆美好时光部分中介了毕业对幸福感、悲伤感和混合情绪的影响。在研究 2 中，我们要求大学生回忆高中时的美好时光（而非普通时光），发现回忆美好时光会引发幸福感、悲伤感和混合情绪。在研究 3 中，我们发现回忆不可重复的美好时光会引发特别强烈的悲伤感和混合情绪。综上所述，研究结果表明，回忆美好时光，尤其是美好的时光已逝，会引发混合情绪，这些情绪后果有助于解释为什么有意义的结局会引发混合情绪。
