Jonna K. Vuoskoski
Music psychology researcher who studies why sad music is pleasurable, and finds that feeling moved explains much of it.
Who they are
Jonna K. Vuoskoski is cited on this site for her studies with Tuomas Eerola on sad music and the feeling of being moved.
Key papers
The pleasure evoked by sad music is mediated by feelings of being moved (2017). Vuoskoski and Eerola ask why people enjoy music that makes them sad. Recent findings on sad films suggest that the positive relationship between felt sadness and enjoyment may be explained by feelings of being moved, and the study tests whether the same holds for music. In the first experiment, 308 participants heard five sad excerpts, and the positive link between felt sadness and liking was fully mediated by being moved. In the second, 27 excerpts varied in sadness and beauty, and the account in which being moved mediates the effect of sadness on liking received stronger support than one in which beauty does. The paper appeared in Frontiers in Psychology, volume 8, article 439.
Key ideas
The finding offers a simple account of a puzzle. People do not enjoy sadness itself. They enjoy being moved, which sadness can produce. This distinction explains why a sad film or song can be sought out and valued, and the article on sad films builds on it.
Sources
- Vuoskoski, J. K., & Eerola, T. (2017). The pleasure evoked by sad music is mediated by feelings of being moved. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 439. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00439