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.

最近对于悲伤音乐产生的自相矛盾的乐趣的兴趣激增，已经产生了一些理论和关于该主题的一系列实证探索。但是，这些方法都没有试图以系统的方式权衡现有证据。本工作提出了一个综合框架，该解释框架在生物学，心理社会和文化的三个解释层次上展开，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相关的证据。然后，在音乐背景下识别和诱发悲伤的心理和人际关系机制与从社会代孕和怀旧到被感动的推定解释相结合。最后，我们通过综合历史，人种学和实证研究的结果，来解决悖论的文化方面，即它作为一种美学，沉思的对象而在西方音乐概念中的嵌入程度。此外，我们通过考虑艺术中刻画的悲伤在某些感知者中引起的特别重要的意义来补充这些解释。我们的中心主张是，不能将悲伤的享受完全归因于这些级别中的任何一个，而不能归因于每个级别所提供的一系列功能。每个解释级别都有几种假定的解释，并且它们自身都朝着积极的价位转变，但是没有一个能够将完全由高度消极的体验转变为完全令人愉悦的体验。在这个框架内，目前的证据从生物学层面上的薄弱到不存在，在心理层面上适中，在文化层面上具有启发性。我们提出了一系列针对未来研究的重点主题，这将有助于解构导致令人愉悦的音乐相关悲伤的过程的驱动因素和约束。在心理层面上适中，在文化层面上具有启发性。我们提出了一系列针对未来研究的重点主题，这些主题将有助于解构导致令人愉悦的音乐相关悲伤的过程的驱动因素和约束。在心理层面上适中，在文化层面上具有启发性。我们提出了一系列针对未来研究的重点主题，这将有助于解构导致令人愉悦的音乐相关悲伤的过程的驱动因素和约束。