Sadness

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For the video game, see Sadness (video game).

"Sad" redirects here. For other uses, see Sad (disambiguation).

A detail of the 1672 sculptureEntombment of Christ, showing Mary Magdalene crying

Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss,
despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may
become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw themselves from others. An example of severe sadness is
depression. Crying is often an indication of sadness.[1]
Sadness is one of the "six basic emotions" described by Paul Ekman, along
withhappiness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust.[2]
Contents
[hide]

1Childhood

2Neuroanatomy

3Coping mechanisms

4Pupil empathy

5Cultural explorations

6See also

7References

8Further reading

Childhood[edit]

Profoundly depressed man on beach in morning gloom with head in hands.

Sadness is a common experience in childhood. Some families may have a (conscious or

unconscious) rule that sadness is "not allowed",[3] but Robin Skynnerhas suggested that this may
cause problems, arguing that with sadness "screened off", people can become shallow and manic.
[4]
Pediatrician T. Berry Brazeltonsuggests that acknowledging sadness can make it easier for families
to address more serious emotional problems.[5]
Sadness is part of the normal process of the child separating from an early symbiosis with the
mother and becoming more independent. Every time a child separates a little more, he or she will
have to cope with a small loss. If the mother cannot allow the minor distress involved, the child may
never learn how to deal with sadness by themselves.[6] Brazelton argues that too much cheering a
child up devalues the emotion of sadness for them;[7] and Selma Fraiberg suggests that it is important
to respect a child's right to experience a loss fully and deeply.[8]
Margaret Mahler also saw the ability to feel sadness as an emotional achievement, as opposed for
example to warding it off through restless hyperactivity.[9] D. W. Winnicott similarly saw in sad crying
the psychological root of valuable musical experiences in later life.[10]

Neuroanatomy[edit]
According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, sadness was found to be associated with
"increases in bilateral activity within the vicinity of the middle and posterior temporal cortex, lateral
cerebellum, cerebellar vermis, midbrain, putamen, and caudate."[11] Jose V. Pardo has his M.D and
Ph.D and leads a research program in cognitive neuroscience. Using positron emission tomography
(PET) Pardo and his colleagues were able to provoke sadness among seven normal men and
women by asking them to think about sad things. They observed increased brain activity in the
bilateral inferior and orbitofrontal cortex.[12] In a study that induced sadness in subjects by showing
emotional film clips, the feeling was correlated with significant increases in regional brain activity,
especially in the prefrontal cortex, in the region called Brodmann's area 9, and the thalamus. A
significant increase in activity was also observed in the bilateral anterior temporal structures. [13]

Coping mechanisms[edit]

Main article: Coping (psychology)

People deal with sadness in different ways, and it is an important emotion because it helps to
motivate people to deal with their situation. Some coping mechanisms could include: getting social
support and/or spending time with a pet,[14] creating a list, or engaging in some activity to express
sadness.[15] Some individuals, when feeling sad, may exclude themselves from a social setting, so as
to take the time to recover from the feeling.
While being one of the moods people most want to shake, sadness can sometimes be perpetuated
by the very coping strategies chosen, such as ruminating, "drowning one's sorrows", or permanently
isolating oneself.[16] As alternative ways of coping with sadness to the above, cognitive behavioral
therapy suggests instead either challenging one's negative thoughts, or scheduling some positive
event as a distraction.[17]
Being attentive to, and patient with, one's sadness may also be a way for people to learn through
solitude;[18] while emotional support to help people stay with their sadness can be further helpful.
[19]
Such an approach is fueled by theunderlying belief that loss (when felt wholeheartedly) can lead to
a new sense of aliveness, and to a re-engagement with the outside world. [20]

Pupil empathy[edit]
Pupil size may be an indicator of sadness. A sad facial expression with small pupils is judged to be
more intensely sad as the pupil size decreases.[21] A person's own pupil size also mirrors this and
becomes smaller when viewing sad faces with small pupils. No parallel effect exists when people
look at neutral, happy or angry expressions.[22] The greater degree to which a person's pupils mirror
another predicts a person's greater score on empathy.[23] However, in disorders such as autism and
psychopathy facial expressions that represent sadness may be subtle, which may show a need for a
more non-linguistic situation to affect their level of empathy.[23]

Cultural explorations[edit]

Lost in thoughts, by Wilhelm Amberg. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and
withdraw themselves from others.

During the Renaissance, Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene endorsed sadness as a marker of
spiritual commitment.[24]
In The Lord of the Rings, sadness is distinguished from unhappiness,[25] to exemplify J. R. R. Tolkien's
preference for a sad, but settled determination, as opposed to what he saw as the shallower
temptations of either despair or hope.[26]
Julia Kristeva considered that "a diversification of moods, variety in sadness, refinement in sorrow or
mourning are the imprint of a humanity that is surely not triumphant but subtle, ready to fight and
creative".[27]

See also[edit]

Depression (mood)

Sorrow (emotion)

Joie de vivre

Melancholia

Mood (psychology)

References[edit]

1.

Jump up^ Jellesma F.C., & Vingerhoets A.J.J.M. (2012). Sex Roles (Vol. 67, Iss. 7, pp. 412421). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer

2.
3.

Jump up^ Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (London 1996) p. 271

Jump up^ Masman, Karen (2010). The Uses of Sadness: Why Feeling Sad Is No Reason Not
to Be Happy. Allen & Unwin. p. 8.ISBN 9781741757576.

4.

Jump up^ R. Skynner/J. Cleese, Families and how to survive them (1994) p. 33 and p. 36

5.

Jump up^ T. Berry Brazelton, To Listen to a Child (1992) p. 46 and p. 48

6.

Jump up^ R. Skynner/J. Cleese, Families and how to survive them (1994) p. 1589

7.

Jump up^ Brazleton, p. 52

8.

Jump up^ Selma H. Fraiberg, The Magic Years (New York 1987) p. 274

9.

Jump up^ M. Mahler et al, The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant (London 1975) p. 92

10.

Jump up^ D. W. Winnicott, The Child, the Family, and the Outside World (Penguin 1973) p.
64

11.

Jump up^ Ahern, G.L., Davidson, R.J., Lane, R.D., Reiman, E.M., Schwartz, G.E. (1997).
Neuroanatomical Correlates of Happiness, Sadness, and Disgust. The American Journal of Psychiatry,
926-933.

12.

Jump up^ Pardo JV, Pardo PJ, Raichle ME: Neural correlates of self-in- duced dysphoria. Am
J Psychiatry 1993; 150:713719

13.

Jump up^ George MS, Ketter TA, Parekh PI, Horowitz B, Herscovitch P, Post RM: Brain
activity during transient sadness and happiness in healthy women. Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:341
351

14.

Jump up^ Bos, E.H.; Snippe, E.; de Jonge, P.; Jeronimus, B.F. (2016). "Preserving Subjective
Wellbeing in the Face of Psychopathology: Buffering Effects of Personal Strengths and
Resources". Plos One. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150867.

15.

Jump up^ "Feeling Sad", Kids Help Phone, November 2010

16.

Jump up^ Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1996) p. 6970

17.

Jump up^ Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1996) p. 72

18.

Jump up^ Aliki Barnstone New England Review (1990-) , Vol. 21, No. 2 (Spring, 2000), p. 19

19.

Jump up^ R. Skynner/J. Cleese, Families and How to Survive Them (19??)p. 164

20.

Jump up^ Michael Parsons, The Dove that Returns, the Dove that Vanishes (London 2000) p.
4

21.

Jump up^ "Pupillary contagion: central mechanisms engaged in sadness processing". U.S.
National Library of Medicine. Retrieved24 January 2016.

22.

Jump up^ Harrison NA; Singer T; Rotshtein P; Dolan RJ; Critchley HD (June 2006). "Pupillary
contagion: central mechanisms engaged in sadness processing". Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 1 (1): 5
17. doi:10.1093/scan/nsl006. PMC 1716019 . PMID 17186063.

23.

^ Jump up to:a b Harrison NA; Wilson CE; Critchley HD (November 2007). "Processing of
observed pupil size modulates perception of sadness and predicts empathy". Emotion. 7 (4): 724
9. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.724. PMID 18039039.

24.

Jump up^ Douglas Trevor, The Poetics of Melancholy in early modern England (Cambridge
2004) p. 48

25.

Jump up^ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (London 1991) p. 475

26.

Jump up^ T. A Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (London 1992) p. 143

27.

Jump up^ Quoted in Adam Phillips, On Flirtation (London 1994) p. 87

Further reading[edit]
Wikiquote has
quotations related
to: Sadness
Look up sadness in
Wiktionary, the
free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons
has media related
to Sadness.

Karp DA (1997). Speaking of Sadness. ISBN 0195113861.

Keltner D; Ellsworth PC; Edwards K (May 1993). "Beyond simple pessimism: effects of sadness and
anger on social perception". J Pers Soc Psychol. 64 (5): 74052.doi:10.1037/00223514.64.5.740. PMID 8505705.

Tiedens LZ (January 2001). "Anger and advancement versus sadness and subjugation: the effect of
negative emotion expressions on social status conferral". J Pers Soc Psychol.80 (1): 86
94. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.1.86. PMID 11195894.

Ambady & Gray, 2002[dead link]

Forgas JP (March 1998). "On feeling good and getting your way: mood effects on negotiator cognition
and bargaining strategies". J Pers Soc Psychol. 74 (3): 56577. doi:10.1037/00223514.74.3.565.PMID 11407408.

Forgas JP (August 1998). "On being happy and mistaken: mood effects on the fundamental attribution
error". J Pers Soc Psychol. 75(2): 31831. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.2.318. PMID 9731311.

Forgas JP (1994). "The role of emotion in social judgments: an introductory review and an Affect
Infusion Model (AIM)". Eur J Soc Psychol. 24 (1): 124. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420240102.

Forgas JP; Bower GH (July 1987). "Mood effects on person-perception judgments". J Pers Soc
Psychol. 53 (1): 5360.doi:10.1037/0022-3514.53.1.53. PMID 3612493.

Isen AM; Daubman KA; Nowicki GP (June 1987). "Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving". J
Pers Soc Psychol. 52 (6): 112231. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122. PMID 3598858.

Keltner D; Kring AM (1998). "Emotion, social function, and psychopathology" (PDF). Review of General
Psychology. 2 (3): 320342.doi:10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.320.
[hide]

Emotions (list)

Emotions

Adoration
Affection
Agitation
Agony
Amusement
Anger
Anguish
Annoyance
Anxiety
Apathy
Arousal
Attraction
Awe
Boredom
Calmness
Compassion
Contempt
Contentment
Defeat
Depression
Desire
Disappointm

ent
Disgust
Ecstasy
Embarrassme
nt
Empathy
Enthrallmen
t
Enthusiasm
Envy
Euphoria
Excitement
Fear
Frustration
Gratitude
Grief
Guilt
Happiness
Hatred
Homesicknes
s
Hope
Horror
Hostility
Humiliation
Hysteria
Infatuation
Insecurity
Insult
Interest
Irritation
Isolation
Jealousy
Joy
Loneliness

Longing
Love
Lust
Melancholy
Mono no
aware
Neglect
Nostalgia
Panic
Passion
Pity
Pleasure
Pride
hubr
is

Rage
Regret
Rejection
Remorse
Resentment
Sadness
Saudade
Schadenfreu
de
Sehnsucht
Sentimental
ity
Shame
Shock
Sorrow
Spite
Suffering
Surprise
Sympathy

Tenseness
Wonder
Worry
Nihilism
Optimism
World views

Pessimism
Reclusion
Weltschmerz

Authority control

GND: 4391630-2
NDL: 01082965

Categories:
Emotions

Personal life

Grief

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