New psychology research reveals the paradoxical benefits of viewing tragic art

New research published in The Journal of Positive Psychology suggests that looking at tragic art—specifically sculptures depicting the suffering of refugees—can produce positive emotional experiences and even increase empathy. Across two studies, people reported feeling both sadness and pleasure when viewing emotionally difficult art. These feelings were closely tied to a sense of being moved and finding the experience meaningful.

The researchers conducted a series to two studies to explore a puzzling question: why do we sometimes seek out tragic experiences in art, when we typically try to avoid such feelings in real life? From ancient tragedies to war memorials, many works of art focus on suffering and loss. The team was particularly interested in whether this paradoxical pleasure—feeling good from something sad—was linked to how moved or inspired people felt, how meaningful they found the experience, and whether the art could increase compassion toward others.

“Many of our greatest works of art depict pain and human suffering. Paradoxically, we are drawn to these tragic works of art even as we try to avoid tragedy in our personal lives. We examined why we are drawn to these works and if there are unanticipated benefits of viewing tragic art,” said study author Jennifer E. Drake, an associate professor at Brooklyn College.

In the first study, 150 English-speaking adults from the United States were recruited online. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 77 and represented a variety of racial and educational backgrounds. They were told they would be randomly assigned to watch one of three types of art videos: sculptures of refugees in distress, sculptures of people walking down a street, or sculptures of joyful celebrations. In reality, all participants watched videos showing tragic sculptures of refugees fleeing their homeland.

Before viewing the videos, participants were asked to reflect on two painful life experiences—one they had chosen (like running a marathon or undergoing a difficult medical treatment) and one they had not chosen (like losing a loved one or experiencing a traumatic event). They rated how positive or negative these experiences had been for them emotionally.

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Afterward, participants viewed two short videos featuring the work of sculptor Susan Clinard, who focuses on refugee and immigration themes. The first video provided background on her art, while the second highlighted a specific piece.

After watching, participants rated how moved they felt, how meaningful the experience was, and how strongly they experienced both negative and positive emotions. They were also asked whether their attitudes toward refugees had changed after watching the videos. Lastly, they completed a questionnaire measuring their interest in and engagement with the arts.

The results showed that people rated their chosen painful life experiences as more positive than their unchosen ones. This suggests that when pain is self-selected, it may be more easily framed as meaningful or worthwhile. However, these ratings did not predict whether someone preferred to view the tragic videos.

While the majority of participants said they would have preferred to see joyful or neutral videos, those who did express a preference for the tragic art reported feeling slightly more positive afterward. Regardless of preference, participants who reported more positive and more negative affect after watching the videos were also more likely to say they felt moved and that the experience was meaningful. These findings support the idea that art can be emotionally complex and that mixed emotions can contribute to a powerful, reflective experience.

Attitudes toward refugees were harder to assess in this first study. Most participants already supported granting asylum to people fleeing hardship, leaving little room for change. As a result, the researchers could not determine whether viewing the videos shifted people’s perspectives in a more empathetic direction.

In the second study, the researchers aimed to overcome these limitations by recruiting a sample of 150 politically conservative adults from the United States. This group was selected because conservatives have previously been found to score lower on measures of cognitive empathy, making them a promising population in which to observe potential attitude change. As in the first study, participants were told they would be randomly assigned to view one of three types of videos but were all shown the same tragic ones.

This time, attitudes toward refugees were measured both before and after viewing the videos using a modified version of the Immigrant Attitudes Scale. This scale asked participants to rate their agreement with eight statements, half of which reflected sympathetic views and half of which reflected unsympathetic ones. The researchers then tracked changes in the overall scores.

Once again, participants rated their chosen painful life experiences as more positive than the ones they had not chosen. But as in Study 1, these ratings did not predict who would prefer to watch the tragic videos. Overall, participants experienced more negative than positive emotion while watching the videos, but both types of feelings were linked to feeling moved and finding the experience meaningful. In fact, the more strongly people felt either kind of emotion, the more likely they were to report that the videos had made them think and feel deeply.

Crucially, this second study did detect a shift in attitudes. After watching the videos, participants reported more sympathetic views toward undocumented refugees. This change was associated with how much positive and negative emotion they felt during the viewing. People who reported stronger emotional responses—whether pleasant or unpleasant—were more likely to become more empathetic. However, preference for viewing tragic art and general interest in art did not predict attitude change.

“When viewing tragic art we experience both positive and negative affect,” Drake told PsyPost. “Our experience of positive and negative affect is related to how moving and meaningful we find these works of art. Finally, we found empathy for refugees increased after viewing tragic art.”

The findings suggest that tragic art can evoke meaningful and moving experiences and has the potential to foster empathy for marginalized groups. But the authors note some limitations. Both studies were conducted online, which may limit how powerful the emotional responses were compared to experiencing art in person. The shift in attitudes was measured shortly after the videos ended, so it remains unclear whether the effects last over time. Additionally, only one format of art—videos of sculptures—was used, and participants were not actually given a real choice about what kind of art to view.

Future research could explore whether experiencing tragic art in a museum setting or through other media, such as film or literature, has a similar or even greater impact. Studies could also track attitude change over weeks or months to see whether the empathy induced by art can lead to longer-term shifts in perspective. Exploring how individual differences in personality or emotional processing influence these responses may also provide deeper insight into why some people are more drawn to sad art than others.

The study, “The paradoxical benefits of viewing tragic art,” was authored by Gurveen Dhallua, Ellen Winner, and Jennifer E. Drake.