The Evolutionary Functions of Sadness

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract What is the point of sadness? The adaptive benefits of other negative emotions such as anger, disgust, and fear have long been recognized, yet the evolutionary functions of sadness remain poorly understood, even though many practicing psychologists deal with sadness and depression. This chapter offers an evolutionary explanation for the adaptive benefits of sadness, as an important signal that influences our thinking and judgments. Extensive experimental research now suggests that induced sadness can promote improved functioning on various cognitive and social tasks, including memory performance, judgments, inferences, the detection of deception, social perception, interpersonal communication, and strategic communication and interactions. These results support theoretical models that predict that negative affect promotes a more accommodative, vigilant, and externally focused thinking strategy. The relevance of these findings for affect-cognition theories will be discussed, and the practical implications of this research for improving social thinking and performance in applied fields will be considered.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.