Sadness, rumination, reflection and preference for sad drama

This study examined relationships among sad affective states, individual differences, and sad/serious drama preference. Specifically, it was predicted that self-rumination and self-reflection as individual traits would be positively or negatively associated with the preference for sad/serious dramas, and these relationships would be moderated by current affective states. Also, it was proposed that two sources of sad affective states (i.e., news and memory) would moderate the relationships between these individual traits and drama preference for individuals in a sad affective state. Lastly, the study attempted to explore the effects of sad affective states caused by two sources of the sadness on the preference for sad/serious drama.;The study revealed that self-reflection (but not self-rumination) had significant positive associations with preferences for one sad (My Sister's Keeper, at alpha ≤ .10) and one serious dramas ( Hotel Rwandan, at alpha ≤ .05) among participants in a sad affective state. However, this pattern was not observed among those in a neutral affective state. Moreover, when the source of sadness was taken into account, it was found that self-reflection was significantly and positively associated with preference for the serious drama (Hotel Rwanda) among sad participants who read a sad news story but not among those who recalled their own sad events. The Chi-square tests between comedy/action and drama choices and high and low self-reflection groups in a sad mood condition also supported the positive association between self-reflection and drama preference. For the final choice of a movie to eventually watch at the end of the research session, the high self-reflection group in the sad mood condition was more likely to select dramas and less likely to select comedy/action movies than the low self-reflection group. Such significant different patterns in movie selection (particularly, drama choices) were not observed in the neutral mood condition. To a less extent, the high and low self-rumination groups showed similar patterns of movie selection, particularly regarding the avoidance of comedy by the high self-rumination group in the sad mood condition.;The study also showed that the sad mood and source conditions did not have any significant impact on the preference for either sad or serious dramas overall. However, with regard to comedy preference, mood-congruent film preference appeared. Participants in the sad mood condition were less likely to prefer comedies than those in the neutral mood condition. Self-reflection and self-rumination were also found to predict decreased preference for a comedy (The Hangover) in the sad news condition.;In terms of affective and cognitive characteristics of self-reflection and self-rumination, some possible reasons and meanings of the study findings are discussed in relation to mood management theory, including mood congruent film preference among sad high reflectors (i.e., preference for sad and serious dramas and avoidance of comedy) and sad high ruminators (i.e., avoidance of comedy), and sad participants in general.