The graduates also reported having spent more time reminiscing on past good times on their big day, and the researcher’s analysis showed that looking back on happy experiences seems to trigger more time spent reflecting on the sad times as well. The emotional peak of graduation day triggered more happiness (4.85 average score) and sadness (1.61) for the graduates, than what undergrads experienced on a random given day (average happy score of 4.3 and a sad score of 0.60). Participants included undergrads who were still in school and seniors on graduation day. In one study, more than 320 Stanford students were asked if they were feeling happy and or sad anyone replying yes was then asked to quantify on a scale of 1 to 7 their level of that emotion. The authors suggest that it is in fact the act of reminiscence - especially about an experience that can’t be replicated - that sadness is apt to sidle up next to happiness. This new research investigated what might be causing the mixed emotion response when reflecting on a good time. Hershfield’s research built on prior work by Carstensen, who developed a theory that when we are at the end of a life chapter, it heightens our awareness of our mortality. That set off a slew of other mixed emotion research, including Hershfield’s 2008 paper that suggested reminiscing at a pivotal life-stage change (e.g., college move out and graduation days) triggers mixed emotions because it acknowledges the end of an experience. More than 20 years ago, research by Larsen established that reflecting on good times can be a mixed emotional bag. “Simply thinking about good times from the past can elicit mixed emotions,” the authors write. It seems that reminiscence, especially at the end of portentous life stages - college graduation, for example - tends to be bittersweet. Good Memories Are Not All Goodness and Light Carstensen show across three experiments that reflecting on good times raises the odds we’ll also feel a bit sad. Hershfield, California Retina Consultants and Research Foundation’s James L. In a paper published in the journal Emotion, University of Tennessee’s Jeff T.
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