Table 2. Summary of the situations in which participants engage with sad music, and functions of listening to sad music in those circumstances.

Situation Category	Situation Description	Function
Emotional distress	Argument, failure, frustration, death, love-sickness or break up,need to cry, and stress	Emotional: mood enhancement (e.g., venting and cognitive reappraisal), consolation, reflection of the current mood
Social	Homesickness, feeling lonely,missing someone, need to beaccepted and understood	Social and emotional: consolation due to mood-sharing and contact
Memory	Retrieving memories of valuedpast events	Sad music as a memory trigger
Relaxation and arousal	Relaxing and getting newenergy, quieting down before goingto bed	Emotional: mood and arousal regulation
Nature	Travelling, being in contactwith nature, during specifictimes of the day (evening) orof the year (winter)	Sad music as a reflection of the environment
Musical features	Engaging with sad music not because of its emotional contentbut rather for its musical features (e.g., “sad songs are beautiful”)	Aesthetic
Introspection	Contemplating, organizing,and reappraising personal experiences	Cognitive: improve personal introspection
Background	While doing a parallelactivity such as driving, reading, working	Sad music provides a pleasant background
Fantasy	Creative thinking, lookingfor inspiration	Cognitive: engage creative thinking
Avoiding sad music	Preference for other typesof music	-
Intense emotion	Seeking a touchingemotional experience	Emotional: experience intense emotions
Positive mood	Listening to sad music only when being in a positivemood or emotional state	Emotional: mood control
Cognitive	Improving rationalthinking, obtaining a better focus	Cognitive: engage rational thinking

Note. Situational categories are listed in descending order according to the number of nominations.