Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication, is the lead author of a new study suggesting that tearjerkers have a way of bringing our attention to important relationships in our lives.

Knobloch-Westerwick and a team of researchers found that watching a tragedy movie caused people to think about their own close relationships, which in turn boosted their life happiness. The result was that what seems like a negative experience – watching a sad story – made people happier by bringing attention to some positive aspects in their own lives.

"Tragic stories often focus on themes of eternal love, and this leads viewers to think about their loved ones and count their blessings," Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick said.

The more people were focused on loved ones during the movie, the happier they felt afterward -- on the other hand, those who focused more on themselves didn't experience the same uptick.

Read the entire press release, courtesy of Jeff Grabmeier, Research Communications: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/tragedies.htm