An Artist Without Wings? Regulation of Emotions Through Aesthetic Experiences

Abstract

Art can help handle difficult experiences. Art therapy sessions (healing through art) have been recognised for years as a well-known and efficient method of treatment. At the same time, one can observe people's tendencies – apparently inefficient in terms of their well-being (emotions, mood) – to create or experience art (e.g. watching horror movies, listening to sad songs, expressive writing about one's ordeals). Many authors have described the way negative emotions are regulated. Their research has not, however, exhausted the subject in relation to art. In this paper I discuss the regulation of emotions through art. I am interested in the process of regulating affective experiences, particularly through expressive writing, and in the impact this way of regulation has on task-oriented functioning, especially cognitive functioning.