Minor musical keys partly resemble subdued or moody speech, instilling them with a less than cheerful tone.
Several factors affect music’s sentimental influence, and some are common sense: a fast, loud, jumpy rhythm sounds happy because it reflects the way an excited person behaves, and slow, quiet music with a regular beat mimics a mournful [...]

The EmoBracelet will warn you if a decision to buy a particular parcel of shares is being made with an excess of emotion.
The electronics company Philips and the financial giant ABN Amro yesterday announced the prototype of a device that warns traders when emotions are likely to interfere with their financial acumen and [...]

Great expectations, Charlotte’s web, And when did you last see your father, Tender is the night, and One flew the cuckoo’s nest, are among entries to the “literary tear jerkers” list.
As David Nicholls – himself an author – points out, it is far harder to move a book reader to tears than it is [...]

Jonah Lehrer offers some interesting insights into the way we make decisions, and just how much of the process is influenced by emotions:
It turns out that we weren’t engineered to be rational or logical or even particularly deliberate. Instead, our mind holds a messy network of different areas, many of which are involved with the [...]

Sadness (as opposed to depression), is considered by some scientists to be “a crucial part of our biology“, possibly serving an evolutionary purpose, and even enhancing our creativity.
Then there is the notion that creativity is connected to dark moods. There is no shortage of great artists, writers and musicians who have suffered from depression [...]

It seems people who have suffered a number of rejections, be it from would-be lovers or friends, are more adept at spotting out contrived shows of emotion, such as fake smiles:
“This seems to be a skill we’ve acquired through evolution,” said researcher Michael Bernstein, a doctoral student in social psychology at Miami University in Ohio. [...]