Remember the song ‘As
Time Goes By’ by Herman Hupfeld? It was a 1931 song originally sung by Frances
Williams. It became famous when the character Dooley Wilson sang it in the 1942
movie, Casablanca, with Humphrey
Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
The first part of the
lyrics of ‘As Time Goes By’ are:
This day and age we’re
living in
Gives cause for
apprehension
With speed and new
invention
And things like fourth
dimension.
Yet we get a trifle
weary
With Mr. Einstein’s
theory.
So we must get down to
earth at times
Relax, relieve the
tension
And no matter what the
progress
Or what may yet be
proved
The simple facts of
life are such
They cannot be
removed.
You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss,
a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things
apply
As time goes by.
I was reminded of this song by two things: (1) my
recent visit to Morocco (even though the movie Casablanca was not filmed in Casablanca, but wholly in the Warner Bros.
studio) and (2) sitting in a cafe near a repetitive sigher. He was sighing
about his Internet connection and work-related matters. It might have helped
him to sigh repeatedly, but it was distracting me. And then I thought, is a
sigh just a sigh?
By definition, a sigh
is an audible long deep exhalation of breath in weariness, relief, yearning, or
contentment. When repetitive it is suggestive of frustration.
Why do people sigh?
Some pyschologists indicated that people do it subconsciously to regulate their
breathing. A series of studies at the University of Oslo in Sweden, by KH
Teigen in 2008, examined two aspects of sighing: when it occurs and how it is
perceived by others (Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49).
The researchers
distributed questionnaires to participants to explore ‘emotional’ words
associated with sighing, which included active and passive words, and intense
and subdued words. Participants were also asked how frequently they sigh, and
whether they sigh when they are alone or in the company of other people.
The results showed that
sighs were associated with a negative mood – to emit disappointment, defeat,
frustration, boredom, and longing. The first three were definitely the sounds
of the sigher sitting near me. However, in addition, participants in the study
reported that they sigh in public as often as they do in private, suggesting
that it may not be a form of
communication, per se.
The University of
Oslo’s second study asked participants to imagine 4 scenarios: (1) someone sighing
in a group of people eating in a cafeteria, (2) sitting next to someone on a
bench who sighs, (3) watching a person open a letter then sighing, and (4) hearing
your friend sigh during a telephone conversation (on the other end of the
phone, when you cannot see the person). Each participant was asked how they
perceived each scenario. The researchers also asked participants to compare
feelings associated with themselves
sighing versus others sighing.
The results showed
that, in each of the four scenarios, participants imagined people to be sighing
due to negative feelings ten times more often than for positive reasons. When
others sigh, it is perceived as sadness, but when it is themselves sighing, it
is perceived as frustration.
In the third
University of Oslo experiment the researchers presented the same participants with
one of two puzzles: one solvable but difficult, and the other impossible but
seemingly simple. Participants were instructed to work as long as they wanted
and they could give up any time they wanted – i.e. no time limit, no stress.
While the participants were solving the puzzles, the researchers counted the
number of sighs during observations.
The results showed
that participants sighed – a lot. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of participants
sighed, with an average of 4 sighs per person. Most sighs occurred during
breaks between unsuccessful attempts at solving the puzzle. When asked how they
felt, the vast majority of participants expressed frustration. Most actually
denied sighing at all – they simply had not noticed that they were doing it,
even when told that they were.
The summary of the
series of studies is that a sigh is not just a sigh. A sigh is an expression of
resignation and frustration. But depending on who is sighing – and the
context – it can be perceived differently by the people hearing the sighing.
Why do people
sigh ? E. Vlemincx at the University of Leuven in Belgium in 2010
suggested that sighing acts as a physical and mental re-set button (Biological
Psychology, 84-1). The researchers studied breathing patterns of participants
for 20 minutes while sitting quietly, doing nothing. Researchers found that
during the time before a sigh, breathing starts to vary, changing speed or
shallowness. When breathing for too long in the same way, the lungs become
stiffer and less efficient. Intermittently, adding a sigh to the normal
pattern, breaks the pattern, and stretches the lung’s air sacs (alveoli). This
feeling may give a sense of relief.
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