Mamamia Team Monday 16 April 2012 9:56am

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Think Titanic, A Walk to Remember, Terms of Endearment, Beaches and P.S I Love You. The movies that have you reaching for the tissues and crying for days.

Research from the US is suggesting watching these tearjerker movies – where inevitably someone dies, a relationship breaks up or a ship sinks – leaves people feeling warm and fuzzy – despite some possible mascara tears .

This from the Huffington Post

New research has found that tragic films can actually make us feel happier.  The Findings, published in the journal Communication Research, suggest that those tearjerkers have a way of bringing our attention to important relationships in our 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, associate professor of communication at Ohio State University and lead author on the study, said in a statement.

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 (saying things like “My life isn’t as bad as the character in this movie) didn’t experience the same uptick.

The researchers tested 370 college students by sitting them down to watch the 2007 tearjerker classic, Atonement (the story of two ill-fated lovers and the war). The students were asked to fill out a survey on their levels of happiness before and after the film.

The sadder they felt, the more likely they were to think about their own relationships, which made them happier about their lives. And overall, the students came out smiling.

So next time you’re in the mood for a pick-me-up, why not try one of these tearjerker classics?

A Walk to Remember

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How do you feel after you sit down to watch a sad movie? Do you ever wonder why you watch them in the first place? Are there any movies that are guaranteed to have you reaching for the tissues?