Is a sigh “just a sigh”? Sighs as emotional signals and responses to a difficult task

In a set of studies, people described what sighs mean, and others worked on puzzles that were secretly impossible while researchers quietly counted their sighs.

Sighs turned out to signal letting go: a little puff of “oh well” when something isn’t working out. Most people think of sighs as sad, but the sighers mostly just felt resigned. Sigh.