Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
II.2 Psychological Reality
II.2.1 (F Sept 18)
Emotions and Music
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
LONDON (Reuters Life! 2009) Fans of classical music and jazz are creative, pop lovers are hardworking and, despite the
stereotypes, heavy metal listeners are gentle, creative types who are at ease with
themselves. So says Professor Adrian North of Scotland's Heriot-Watt University who has
been studying the links between people's personalities and their choice of music.
„People often define their sense of identity through their musical taste, wearing particular clothes,
going to certain pubs, and using certain types of slang,“ North said.
„It's not surprising that personality should also be related to musical preference.“
In what North said was the largest study ever conducted into individuals' musical preference and
character, researchers asked 36,518 people from around the world to rate how much they
liked 104 different musical styles before taking a personality test.
“Researchers have been showing for decades that fans of rock and rap are rebellious, and that fans
of opera are wealthy and well-educated,“ North said.
„But this is the first time that research has shown that personality links to liking for a wide range of
musical styles.“
The study concluded that jazz and classical music fans are creative with good self-esteem, although
the former are much more outgoing whereas the latter are shy. Country and western fans
were found to be hardworking and shy; rap fans are outgoing and indie lovers lack selfesteem and are not very gentle.
Those who like soul music can take heart as the research concluded they are creative, outgoing,
gentle, at ease with themselves and have a high self-esteem. And if you've ever wondered
why people driving expensive sports cars often have music blaring from their vehicle,
North could have an explanation.
Those who choose to listen to exciting, punchy music are more likely to be in a higher earning
bracket, he says, while those who go for relaxing sounds tend to be lower down the pay
scale. North is still looking for volunteers to take part in the research.
Gustav Klimt: Beethoven fries
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
John A. Sloboda & Patrik N. Juslin
(Music and Emotion, Oxford U P 2001, p.71)
Psychology is concerned with the explanation of human behaviour.
Behaviour includes overt action as well as ‚inner‘ behaviour, such as
thought, emotion, and other reportable mental states. It can include
behaviour of which the agent is not fully or even partly aware, such as the
dilation of the pubils of the eye.
A psychological approach to music and emotion therefore seeks an
explanation of how and why we experience emotional reactions to music,
and how and why we experience music as expressive of emotion.
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
Definition of Emotion
characteristics
examples
self-report
feelings, verbal descriptions,
checklists, rating scales, etc.
expressive behavior
facial expressions, gestures,
vocalization, etc.
physiological measures
blood pressure, skin conductance,
muscle tension, EKG, EEG, etc.
qualia!
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
Categories of Emotions (R.S. Lazarus et al.)
Emotion
Juncture of plan
Core relational theme
Happiness
Subgoals being achieved
Making reasonable progress towards a goal
Anger
Active plan frustrated
A demeaning offense against me and mine
Sadness
Failure of major plan or loss of
active goal
Having experienced an irrevocable loss
Fear
Self perseveration goal threatened
or goal conflict
Facing an immediate, concrete, or
overwhelming physical danger
Disgust
Gustatory goal violated
Taking in or being close to an indigestible
object or idea (metaphorically speaking)
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
Two Dimensions of Emotions
(J.A. Russell et al. „circumplex model“)
activation
pleasantness
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
A Neurotransmitter Model?
Have essentially 9 neurotransmitter types:
1. acetylcholine
motor control, learning,
memory, sleep, dream
2. epinephrine
energy
3. norepinephrine
arousal, vigilance
4. serotonin
impulses, dream
5. dopamine
reward, motivation,
motor control
6. gaba
inhibit action potential
7. glutamate
enhance action potential,
learning, memory
8. endorphin
reward, pain reduction
9. substance p
pain perception, mood
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
acetylcholine
motor control, learning,
memory, sleep,
dream
glutamate
enhance action potential,
learning, memory
memory
substance p
pain perception
dopamine
motivation
pain
gaba
pleasure
endorphins
pain reduction
serotonine
impulses, dream
energy
epinephrine
energy
norepinephrine
arousal, vigilance
Guerino Mazzola (Fall 2015©): Honors Seminar
Susan Langer and Alf Gabrielsson:
•
Langer (1942):
- Music represents the dynamic form of emotional life, not
specific emotions.
- Music is a tonal analogue to emotive life.
•
Gabrielsson (1995):
- There is an isomorphism between the structure of music and
the structure of feelings.
- In summary, we may consider emotion, motion, and music as
being isomorphic.