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Comparative effects of music and recalled life-events on emotional state

Vladimir J. Koneni

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, vkonecni{at}ucsd.edu

Amber Brown

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, amberbrown{at}ucsd.edu

Rebekah A. Wanic

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, rwanic{at}psy.ucsd.edu

Several classical issues in the area of music and emotion were investigated in a 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 x 4 experiment (N =144). Participants recalled happy, neutral, or sad life-events, and they listened to happy, neutral, or sad music, in one of two orders of recall and listening. Four dependent measures were obtained: Own emotional state at the time that the recalled event originally occurred (ETHEN) and immediately after recall (ENOW); own emotional state after listening to music (IEM) and a rating of the emotional expressiveness of the music (EDEM), with the order of IEM and EDEM counterbalanced. All measures were on a 13-point happy—sad scale. The main, statistically highly significant, findings were: (a) the ETHEN ratings were more extreme on both the happy and sad tasks than the ENOW and IEM ratings; (b) the ENOW scores were more extreme than the IEM ones, but only on the sad task; (c) the EDEM ratings were more extreme than the IEM ones; (d) the IEM ratings were nevertheless different from the scale midpoint, especially when the participants listened to music before recalling events. The pattern of results and complex methodological issues cast considerable doubt on the idea of a direct causal link between music and emotion. It was also proposed that the notion of `musical emotions' be replaced by the concepts of `being moved' and `aesthetic awe'.

Key Words: aesthetic awe • being moved • expression • music and emotion • recall of life-events

This version was published on July 1, 2008

Psychology of Music, Vol. 36, No. 3, 289-308 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735607082621


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				V. J. Konecni Review essay: ADRIAN C. NORTH and DAVID J. HARGREAVES, The Social and Applied Psychology of Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. 476 pp, 14 illus. ISBN 9780198567424 (pbk) {pound} 29.95/$59.95 Psychology of Music, April 1, 2009; 37(2): 235 - 245. [PDF]