Title |
Sadness and happiness are amplified in solitary listening to music
|
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Published in |
Cognitive Processing, October 2017
|
DOI | 10.1007/s10339-017-0832-7 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Jinfan Zhang, Taoxi Yang, Yan Bao, Hui Li, Ernst Pöppel, Sarita Silveira |
Abstract |
Previous studies have shown that music is a powerful means to convey affective states, but it remains unclear whether and how social context shape the intensity and quality of emotions perceived in music. Using a within-subject design, we studied this question in two experimental settings, i.e. when subjects were alone versus in company of others without direct social interaction or feedback. Non-vocal musical excerpts of the emotional qualities happiness or sadness were rated on arousal and valence dimensions. We found evidence for an amplification of perceived emotion in the solitary listening condition, i.e. happy music was rated as happier and more arousing when nobody else was around and, in an analogous manner, sad music was perceived as sadder. This difference might be explained by a shift of attention in the presence of others. The observed interaction of perceived emotion and social context did not differ for stimuli of different cultural origin. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Finland | 2 | 20% |
France | 1 | 10% |
United States | 1 | 10% |
Unknown | 6 | 60% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 7 | 70% |
Scientists | 2 | 20% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 10% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 54 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 11 | 20% |
Student > Master | 7 | 13% |
Researcher | 5 | 9% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 9% |
Other | 2 | 4% |
Other | 5 | 9% |
Unknown | 19 | 35% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 19 | 35% |
Neuroscience | 4 | 7% |
Arts and Humanities | 3 | 6% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 4% |
Other | 6 | 11% |
Unknown | 18 | 33% |