Emotional Contagion and Music
Keywords:
emotional contagion, simulation model, attentional model, Stephen Davies, Jenefer Robinson, affective appraisal, mirror neurons, intermodal connection, attentional object, motor mimicry
Abstract
The present article compares alternative theories of communication of emotions from music to listener in a non-cognitive way by means of emotional contagion. According to the main proponent of attentional model, S. Davies, the emotion expressed in music is the object of listener’s attention and it is recognized by her as the cause of her emotional state, generated by music. Crucial to Davies’ account is the notion that the listener does not hold emotion-relevant belief about music which is not the intentional object of her emotion. By contrast to this, advocates of simulation model (J. Robinson, T. Cochrane) argue that in case of emotional contagion music functions as a stimulus by activating motor and other physiological systems. Emotional contagion, which is based on motor mimicry, occurs automatically; emotion recognition is not its necessary precondition, but, according to Robinson, it can even become the impediment, blocking or lowering the effect of contagion. As the analysis of arguments onboth sides based on the findings of the newest studies in (musical) psychology and neuropsychology has shown, the discovery of mirror neurons, which are viewed today as a key factor in the phenomenon of imitation, provides supportfor the simulation model: mirror neurons are activated both during the specific action and its observation. The article also emphasizes such advantages of this model as parsimony and scope. The most serious objection to the supporters of the simulation model is about the lack of connection between the recipient’s emotion and its source: the emotion, contained in music, directly produces physiological activation, which is transformed into emotion as a result of a listener marking his/her state according to the context. Stating that the supporters of the attentional model and their opponents operate by different concepts of emotions, the author concludes that for the resolution of their dispute it is needed to elaborate the criteria of evaluation and comparison of both approaches, which would be able to claim for consensus.Downloads
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References
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2. Davies, S. (1980). The expression of emotion in music. Mind, 89, 67-86.
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10. Kivy, P. (1999). Feeling the musical emotions. British Journal of Aesthetics, 39(1), 1-13.
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13. Krumhansl, C. L. (1997). An exploratory study of musical emotions and psychophysiology. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51(4), 336-352.
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17. Panaiotidi, E. G. (2013). Emotsii v muzyke i v nas. Kriticheskii analiz diskussii v analiticheskoi filosofii muzyki [Emotions in music and in us. Critical study of the debate in the analytical philosophy of music]. Vladikavkaz: IP Tsopanova A.Yu.
18. Radford, C. (1989). Emotions and music: A reply to the cognitivists. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 47(1), 69-76.
19. Radford, C. (1991). Muddy Waters. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 49(3), 247-252.
20. Robinson, J. (2005). Deeper than reason. Emotion and its role in literature, music, and art. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
21. Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state. Psychological Review, 69(5), 379-399.
22. Strauß, D. (1990). Eduard Hanslick: Vom Musikalisch-Schtsnen. Ein Beitrag zur Revision der Aesthetik inder Tonkunst (Teil 1: Historisch-kritische Ausgabe). Mainz: Schott. (in German)
23. Zajonc, R. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35, 151-175.
24. Zajonc, R. (2000). Feeling and thinking. Closing the debate over the independence of affect. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Feeling and thinking. The role of affect in social cognition(pp. 31-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
2. Davies, S. (1980). The expression of emotion in music. Mind, 89, 67-86.
3. Davies, S. (2011). Infectiousmusic: Music-listeneremotional contagion. In P. Goldie & A. Coplan (Eds.), Empathy: philosophical and psychological perspectives (pp. 134-148). Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.
4. Ferrari, P. F., & Rizzolatti, G. (Eds.). (2015). New frontiers in mirror neurons research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Juslin, P. N., & Laukka, P. (2003). Communication of emotions in vocal expression and music performance: Different channels, same code? Psychological Bulletin, 129, 770-814.
7. Juslin, P. N., & Västfjäll, D. (2008). Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31, 559-575.
8. Kivy, P. (1989). Sound sentiment. An essay on the musical expressiveness, includingthe complete text of ‘‘The Corded Shell’’. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
9. Kivy, P. (1993). Auditor’s emotions: Contention, concession and compromise. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 51(1), 1-12.
10. Kivy, P. (1999). Feeling the musical emotions. British Journal of Aesthetics, 39(1), 1-13.
11. Kivy, P. (2002). Introduction to a philosophy of music. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
12. Kivy, P. (2006). Critical study: Deeper than emotion. British Journal of Aesthetics, 46(3), 287-311.
13. Krumhansl, C. L. (1997). An exploratory study of musical emotions and psychophysiology. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51(4), 336-352.
14. Lazarus, R. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
15. LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
16. Moravcsik, J. (1982). Understandingandtheemotion. Dialectica, 36(2-3), 208-216.
17. Panaiotidi, E. G. (2013). Emotsii v muzyke i v nas. Kriticheskii analiz diskussii v analiticheskoi filosofii muzyki [Emotions in music and in us. Critical study of the debate in the analytical philosophy of music]. Vladikavkaz: IP Tsopanova A.Yu.
18. Radford, C. (1989). Emotions and music: A reply to the cognitivists. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 47(1), 69-76.
19. Radford, C. (1991). Muddy Waters. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 49(3), 247-252.
20. Robinson, J. (2005). Deeper than reason. Emotion and its role in literature, music, and art. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
21. Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state. Psychological Review, 69(5), 379-399.
22. Strauß, D. (1990). Eduard Hanslick: Vom Musikalisch-Schtsnen. Ein Beitrag zur Revision der Aesthetik inder Tonkunst (Teil 1: Historisch-kritische Ausgabe). Mainz: Schott. (in German)
23. Zajonc, R. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35, 151-175.
24. Zajonc, R. (2000). Feeling and thinking. Closing the debate over the independence of affect. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Feeling and thinking. The role of affect in social cognition(pp. 31-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Published
2018-11-05
How to Cite
ПанаиотидиЭ. Г. (2018). Emotional Contagion and Music. Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 15(1), 145-163. https://doi.org/10.17323/1813-8918-2018-1-145-163
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Section
Articles section
