Musically Induced Emotions: Subjective Measures of Arousal and Valence

Authors

  • Barbara Wheeler PhD, MT-BC
  • Estate Sokhadze PhD
  • Joshua Baruth PhD
  • Gene Ann Behrens PhD, MT-BC
  • Carla F. Quinn MA, MT-BC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v3i4.346

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate whether US participants would experience the same emotions when listening to specific pieces of music as were labeled by participants in a previous study done in the Netherlands. It examined whether musical excerpts would fall into quadrants of serene, happy, agitated, and sad created by an interaction of the dimensions of arousal (calm-excited) and valence (unpleasant-pleasant) and whether the mean scores would fall within quadrant positions similar to those in the previous study. Participants heard 12 musical excerpts and responded by turning dials depicting different degrees of arousal and valence. After one of the pieces of music was reallocated to a different category, they experienced 3 of the 4 emotions as did earlier participants. Implications for the study of emotion in music and its use in music therapy and music medicine are discussed.

Author Biographies

Barbara Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC

Barbara L. Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC, is Professor and Director of Music Therapy at the University of Louisville and Past President of the American Music Therapy Association. She edited Music Therapy Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives and Music Therapy Research, 2nd Edition, and coauthored Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist. She is Interview Co-Editor for Voices and a member of the editorial board for Music & Medicine and the advisory editorial board for the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy.

Estate Sokhadze, PhD

Estate Sokhadze, PhD, received his PhD in Human Physiology in 1988 (Novosibirsk, Russia). He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Psychopharmacology at Wake Forest University in 2001-2003, and post-doctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at Rice University in 2004. Currently, Dr. Sokhadze is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at University of Louisville. His research interests include application of neurocognitive and psychophysiological techniques in psychiatric research.

Joshua Baruth, PhD

Joshua Baruth, PhD, received his PhD in Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 2010. His research has focused primarily on autism spectrum disorders. He received his BA in classical languages and pre-medicine from the University of Kansas in 2005 and his Master’s degree in Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology from the University of Louisville in 2009.

Gene Ann Behrens, PhD, MT-BC

Gene Ann Behrens, PhD, MT-BC, is a full professor and director of the music therapy program at Elizabethtown College. She has held positions within the Mid-Atlantic Region, American Music Therapy Association, World Federation of Music Therapy, and Certification Board for Music Therapy; has published in several journals; and is an active presenter at regional, national, and international conferences. Her research interest is in the areas of emotions, and trauma.

Carla F. Quinn, MA, MT-BC

Carla F. Quinn, MA, MT-BC, completed her Music Therapy equivalency program at the University of Louisville and her Master’s in Special Education at University of West Florida (UWF). She is cur- rently pursuing her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at UWF. Her research interests lie in application of music interventions to meet the unique educational and developmental needs of students, especially those on the autism spectrum.

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Issue

Vol. 3 No. 4 (2011)

Section

Full Length Articles