Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms
Abstract
Research indicates that people value music primarily because of the emotions it evokes. Yet, the notion of musical emotions remains controversial, and researchers have so far been unable to offer a satisfactory account of such emotions. We argue that the study of musical emotions has suffered from a neglect of underlying mechanisms. Specifically, researchers have studied musical emotions without regard to how they were evoked, or have assumed that the emotions must be based on the “default” mechanism for emotion induction, a cognitive appraisal. Here, we present a novel theoretical framework featuring six additional mechanisms through which music listening may induce emotions: (1) brain stem reflexes, (2) evaluative conditioning, (3) emotional contagion, (4) visual imagery, (5) episodic memory, and (6) musical expectancy. We propose that these mechanisms differ regarding such characteristics as their information focus, ontogenetic development, key brain regions, cultural impact, induction speed, degree of volitional influence, modularity, and dependence on musical structure. By synthesizing theory and findings from different domains, we are able to provide the first set of hypotheses that can help researchers to distinguish among the mechanisms. We show that failure to control for the underlying mechanism may lead to inconsistent or non-interpretable findings. Thus, we argue that the new framework may guide future research and help to resolve previous disagreements in the field. We conclude that music evokes emotions through mechanisms that are not unique to music, and that the study of musical emotions could benefit the emotion field as a whole by providing novel paradigms for emotion induction.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Russell, J. A. (1980) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0077714 · Cited by 16,334 · see citing works
An argument for basic emotions
Ekman, P. (1992) · Cognition and Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699939208411068 · Cited by 9,646 · see citing works
Fodor, J. A. (1983) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/4737.001.0001 · Cited by 7,734 · see citing works
Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144230 · Cited by 7,433 · see citing works
Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion.
Russell, J. A. (2003) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.110.1.145 · Cited by 6,113 · see citing works
Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2 · Cited by 4,479 · see citing works
Empathy: its ultimate and proximate bases
Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2002) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x02000018 · Cited by 4,126 · see citing works
On the Self-Regulation of Behavior
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139174794 · Cited by 4,110 · see citing works
PINKER, S. (1999) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08538.x · Cited by 3,738 · see citing works
Fears, phobias, and preparedness: toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning
Öhman, A., & Mineka, S. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.483 · Cited by 3,147 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…2000, p. 362; Joseph 2000; Raloff 1982) Medium (Berlyne 1971) Evaluative conditioning Low (Krosnick et al. 1992; LeDoux 2002; Martin et al. 1984) High (Öhman & Mineka 2001; Reber 1993) Low (Berlyne 1971, p. 138; LeDoux 2002) Emotional contagion Low (Neumann & Strack 2000; Dimberg et al.…”
Cattaneo, L., & Rizzolatti, G. (2009) · Archives of Neurology · doi:10.1001/archneurol.2009.41 · Cited by 3,137 · see citing works
Blood, A. J., & Zatorre, R. J. (2001) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.191355898 · Cited by 2,814 · see citing works
Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research, 1968–1987.
Bornstein, R. F. (1989) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.2.265 · Cited by 1,970 · cited 2× · see citing works
“2007; cf. Keysers & Gazzola 2006; van der Gaag et al. 2007). This internal simulation of emotions expressed by another is thought to be part of the brain’s mechanisms for empathy, giving an observer access to the subjective state of another by recruiting the observer’s own neural representations of that state (Preston…”
A Bio‐Informational Theory of Emotional Imagery
Lang, P. J. (1979) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1979.tb01511.x · Cited by 1,750 · see citing works
Nostalgia: content, triggers, functions
Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.975 · Cited by 1,252 · see citing works
Can people feel happy and sad at the same time?
Larsen, J. T., McGraw, A. P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.4.684 · Cited by 1,083 · see citing works
Miserendino, M. J. D., Sananes, C. B., Melia, K. R., & Davis, M. (1990) · Nature · doi:10.1038/345716a0 · Cited by 824 · see citing works
A Common Coding Approach to Perception and Action
Prinz, W. (1990) · Relationships Between Perception and Action · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-75348-0_7 · Cited by 751 · see citing works
The Neuroscience of Mammalian Associative Learning
Fanselow, M. S., & Poulos, A. M. (2005) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070213 · Cited by 683 · see citing works
Parallel incentive processing: an integrated view of amygdala function
Balleine, B. W., & Killcross, S. (2006) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2006.03.002 · Cited by 622 · see citing works
Rapid facial reactions to emotional facial expressions
Dimberg, U., & Thunberg, M. (1998) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/1467-9450.00054 · Cited by 490 · see citing works
Passive music listening spontaneously engages limbic and paralimbic systems
Brown, S., Martinez, M. J., & Parsons, L. M. (2004) · NeuroReport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200409150-00008 · Cited by 468 · see citing works
Werker, J. F., & McLeod, P. J. (1989) · Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie · doi:10.1037/h0084224 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
Reaction time and musical expectancy: Priming of chords.
Bharucha, J. J., & Stoeckig, K. (1986) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance · doi:10.1037//0096-1523.12.4.403 · Cited by 351 · see citing works
Does affect induce self-focused attention?
Wood, J. V., Saltzberg, J. A., & Goldsamt, L. A. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.5.899 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Effects of guided imagery and music (GIM) therapy on mood and cortisol in healthy adults.
McKinney, C. H., Antoni, M. H., Kumar, M., Tims, F. C., & McCabe, P. M. (1997) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.16.4.390 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review
Lindquist, K. A., Wager, T. D., Kober, H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11000446 · Cited by 2,320 · see citing works
Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children
Kirschner, S., & Tomasello, M. (2010) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.04.004 · Cited by 896 · see citing works
From everyday emotions to aesthetic emotions: Towards a unified theory of musical emotions
Juslin, P. N. (2013) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2013.05.008 · Cited by 763 · see citing works
Self-citationTowards a neural basis of music-evoked emotions
Koelsch, S. (2010) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.002 · Cited by 651 · see citing works
Music-evoked nostalgia: Affect, memory, and personality
Barrett, F. S., Grimm, K. J., Robins, R. W., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., & Janata, P. (2010) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0019006 · Cited by 547 · see citing works
Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses
de Witte, M., Spruit, A., van Hooren, S., Moonen, X., & Stams, G.-J. (2020) · Health Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897 · Cited by 539 · see citing works
Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis
de Witte, M., Pinho, A. D. S., Stams, G.-J., Moonen, X., Bos, A. E. R., & van Hooren, S. (2022) · Health Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/17437199.2020.1846580 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
Mapping aesthetic musical emotions in the brain
Trost, W., Ethofer, T., Zentner, M., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr353 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Croom, A. M. (2015) · Musicae Scientiae · doi:10.1177/1029864914561709 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
At Your Service: Designing Voice Assistant Personalities to Improve Automotive User Interfaces
Braun, M., Mainz, A., Chadowitz, R., Pfleging, B., & Alt, F. (2019) · Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300270 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
The effects of autism and alexithymia on physiological and verbal responsiveness to music
Allen, R., Davis, R., & Hill, E. (2013) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1587-8 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Listening Niches across a Century of Popular Music
Krumhansl, C. L. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00431 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Ellard, K. K., Farchione, T. J., & Barlow, D. H. (2012) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-011-9271-4 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Subjective Appraisal of Music: Neuroimaging Evidence
Brattico, E., & Jacobsen, T. (2009) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04843.x · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Aydın, S., & Onbaşı, L. (2024) · Cognitive Neurodynamics · doi:10.1007/s11571-023-09931-5 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Human and policy dimensions of soundscape ecology
Smith, J. W., & Pijanowski, B. C. (2014) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.05.007 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Tan, M., Zhou, X., Shen, L., Li, Y., & Chen, X. (2024) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/2024/1790168 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Music evokes emotions in a variety of ways, such as activating brain stem re fl exes, activating visual imagination, and awakening memories [21].”
Trait empathy shapes neural responses toward sad music
Taruffi, L., Skouras, S., Pehrs, C., & Koelsch, S. (2021) · Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-020-00861-x · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Social representation of ‘music’ in young adults: A cross-cultural study
Manchaiah, V., Zhao, F., Widén, S., Auzenne, J., Beukes, E. W., Ahmadi, T., Tomé, D., Mahadeva, D., Krishna, R., & Germundsson, P. (2017) · International Journal of Audiology · doi:10.1080/14992027.2016.1227481 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Saint-Martin (2020) · Journal of Physical Education and Sport · doi:10.7752/jpes.2020.06481 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Greenberg, D. M., Milstein, N., Gilboa, A., Cohen, S., Haimovich, N., Siegman, S., Pinhasi, S., & Gordon, I. (2023) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14307 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Why does time feel the way it does? Towards a principled account of temporal experience
Comolatti, R., Grasso, M., & Tononi, G. (2024) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2412.13198 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Juslin, P. N., & Västfjäll, D.
- Affiliations
- Uppsala University (SE)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Venue
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2008-10
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 559-575
- ISSN
- 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1825
- OpenAlex
- W2144198023
- Cited by
- 1,914
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 147 · 2025: 161 · 2024: 137 · 2023: 118 · 2022: 94 · 2021: 132 · 2020: 98 · 2019: 147 · 2018: 97 · 2017: 91 · 2016: 100 · 2015: 99 · 2014: 105 · 2013: 115 · 2012: 89
- FWCI
- 31.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Chalmers Research (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Keywords
- emotional response to music, emotion induction, music listening, cognitive appraisal, brainstem reflexes, evaluative conditioning, emotional contagion, visual imagery, episodic memory, musical expectation
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Arousal, Attention, Auditory Perception, Brain, Brain Stem, Conditioning, Psychological, Emotions, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Hypothalamus, Imagination, Music, Nerve Net, Psychoacoustics, Psychological Theory, Mental Recall, Reflex, Set, Psychology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
