Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T13:27:51.059Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A skeptical position on “musical emotions” and an alternative proposal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Vladimir J. Konečni
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109. vkonecni@ucsd.eduhttp://psy.ucsd.edu/pages/people/faculty/vkonecni.html

Abstract

Key premises of the target article by Juslin & Västfjäll (J&V) are challenged. It is also shown that most of the six “psychological mechanisms” proposed by the authors as underlying the induction of emotion by music involve nonmusical proximal causes. As a replacement for “musical emotions,” the state of being-moved – from the recently developed Aesthetic Trinity Theory – is proposed.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Behne, K. E. (1997) The development of “Musikerleben” in adolescence: How and why young people listen to music. In: Perception and cognition of music, ed. Deliége, I. & Sloboda, J. A., pp. 143–59. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1871/1902) The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. P. F. Collier & Son/John Murray. (Original work published in 1871).Google Scholar
Frijda, N. H. & Sundararajan, L. (2007) Emotion refinement: A theory inspired by Chinese poetics. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2:227–41.Google Scholar
James, W. (1884) What is an emotion? Mind 9:188205.Google Scholar
Konečni, V. J. (2003) Review of Music and emotion: Theory and research, edited by Juslin, P. N. & Sloboda, J. A.. Music Perception 20:332–41.Google Scholar
Konečni, V. J. (2005) The aesthetic trinity: Awe, being moved, thrills. Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts 5:2744.Google Scholar
Konečni, V. J. (2008) Does music induce emotion? A theoretical and methodological analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 2:115–29.Google Scholar
Konečni, V. J., Brown, A. & Wanic, R. A. (2008) Comparative effects of music and recalled life-events on emotional state. Psychology of Music 36:289308.Google Scholar
Konečni, V. J., Wanic, R. A. & Brown, A. (2007) Emotional and aesthetic antecedents and consequences of music-induced thrills. American Journal of Psychology 120:619–43.Google Scholar
Sloboda, J. A. & O'Neill, S. A. (2001) Emotions in everyday listening to music. In: Music and emotion: Theory and research, ed. Juslin, P. N. & Sloboda, J. A., pp. 415–29. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stravinsky, I. (1936/1998) An autobiography. W. W. Norton. (Original work published in 1936).Google Scholar
Zangwill, N. (2004) Against emotion: Hanslick was right about music. British Journal of Aesthetics 44:2943.Google Scholar
Zillman, D. & Gan, S.-L. (1997) Musical taste in adolescence. In: The social psychology of music, ed. Hargreaves, D. J. & North, A. C., pp. 161–87. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar