Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners.

Tuomas Eerola,Vesa Putkinen,Katharina Schäfer,Jonna K Vuoskoski,Hannu Kautiainen,Henna‐Riikka Peltola

doi:10.1111/nyas.14660

Abstract

Many people enjoy sad music, and the appeal for tragedy is widespread among the consumers of film and literature. The underlying mechanisms of such aesthetic experiences are not well understood. We tested whether pleasure induced by sad, unfamiliar instrumental music is explained with a homeostatic or a reward theory, each of which is associated with opposite patterns of changes in the key hormones. Sixty-two women listened to sad music (or nothing) while serum was collected for subsequent measurement of prolactin (PRL) and oxytocin (OT) and stress marker (cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone) concentrations. Two groups of participants were recruited on the basis of low and high trait empathy. In the high empathy group, PRL and OT levels were significantly lower with music compared with no music. And compared to the low empathy group, the high empathy individuals reported an increase of positive mood and higher ratings of being moved with music. None of the stress markers showed any changes across the conditions or the groups. These hormonal changes, inconsistent with the homeostatic theory proposed by Huron, exhibit a pattern expected of general reward. Our findings illuminate how unfamiliar and low arousal music may give rise to pleasurable experiences.

Highlights

Deriving immense pleasure from listening to personally relevant music is a germane experience for millions of people
There were no differences between the empathy groups in self-reports of negative moods at baseline (t(1,60) = 0.83, P = 0.41), nor after silence (t(115) = −0.97), P = 0.336) or music (t(115) = 0.46), P = 0.65)
The hormonal changes observed in the present study are consistent with the reward theory, where the enjoyment of sad music is related to triggering of the dopaminergic system in those that engage empathically with the music and are being moved by it

Summary

Introduction

Deriving immense pleasure from listening to personally relevant music is a germane experience for millions of people. Some of these experiences have seemingly puzzling components, such as lack of familiarity or negative or somber emotional content. Such experiences offer an intriguing window into the way music—and art in general—is able to capitalize on our mental and physiological processes aimed to deal with interpersonal interactions and loss. The key difference here seems to be that enjoyment is linked to the ability to empathize with fictional events and expression conveyed by music

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Conclusion