Aesthetic responses to music
Subtitle
A questionnaire study
Publication date
2009-09-01
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Organisational unit
Universität Leipzig, Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie
ISSN
Series or journal
Musicae Scientiae
Periodical volume
13
Periodical issue
2
First page
183
Last page
206
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
Nein
Keyword
Aesthetics
Emotion
Beauty
Verbal association
Abstract
We explored the content and structure of the cognitive, knowledge-based concept underlying aesthetic responses to music. To this aim, we asked 290 Finnish students to verbally associate the aesthetic value of music and to write down a list of appropriate adjectives within a given time limit. No music was presented during the task. In addition, information about participants’ musical background was collected. A variety of analysis techniques was used to determine the key results of our study. The adjective “beautiful” proved to be the core item of the concept under question. Interestingly, the adjective “touching” was often listed together with “beautiful”. In addition, we found music-specific vocabulary as well as adjectives related to emotions and mood states indicating that affective processes are an essential part of aethetic responses to music. Differences between music experts and laymen as well as between female and male participants were found for a number of adjectives. These findings suggest the existence of a common conceptual space underlying aesthetic responses to music, which partly can be modified by the level of musical expertise and gender.
Version
Published version
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