Emotional experience of listening to music among Croatian music school students

Abstract

The experience of listening to music implies the evocation of pleasant and unpleasant emotions in everyday life and music teaching. During music lessons, music can stimulate or regulate students’ emotions, thereby promoting children’s emotional development. This study discusses research conducted in 2024 to determine the emotions evoked by different compositions in music school students and investigate potential differences in emotional experiences based on sex, grade level, and familiarity with the composition. In total, 134 students from primary and secondary music schools in the Republic of Croatia participated in a survey. They listened to eight different compositions for approximately 1 min. For each composition, they noted whether they have heard it before, picked one of four emotions (happiness, sadness, calmness, and anger/anxiety) that they felt the strongest, and rated the strength of that emotion on a scale of 1 - 3. Over half of the participants concurred on the emotions elicited by each composition. There were no statistically significant differences in the expressed emotions among the students based on their sex, grade level, or familiarity. The results reflected high levels of consensus about the emotions evoked by musical pieces between individuals from the same cultural backgrounds and general age groups.

Keywords

Emotions / Listening to music / Music school / Music and emotion / Psychology of music

Funding

The research, analysis, and publication of the article were financed by the authors of the article.

Conflict of interest

Amir Begić and Jasna Šulentić Begić are Editorial Board Members of this journal but were not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

References

[1] Lazarus RS. Emotion and Adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press; 1991.

[2] Škojo T. Induciranje emocija glazbom s osvrtom na ulogu glazbene poduke [Inducing Emotions through Music and the Role of Musical Education]. Nova Prisutnost. 2020; 18(1):101-114. doi: 10.31192/np.18.1.8

[3] Slunjski E. Kako Djetetu Pomoći da Upozna Svoje Emocije (i Nauči Njima Upravljati) [How to Help a Child Get to Know his Emotions (and Learn to Manage Them)]. Zagreb: Element d.o.o.; 2013.

[4] Bognar L, Dubovicki S. Emotion in the teaching process. Croat J Educ. 2012; 14(1):135-153.

[5] Vidulin S, Plavšić M, Žauhar, V Usporedba spoznajnogi emocionalnog aspekta slušanja glazbe u glazbeno-pedagoškom kontekstu osnovne škole [A comparison between the cognitive and emotional aspects of music listening in the context of primary school music teaching]. Metodički Ogledi. 2019; 26(2):9-32. doi: 10.21464/mo.26.2.4

[6] Dobrota S, Reić Ercegovac I. Odnos emocionalne kompetentnosti i prepoznavanja emocija u glazbi [The relationship between emotional competence and recognizing emotions in music]. Društvena Istraž. 2012; 21(4):969-988. doi: 10.5559/di.21.4.08

[7] Ferreri L, Rodriguez-Fornells A. Music-related reward responses predict episodic memory performance. Exp Brain Res. 2017; 235(3):3721-3731. doi: 10.1007/s00221-017-5095-0

[8] Daynes H. Listeners’ perceptual and emotional responses to tonal and atonal music. Psychol Music. 2010; 39(4):468-502. doi: 10.1177/0305735610378182

[9] Jansma M, de Vries B. Muziek en emotie [Music and emotions]. In: Jansma E, de Vries M, editors. Muziekpsychologie. Assen: Van Gorcum; 1995. p. 204-222.

[10] Ali SO, Peynircioğlu ZF. Songs and emotions: Are lyrics and melodies equal partners? Psychol Music. 2006; 34(4):511-534. doi: 10.1177/0305735606067168

[11] Kallinen K, Ravaja N. Emotion perceived and emotion felt: Same and different. Music Sci. 2006; 10(2):191-213. doi: 10.1177/102986490601000203

[12] Wang F, Huang X, Zeb S, Liu D, Wang Y. Impact of music education on mental health of higher education students: Moderating role of emotional intelligence. Front Psychol. 2022; 13:938090.. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.938090

[13] Miloš D, Vuger R. Glazba je zvonka radost: Povezanost glazbe i raspoloženja [Music is a ringing joy:The connection between music and mood]. In: Gortan-Calin IP, Radić B, editors. Glazbe Jadrana-Identitet, Utjecaji i Tradicije. Novigrad: Katedra Čakavskog Sabora za Glazbu Novigrad; 2019. p. 229-241.

[14] North AC, Hargreaves DJ. Situational influences on reported musical preference. Psychomusicol A J Res Music Cognit. 1996; 15(1-2):30-45. doi: 10.1037/h0094081

[15] Thoma MV, Ryf S, Mohiyeddini C, Ehlert U, Nater UM. Emotion regulation through listening to music in everyday situations. Cogn Emot. 2011; 26(3):550-560. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2011.595390

[16] Yinan Z, Serrano PL. The impact of early childhood music on the physical and mental development of young children. Int J Soc Sci Humanit Res. 2024; 12(1):96-99. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10589408

[17] Liu L. On Influence of Music Education on Emotional Development of Pre-school Children. In: International Conference on Education, Management, Commerce and Society(EMCS 2015). China: China West Normal University; 2015. doi: 10.2991/emcs-15.2015.151

[18] Küpana M. Social emotional learning and music education. SED J Art Educ. 2015; 3(2):75-88. doi: 10.7816/sed-03-01-05

[19] Nikolić L. Utjecaj glazbenoga obrazovanja na socijalno-emocionalni razvoj djeteta [Impact of music education on the social and emotional development of the child]. Diacovensia Teološki Pril. 2022; 30(1):129-149. doi: 10.31823/d.30.1.7

[20] Suleman Q, Hussain I, Syed MA, Parveen R, Lodhi IS, Mahmood Z. Association between emotional intelligence and academic success among undergraduates: A cross-sectional study in KUST, Pakistan. PLoS One. 2019; 14(7):e0219468. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219468

[21] Vidulin S, Radica D. Spoznajno-emocionalni pristup slušanju glazbe u školi: Teorijsko polazište [Cognitive-emotional approach to listening to music at school:Theoretical starting point]. In: Vidulin S, editor. Glazbena Pedagogija u Svjetlu Sadašnjih i Budućih Promjena 5. Pula:Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli, Muzička Akademija u Puli; 2017. p. 55-71. Available from: https://www.bib.irb.hr:8443/916697 [Last accessed on 2025 Mar 10].

[22] Škojo T. Osvrt na emocionalni aspekt slušanja glazbe [The emotional aspect of listening to music]. Diacovensia. 2021; 29(1):91-108. doi: 10.31823/d.29.1.5

[23] Nawrot ES. The perception of emotional expression in music: Evidence from infants, children and adults. Psychol Music. 2003; 31(1):75-92. doi: 10.1177/0305735603031001325

[24] Ayube L. What is SEL? A Clear Definition and Explanation of Social-Emotional Learning. StoryboardThat; 2024. Available from: https://www.storyboardthat.com/articles/e/social-emotional-learning [Last accessed on 2025 Mar 10].

[25] Ajduković M, Keresteš G, editors. Etički Kodeks Istraživanja s Djecom [Ethical Code of Research with Children]. Zagreb:Vijeće za djecu Vlade Republike Hrvatske, Državni Zavod za Zaštitu Obitelji, Materinstva i Mladeži; 2020. Available from: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/ https://mrosp.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/Socijalna%20politika/Obitelj%20i%20djeca/Eti%C4%8Dki%20kodeks%20istra%C5%BEivanja%20s%20djecom%20-%20integrirani%20tekst%20s%20prilozima.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 Mar 10].

[26] Imbir K, Golab M. Affective reactions to music: Norms for 120 excerpts of modern and classical music. Psychol Music. 2017; 45:432-449. doi: 10.1177/0305735616671587

[27] Fuentes-Sánchez N, Pastor R, Eerola T, Escrig MA, Pastor MC. Musical preference but not familiarity influences subjective ratings and psychophysiological correlates of music-induced emotions. Pers Individ Dif. 2022; 198:111828.. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111828

[28] Lonsdale AJ. Emotional intellig/ence, alexithymia, stress, and people’s reasons for listening to music. Psychol Music. 2019; 47(5):680-693. doi: 10.1177/0305735618778126