Heart palpitations and goose bumps: People who listen to music often have a physical reaction to it. In this interview, music psychologist Prof Dr Gunter Kreutz talks about the effect of happy and sad music and the misconception that loud music is particularly motivating during sport.
QUESTION: Mr Kreutz, does happy music make you happy and sad music make you sad?
KREUTZ: It's not as simple as that. Music evokes physical reactions, but usually relatively unspecific ones. When I hear music and my heart starts pounding, it can be happy, sad, angry or aggressive music. Until 15 or 20 years ago, it was assumed that it was difficult to link specific patterns of physical reactions with music of a certain emotional content.
QUESTION: And what do we know about this today?
KREUTZ: Over time, it has become clear that something can be established. For example, the facial muscles react in the direction of the emotions presented by the music. But we don't even realise that.
QUESTION: What did you find out in your current study?
KREUTZ: My doctoral student Antje Bullack tried to replicate a ten-year-old study in which such different reaction patterns were found. We were able to confirm some of them. So people don't just notice that the music has a happy or sad expression. It literally gets under their skin. The body reacts to it.
QUESTION: How exactly?
KREUTZ: With happy music, for example, the laugh muscle is active in the face, with sad music it's more the frown muscle. There were also differences in the breathing rate.
QUESTION: Can you consciously use music to put yourself in a certain mood? For example, could you listen to happy music when you're feeling low to get you out of a slump?
KREUTZ: Many people use music to regulate their mood. This is called mood management. There are people who act according to the so-called iso principle: if they are in a bad mood, they can't tolerate happy music, but want something that matches the mood. But there are also people who say: now I need a contrasting programme.
QUESTION: Does music always have a strong physical effect?
KREUTZ: No, you also have to realise that: The expression of the music often doesn't go in a certain direction. Much of it takes place more or less in a neutral area.
QUESTION: Why is that?
KREUTZ: I think that if we reacted very strongly to music physically, we would constantly be on a rollercoaster. Of course, music has many other functions for us. It has an entertainment value, gives us mental stimulation and can also help to bridge periods of boredom.
QUESTION: What effect does loud music have?
KREUTZ: If you turn music up, it becomes more unpleasant over time, although you may still find it enjoyable. Nevertheless, many people think they are doing something good for themselves when they listen to music very loudly.
QUESTION: There is often a lot of background noise, especially during sport, for example in the gym. Does that have advantages?
KREUTZ: In many fitness centres or sports groups, music is often played so loudly that it would be harmful to health in the long term. The trainers then shout against the music. We have now discovered in a study that it makes no difference to athletic performance whether the music is played at room volume or extremely loud. There is no reason why music should be played so loudly that it could damage your hearing in the long term. The question now arises: Why do people firmly believe that loud music is good?
QUESTION: Doesn't it at least motivate them?
KREUTZ: Athletes feel motivated. But neither the perceived exertion is less nor the physical performance better when the music is louder. In other words, something happens in your head that tells you: loud is good, that's why I'm more motivated. But if you play the same music quietly, you can't measure any difference. However, there are sports where listening to music can actually be supportive or motivating.
QUESTION: Namely?
KREUTZ: Running, for example: If the music matches the rhythm of the running, you have a certain advantage in terms of activation. But this is completely independent of the volume.
QUESTION: Does singing the national anthem together have a positive effect?
KREUTZ: British and Australian researchers recently investigated this. At the 2016 European Football Championships, they determined how passionately the athletes of the various nations sang their anthem - and whether there was a correlation with their sporting performance. The result was that teams that sang their national anthem more fervently were more successful in the knockout phase.
QUESTION: No wonder the German team was eliminated from the current World Cup!
KREUTZ: Who knows! According to the study, singing didn't play a role in the group stage. I didn't see that many strong singers in the other teams either. Besides, it's all about probabilities. Passionate singing is no guarantee of victory.
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Bullack, A., Büdenbender, N., Roden, I., & Kreutz, G. (2018). Psychophysiological Responses to "Happy" and "Sad" Music: A Replication Study. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 35(4), 502-517. DOI: 10.1525/mp.2018.35.4.502
Kreutz, G., Schorer, J., Sojke, D., Neugebauer, J., & Bullack, A. (2018). In dubio pro silentio - Even loud music does not facilitate strenuous ergometer exercise. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 590. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00590