502 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz
P S YC H O P H YS I O L O G I C A L R E S P O N S E S T O ‘‘H A P P Y ’’
A R E P L I C AT I O N S T U DY
A N T J E B U L L AC K , N I K L A S B Ü D E N B E N D E R ,
INGO RODEN, & GUNTER KREUTZ
University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
LUNDQVIST, CARLSSON, HILMERSSON, AND JUSLIN
(2009) presented evidence of differential autonomic
emotional responses to ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’ music in
healthy adult listeners. The present study sought to rep-
licate and extend these findings by employing a similar
research design and measurement instruments. There-
fore, we used instrumental film music instead of vocal
music, and assessed listeners’ music expertise. The pres-
ent results show similarities and differences in patterns
of psychological and physiological responses as com-
pared to the previous work. Happy music evoked more
happiness, higher skin conductance level, higher respi-
ratory rate, and more zygomatic facial muscle activity
than sad music, whereas sad music generated higher
corrugator muscle activity than happy music. Influences
of music sophistication as well as of sex were negligible.
Taken together, these results further support the
hypothesis that music induces differential autonomic
emotional responses in healthy listeners. They also
highlight the importance of replication or multi-site
studies to strengthen the empirical basis of fundamental
issues in music psychological research.
Received: March 17, 2016, accepted September 16, 2017.
Key words: music listening, psychophysiology, auto-
nomic activity, emotions, replication study
E
MOTIONAL RESPONSES TO MUSIC LISTENING
have been studied extensively over the past dec-
ades (Juslin & Sloboda, 2010; Swaminathan &
Schellenberg, 2015). Some theorists have argued that
music may communicate (Argstatter, 2016; Juslin, 1997;
Mohn, Argstatter, & Wilker, 2011) or even induce basic
emotions including ‘‘happiness’’ and ‘‘sadness’’ (Kreutz,
Ott, Teichmann, Osawa, & Vaitl, 2007). Others have
sought evidence to differentiate these emotions at both
psychological and physiological levels (Juslin, Barradas,
& Eerola, 2015; Kreutz, Bongard, & Jussis, 2002; Krum-
hansl, 1997; Lundqvist, Carlsson, Hilmersson, & Juslin,
Music Perception, VOLUM E 35, ISSU E 4, PP. 502–517, IS S N 0730-7829, EL ECTR ONI C ISSN 1533-8312. © 2018 B Y THE R E GE N TS OF THE UN IV E RS I T Y O F CA LI FOR NIA A LL
R IG HTS RES ERV ED . PLEASE DIR ECT ALL REQ UEST S F OR PER MISSION T O PHOT O COPY OR R EPRO DUC E A RTI CLE CONT ENT T HRO UGH T HE UNI VE R S IT Y OF CALI FO RNIA P R E SS ’ S
R EPR IN TS AN D P ERMISSI ONS WEB PAG E , HT T P :// W W W. UCPR ESS . E DU / JOU RNA LS . PHP ? P¼REPR IN TS . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ M P.2018.35.4.502
AND ‘‘S A D ’’ M U S I C :
2009; White & Rickard, 2016). The relationship between
emotions expressed by the music and actually felt by the
listener is a basic concern of music psychology (Evans &
Schubert, 2008). Supporters of the so-called cognitivist
position assume that music is representative of emotions
and the listener only recognizes the emotional expres-
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sion, whereas supporters of the emotivist position postu-
late that music could elicit most if not all components
that are associated with emotions in real life (Scherer &
Zentner, 2001). Therefore, changes in physiological and
expressive responses could be evidence for the emotivist
position (Krumhansl, 1997; Rickard, 2004). Alternatively,
according to a more empirical interpretation of this phil-
osophical stance, the data suggest a music-evoked inter-
nal locus of affect (Schubert, 2007).
One prevailing question is to what extent emotionally
charged stimuli may evoke specific responses in the
autonomic nervous system (ANS), in general (Leven-
son, 2003, 2014) and with respect to music stimulation,
in particular (e.g., Krumhansl, 1997; Nyklicek, Thayer,
& Van Doornen, 1997). Although the available literature
is limited, ANS responses to musically induced basic
emotions have produced conflicting patterns in past
research. For example, although some studies showed
increases of heart rate during listening to ‘‘happy’’ and
‘‘sad’’ music (Kreutz et al. 2002; Lundqvist et al., 2009),
other researchers found decreases in this measure
(White & Rickard, 2016). A large number of studies
reported divergent findings across different physiologi-
cal parameters including, for example, systolic and dia-
stolic blood pressure as well as skin conductance levels
(Bartlett, 1996).
To unravel the mysteries of varying levels of psycho-
physiological association between music materials and
listeners’ responses, Juslin, Harmat, and Eerola (2013)
have addressed hypothetical mechanisms that mediate
emotional responses in different ways (see also Juslin
et al., 2015). For example, these authors found that
musically induced ‘‘happiness’’ was associated with
a memory mechanism, whereas ‘‘sadness’’ was associ-
ated with a contagion mechanism. These mechanisms
refer to more general theories of emotion induction,
which hold that elicitation of emotions may occur at
different levels of processing. Note that the evidence

Preparation phase Experimental phase Debriefing phase
Welcome (1 practice trial Detachment of sensors
Demographic and followed by main Mood rating
music questionnaires experiment = 8 trials*)
Debriefing
(Gold-MSI)
Application of sensors
Mood and emotion
ratings
ca. 15 minutes ca. 40 minutes ca. 5 minutes
time
* Presentation in randomized order (4 ‘happy’ and 4 ‘sad’ music excerpts)
FIGURE 1. Flowchart of the experimental design and procedure (single
trials; for further details see text).
produced to verify emotional mechanism entail specific
music selections as well as the recording of psychophys-
iological responses including skin conductance and
facial electromyography. Specifically, the memory
mechanism was associated with enhanced skin conduc-
tance and zygomaticus levels on the one hand, and
reduced corrugator activity on the other. By contrast,
the contagion mechanism was associated with the
enhanced corrugator and reduced zygomaticus activity,
whereas skin conductance stayed level (Juslin et al.,
2015, Figure 1, p. 298). The possibility of confounds
with other mechanisms notwithstanding, there emerges
a strong pattern of psychophysiological associations
that underscore the predictability and consistency of
emotional reactions to music listening at least in healthy
adult listeners and with respect to distinct emotion
categories.
Recent studies that particularly emphasize cardiore-
spiratory variables seem to converge in suggesting at
least partial adaptation between variables related to the
acoustic surface of music sounds on the one hand, and
psychobiological responses in the process of listening on
the other (Bernardi et al., 2009; Bernardi, Porta, &
Sleight, 2006), but also emphasize the importance of
context. Koelsch and Jäncke (2015) concluded from
their review, that exciting music induces significantly
higher heart rate values than tranquil music. However,
this prediction, if extended to listening to ‘‘happy’’ ver-
sus ‘‘sad’’ music, was not supported by Lundqvist et al.
(2009), who failed to observe significant effects of music
listening on heart rate. One recurrent observation is an
increase of physiological relaxation in prolonged listen-
ing sessions across blocks of trials (Kreutz et al., 2002;
Krumhansl, 1997). In fact, the strongest effect on relax-
ation seems to come from the silence following music
stimulation (Bernardi et al., 2006).
Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 503
Facial electromyography measures can be seen as reli-
able indicators for discriminating between different emo-
tions (Ekman, Levenson, & Friesen, 1983). Musically
induced facial EMG responses to different emotion cate-
gories were found to be in line with the predicted patterns
across studies (e.g., Witvliet, 1998; Witvliet & Vrana,
2007). Lundqvist and colleagues (2009), for example,
found that ‘‘happy’’ music was associated with greater
zygomatic facial muscle activity than ‘‘sad’’ music.
Skin conductance levels, respiratory rate, as well as
finger temperature are commonly seen as indicators
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reflecting different aspects of autonomic activation. For
example, Khalfa, Isabelle, Jean-Pierre, and Manon.
(2002) observed that higher skin conductance levels
were associated with high-arousing music, whereas low
skin conductance has been associated with low-arousing
music (Khalfa et al., 2004). Similarly, both elevated skin
conductance and breathing were associated with higher
physiological activation in a study comparing the effects
of music versus noise stimulation (Gomez & Danuser,
2004). Such arousing effects as reflected in increased
skin conductance, respiration, and heart rate levels
extend to the enhancing effects of films by accompany-
ing music (Baumgartner, Esslen, & Jäncke, 2006).
Studies on the potential entrainment effects to musi-
cal tempo and rhythm (Etzel, Johnsen, Dickerson, Tra-
nel, & Adolphs, 2006) have sparked a controversy as to
whether responses that differentiate ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’
music might be attributable to musical surface features
rather than to the emotional responses the music elicits
(Khalfa, Roy, Rainville, Dalla Bella, & Peretz, 2008).
Although this controversy cannot be regarded as
unequivocally solved, at least it has made clear that
there could be several pathways by which musically
induced ANS modulation might occur. In addition,
individual differences including personality traits have
been discussed as factors that systematically influence
autonomous responses to music, which suggests the
importance of person-related influences (Liljeström,
Juslin, & Västfjäll, 2012).
In sum, research on ANS responses to music stimu-
lation is characterized by rather complex sets of obser-
vations, pointing to the equally complex nature of the
underlying physiological processes (Grewe, Nagel,
Kopiez, & Altenmüller, 2007). Therefore, replication
of specific experimental designs and procedures seems
important, to ascertain greater levels of consistency in
research findings. In the current study, we tested
whether ANS responses to ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’ music
excerpts would lead to convergent or divergent patterns
as compared to previous work by using instrumental
music in our study instead of vocal music.
504 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz
Studies targeting lyrics as a source of emotion mod-
ulation in music produced mixed findings (Ali & Pey-
nircioglu, 2006; Juslin, Liljeström, Västfjäll, Barradas,
& Silva, 2008). For example, Ali and Peynircioglu
(2006) found that melodies of songs influenced listen-
ers’ emotion ratings more strongly than did lyrics.
Moreover, listeners describe the influence of lyrics as
a cause of emotions as marginal (Juslin et al., 2008).
Nevertheless, aggressive thoughts and affect were
found significantly enhanced in response to hard rock
songs with violent as compared to nonviolent lyrics
(Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003). However,
numerous studies have intentionally focused on
instrumental music to avoid the potentially confound-
ing influence of linguistic information in emotional
responses to music (Eerola, 2011; Hunter, Schellen-
berg, & Schimmack, 2010; Kallinen, 2005). For similar
reasons, only musical excerpts without lyrics were
included in the present study.
One further objective of the study was to address to
what extent musical sophistication might modulate psy-
chophysiological responses to music listening as previ-
ous studies produced inconsistent results. For example,
Kreutz et al. (2002) found little indication that musical
expertise modulated cardiovascular reactions during
music listening, whereas Bigand and colleagues (2005)
found only a slight influence of music training on musi-
cal emotion ratings. Bigand and Poulin-Charonnat
(2006) concluded in their review that musicians had
no advantage in perceiving emotions in music. How-
ever, some studies have suggested that musical expertise
might influence recognition of emotions in listening to
speech prosody (Lima & Castro, 2011), music (Kantor-
Martynuska, & Horabik, 2015), and even cardiorespira-
tory changes induced by music listening (Bernardi et al.,
2006).
Following Lundqvist and colleagues (2009), we inves-
tigated potential influences of sex differences on psy-
chological and physiological responses to music.
Again, previous studies do not allow firm conclusions.
Perceived emotions, in general, appear unaffected by the
sex of listener (Dimberg, & Lundqvist, 1990; Nater,
Abbruzzese, Krebs, & Ehlert, 2006; Robazza, Macaluso,
& D’Urso, 1994). However, sex differences have been
discussed in more specific work on psychophysiological
responses during emotion processing (Kring & Gordon,
1998) and emotion regulation (McRae, Ochsner, Mauss,
Gabrieli, & Gross, 2008), as well as in the context of
music listening (Altenmüller, Schürmann, Lim, & Par-
litz, 2002; Kamenetsky, Hill, & Trehub, 1997; McFarland
& Kadish, 1991) and auditory stimulation (Dimberg,
1990a, 1990b).
Aims and Hypotheses
The central aim of the present study sought to replicate
and extend previous findings by adapting a similar
research paradigm as Lundqvist et al. (2009), but with
some modifications. First, instrumental film music
(audio tracks only) was used instead of vocal music.
Second, we applied a recently developed measure of
music sophistication (Gold-MSI; Schaal, Bauer, &
Müllensiefen, 2014) to investigate whether this trait
might modulate individual emotional responses. Third,
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the study protocol entailed a more extended baseline
measurement to help participants relax in the intervals
before and after the music presentations and to reduce
carry-over effects of the emotional tone from the pre-
vious music excerpt to the following one.
The hypotheses being tested here follow Lundqvist et al.
(2009) with a few modifications. We expected listeners to
respond differentially to ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’ music excerpts
by significantly higher ratings on corresponding scales
relative to the opposite emotion category. Further, we
assumed that ‘‘happy’’ music would induce significantly
greater activation in the zygomaticus and less in the cor-
rugator muscles, while the reverse pattern was expected
for ‘‘sad’’ music (Witvliet & Vrana, 2007). In addition, we
expected that ‘‘happy’’ music would lead to significantly
greater physiological arousal as represented in higher skin
conductance and finger temperature level, suggesting an
increase in sympathetic system activity. As one addi-
tional parameter, our study protocol included respira-
tory rate, because emotional reactions are frequently
accompanied by changes in the respective systems
(Bernardi et al., 2006; Gomez & Danuser, 2007; Krum-
hansl, 1997). Furthermore, we hypothesized that music
sophistication is significantly positively associated with
listeners’ psychophysiological reactivity, following obser-
vations that suggest differential patterns of psychophysi-
ological responses in musically trained versus untrained
listeners (Bernardi et al., 2006). Finally, consistent with the
results of Lundqvist et al. (2009), we expected no differ-
ences between female and male listeners.
The study design and protocol received approval
from the Ethics committee of the Carl von Ossietzky
University Oldenburg. It was conducted following the
principles as outlined in the latest version of the Decla-
ration of Helsinki.
Method
PRE-TEST AND STIMULUS SELECTION
Music composed originally as soundtracks for commer-
cial film drama has been shown to effectively intensify
 Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 505

the emotional experience (Eschrich, Münte, & Alten-

0.45 (0.59)
0.00 (0.00)
0.20 (0.40)
0.10 (0.30)
2.20 (0.81)
2.25 (0.77)
2.25 (0.99)
2.65 (0.57)
‘‘sadness’’
müller, 2008). Music as a soundtrack in film is even
considered as one key factor influencing viewers’ emo-
tional responses (Cohen, 2001).
The music excerpts were tested in a pilot experiment

‘‘happiness’’
(0.68)
(0.57)
(0.77)
(0.62)
(0.36)
(0.48)
(0.22)
(0.30)
with 20 participants (10 women, age M ¼ 25.8 years, age
SD ¼ 3.19; 10 men, age M ¼ 29.7 years, age SD ¼ 3.56). In

2.20
2.65
2.00
2.10
0.15
0.35
0.05
0.10
single or group sessions, the participants rated the degree
to which each of the eight ‘‘happy’’ and eight ‘‘sad’’ excerpts

Duration
evoked emotional responses. The items included valence,

(in min)
02:22a,b
02:21a
02:27a,b
02:36b
02:21b
02:30b
02:24a
02:23a,b
arousal, pleasantness, and familiarity as well as six emo-

Note: The superscript ‘‘a’’ means that excerpts were looped to achieve a comparable duration with the other excerpts; the superscript ‘‘b’’ indicates that excerpts were faded out.

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tions of the Differential Emotions Scale (Izard, 1977),
namely ‘‘happiness,’’ ‘‘surprise,’’ ‘‘sadness,’’ ‘‘anger,’’ ‘‘dis-

00:00-01:28
00:00-01:15
00:00-01:57
00:00-02:36
00:00-02:21
00:00-02:30
00:00-01:47
00:00-02:23
gust,’’ and ‘‘fear.’’ The ratings were recorded on 4-point

(in min)
Section
Likert scales (0 ¼ not at all, 1 ¼ slightly, 2 ¼ somewhat, 3 ¼
very strongly). In addition, listeners rated whether or not

TABLE 1. Description and Pre-test Ratings for “Happiness” and “Sadness” of Music Excerpts Used in the Main Experiment
they were familiar with each of the excerpts.
The music excerpts of highest salience with respect to

Track
10
04
02
03
04
10
21
01
the target emotion categories were selected for the main
experiment. Four of these excerpts represented ‘‘happy’’

Pünktchen und Anton

and four ‘‘sad’’ emotional tones. Besides a specific asso-

Pride and Prejudice

ciation with the target emotion category, we confirmed

Portrait of A Lady
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Soundtrack
that the stimuli were unfamiliar to most participants

Pan’s Labyrinth
The Fountain

The Fountain
(see Table 1 for details).

The Artist
PARTICIPANTS
Thirty-two healthy adults (16 female, age M ¼ 26.25,
age SD ¼ 2.17; 16 male; age M ¼ 26.31, age SD ¼ 3.57)

Together we will live forever

participated. None of the participants reported hearing
High-Speed French Train

impairments, cardiovascular, or respiratory conditions.

Pan’s Labyrinth Lullaby
Meryton Townhall
Title

George Valentin

MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS
Twilight Cellos

The Last Man

Behavioral measures. The Differential Emotions Scale
(DES, Izard, 1977; German translation, Merten & Krause,
Glücklich

1993) served to identify the subjective emotional experi-

ence. Seven emotion categories were each represented by
three different adjectives (German translation in brack-
Alexandre Desplat

ets): 1) ‘‘Interest’’: ‘‘attentive’’ (aufmerksam), ‘‘focused’’

Dario Marianelli

Javier Navarrete
Ludovic Bource

(konzentriert), ‘‘alert’’ (wach); 2) ‘‘Joy’’: ‘‘delighted’’

Wojciech Kilar
Composer

Clint Mansell

Clint Mansell

(erfreut), ‘‘happy’’ (glücklich), ‘‘glad’’ (froh); 3) ‘‘Surprise’’:

Niki Reiser

‘‘surprised’’ (überrascht), ‘‘amazed’’ (verblüfft), ‘‘aston-

ished’’ (erstaunt); 4) ‘‘Sadness’’: ‘‘disheartened’’ (nieder-
geschlagen), ‘‘sad’’ (traurig), ‘‘discouraged’’ (entmutigt);
5) ‘‘Anger’’: ‘‘enraged’’ (aufgebracht), ‘‘angry’’ (zornig),
Happiness
Happiness
Happiness
Happiness
Emotion

‘‘mad’’ (wütend); 6) ‘‘Disgust’’: ‘‘distasted’’ (angeekelt),

Sadness
Sadness
Sadness
Sadness

‘‘disgusted’’ (abgestoßen), ‘‘repulsed’’ (angewidert); 7)

‘‘Fear’’: ‘‘scared’’ (bange), ‘‘fearful’’ (ängstlich), ‘‘afraid’’
(sich fürchtend). The participants rated the intensity of
Stimulus

their feelings by drawing a line on a 100 mm visual

analog scale, which was labeled with the end-points not
H1
H2
H3
H4
S1
S2
S3
S4

at all and very strong.

506 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz
Additionally, participants rated valence (pleasant –
unpleasant) and arousal (activating – calming) on bipo-
lar 5-point scales. Liking (‘‘I like this piece of music’’)
and familiarity (‘‘I know this piece of music’’) were eval-
uated on 5-point Likert scales ranging from 0 (not at all)
to 4 (very strongly).
To assess mood level changes in response to the
experimental procedures, participants rated wakeful-
ness on bipolar 5-point scales (awake ¼ 1 – tired ¼
5), attention (attentive ¼ 1 – distracted ¼ 5), and ten-
sion (tensed ¼ 1 – relaxed ¼ 5).
Music sophistication. The German version of the Gold-
smiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) was
used to identify musicians and nonmusicians (Müllensie-
fen, Gingras, Musil, & Stewart, 2014; German version:
Schaal et al., 2014). The concept of music sophistication
is based on the idea that music expertise not only consists
of practical music training but also includes active
engagement with music in many different forms and at
various levels across the lifespan.
The self-report questionnaire measured music engage-
ment by five subscales that capture several aspects (active
engagement, perceptual abilities, music training, singing
abilities, and emotions). From these, a general music
sophistication factor is calculated. Participants could
achieve a score between 23 and 121. Participants were
grouped as high or low in music sophistication based on
a median split of the total music sophistication score.
High music sophistication is characterized by a frequent
exercise of music abilities or behaviors, greater ease and
precision of music abilities or behaviors, and greater and
highly varied repertoire of music behavior. For example,
individuals with high music sophistication are thought to
respond to a wider range of music situations. They also
show a greater diversity in their music-related behavior
and more effective approaches to achieve their music
goals (Müllensiefen et al., 2014).
Physiological measures. Physiological responses were
recorded using the NeXus-10 MKII1 system via stan-
dard sensors. They were applied according to the writ-
ten manual and recommendations provided by the
supplier. In particular, heart rate was measured using
a blood volume pulse (BVP) sensor. This photoplethys-
mograph was attached to the forefinger of the left hand.
Skin conductance was measured by placing two Ag/
AgCl electrodes on the distal phalanges of the middle
and ring finger of the left hand. The electrodes were
fixed with a Velcro tape. Finger temperature was mea-
sured with a thermistor, attached with adhesive tape on
the distal phalanx of the auricular finger of the left hand.
Bipolar facial EMG signals were recorded in the regions
of the left musculus corrugator and the left musculus
zygomaticus. Ag/AgCl electrodes were placed according
to standard guidelines (e.g., Fridlund & Cacioppo, 1986;
Tassinary, Cacioppo, & Green, 1989; Ekman, Hager &
Friesen, 1981). Finally, respiratory rate was measured
using an elastic belt in the abdominal area, which reg-
istered changes in volume. A computer, which was
placed exterior to the experimental cabin, recorded the
digitized signals via USB-port. Physiological measures
were recorded at a rate of 32 samples per second. The
signals were monitored during the entire session.
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PROCEDURE
Participants were tested individually after informed
consent was obtained. Then, participants filled a ques-
tionnaire with general demographic information and
questions about their health status and rated their cur-
rent mood (wakefulness, attention, and tension). Next,
they were seated in a comfortable chair in the experi-
mental cabin and familiarized with the materials of the
study. Music was presented by a computer via speakers
that were placed at a distance of approximately one
meter from the participants’ ears. It was ensured prior
to the experiment that the loudness of the music
excerpts was set at a comfortable level. Finger sensors
and facial electrodes were applied as described and fol-
lowing recommendations in the NeXus-10 MKII1 sys-
tem manual. Recordings of physiological data were
started about 10 minutes before the test procedure
began to ensure that participants adjusted well to the
testing situation. They were told that the facial electro-
des captured the activity of the sweat glands. Likewise,
the aim of the DES was disguised. Participants were told
that the questionnaire captured aspects such as fatigue
and their current mood because these variables could
influence psychophysiological measures (Fridlund &
Cacioppo, 1986). Then, the participants filled the first
DES questionnaire and the Gold-MSI inventory.
After the questionnaires were completed, participants
were asked to avoid deliberate movement of bodily mus-
cles during the testing period as far as possible. Then, the
computer-assisted test sequence programmed with E-
Prime1 2.0 was initiated. The experimental phase started
with one practice trial followed by the main experiment
consisting of eight trials. Every trial started with a different
two-minute video, showing nature scenes with sounds
(burbling of water, singing birds, etc.) to support partici-
pants resuming a neutral emotional state. Next, partici-
pants listened to one happy or one sad excerpt. They
rated each on the emotion categories provided by the
DES as well as on additional 5-point Likert-type scales
for valence, arousal, pleasantness, and familiarity.

Presentation of excerpts occurred in random order. After
the experiment, participants filled out a second question-
naire about their current mood and were debriefed after-
wards. Further information on psychophysiological
measurements as well as the purpose of the DES was
provided upon request. Figure 1 presents a flow chart
of the experimental sessions. Participants were tested
individually. Each session lasted approximately 60 min.
DATA PREPARATION AND ANALYSES
The psychophysiological data were exported using the
software BioTraceþ1. Heart rate was measured as beat
per minute (bpm) and derived from the interbeat inter-
val as provided by the blood volume pulse recordings.
Skin conductance units were measured in micro-
Siemens (mS). EMG signals were subjected to low- and
high-pass filtering to eliminate artifacts. Filters were set
at 10 Hz and 1 kHz. In addition, a notch filter with
a center frequency at 50 Hz was applied. EMG signals
were measured in microvolts (mV). Inspection of raw
data revealed that certain streams of physiological data
had to be excluded from analysis: corrugator supercilii
data (female, nonmusician), two data sets of musculus
zygomaticus activity (males, nonmusicians), one data
set of electrodermal activity (female, musician), and one
further data set of heart rate (male, musician). Repeated
measures ANOVAs with order as a within-subject factor
were conducted across all dependent variables, but only
significant order effects are reported.
Values of the three items representing an emotion on
the Differential emotion scale (DES) were summed up
scoring between 0 and 300 points. The ratings of the
first questionnaire filled out before the experiment
served as initial measures of emotional tone, hence
called ‘‘pre-measurement.’’ The questionnaires after
listening to happy and sad music excerpts served as
subsequent measures of emotional tone, hence called
‘‘post-measurements.’’ DES ratings were first analyzed
by two-way 3 x 2 x 2 repeated measures ANOVAs with
condition (pre-measurement, ‘‘happy’’ music, ‘‘sad’’
music) as the within-subject and sex (female, male) and
music sophistication (nonmusician, musician) as
between-subjects factors.
Recordings of the eight two-minute videos between
music presentations were averaged, thereby providing
baseline values for the calculation of change scores. To
this end, baseline values were subtracted from averages
of physiological measurements during ‘‘happy’’ as well
as ‘‘sad’’ music listening. In addition, we analyzed the
data in accordance with Lundqvist et al. (2009); that is,
28 epochs of 5-s segments for each physiological vari-
able for further statistical analysis.
Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 507
ANS data were first analyzed using a 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA
with condition (change score for ‘‘happy’’ music, change
score for ‘‘sad’’ music) as within-subjects factor and gen-
der (female, male) and music sophistication (nonmusi-
cian, musician) as between-subject factors.
To consider temporal changes, ANS data were also
analyzed using a 2 x 28 ANOVA, in which the change
scores of the ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’ music conditions rela-
tive to baseline were entered as the within-subject factor
and time block was entered as the repeated measures
factor. Again, sex (female, male) and music sophistica-
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tion (nonmusician, musician) served as between-subject
factors in subsequent analyses to assess any influence of
these independent variables.
For each measure, we assessed whether preconditions
for conducting ANOVAs (normality Box’s M test of
equality of covariance matrices and Mauchly’s test of
sphericity) were met. Accordingly, degrees of freedom
were estimated in the F-statistics using Greenhouse-
Geisser corrections where appropriate.
In all statistical tests, the p values were set to .05,
except when an adjustment to multiple comparisons
was mandatory. In addition, partial eta-squared was
calculated as a measure of the effect size.
Results
SUBJECTIVE RESPONSES
Table 2 shows the results from the emotion ratings on
the DES from pre- to post-measurements. Both induced
‘‘happiness’’ and ‘‘sadness’’ decreased significantly in
both music conditions. However, ratings on the former
scale decreased more strongly after listening to ‘‘sad’’
music than after listening to ‘‘happy’’ music, t(31) ¼
11.65, p < .001, d ¼ 2.06. In addition, there was a signif-
icant difference in ‘‘happiness’’ ratings with respect to
music condition, t(31) ¼ 8.76, p < .001, d ¼ 1.55. ‘‘sad’’
music induced higher ratings of ‘‘sadness’’ than did
‘‘happy’’ music, t(31) ¼ 4.20, p < .001, d ¼ 0.74.
Conversely, ‘‘sadness’’ ratings decreased when listening
to ‘‘happy’’ music, t(31) ¼ 2.63, p < .05, d ¼ 0.46.
Table 2 reveals that significant differences were also
observed for emotion categories other than ‘‘happiness’’
and ‘‘sadness.’’ In particular, listening to ‘‘sad’’ music
was associated with decreases of ‘‘interest’’ and ‘‘sur-
prise,’’ whereas ‘‘disgust’’ and ‘‘fear’’ increased. ‘‘Happy’’
music, by contrast, led to a decrease of ‘‘interest’’ and
‘‘fear.’’ No significant effects for ‘‘anger’’ were found.
‘‘Happy’’ music excerpts (M ¼ 1.76, SD ¼ 0.52) were
rated as more pleasant than ‘‘sad’’ excerpts (M ¼ 2.30,
SD ¼ 0.88), t(50.14) ¼ 2.98, p < .01, d ¼ 0.56. Also
‘‘happy’’ excerpts (M ¼ 1.91, SD ¼ 0.58) were evaluated
508 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz

TABLE 2. Means and Standard Deviations of Emotional Experience Ratings (0-300) Before and After Listening to “Happy” and “Sad” Music

Emotion Pre Music Condition Post t d

Interest 224.88 (41.20) happy 182.13 (53.56) 5.24*** .93
sad 150.39 (52.75) 8.67*** 1.53
Happiness 213.50 (40.81) happy 195.58 (42.50) 2.63** .46
sad 93.56 (57.52) 11.65*** 2.06
Surprise 76.19 (74.55) happy 61.42 (61.51) 1.34 .24
sad 25.00 (29.64) 4.56*** .81
Sadness 20.31 (28.45) happy 9.39 (11.02) 2.63** .46
sad 70.69 (63.26) 4.20*** .74
Anger 16.91 (24.77) happy 11.30 (16.71) 1.43 .25

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sad 11.94 (17.86) 1.39 .25
Disgust 6.42 (9.32) happy 7.53 (8.04) .73 .13
sad 14.08 (19.85) 2.44* .43
Fear 9.06 (8.04) happy 5.93 (8.04) 2.51* .44
sad 27.58 (42.07) 2.46* .43
Note: t-tests represent changes between pre- and post-measurements. *p < .05; **p  .01; ***p < .001

TABLE 3. Means and Standard Deviations of Levels of Physiological Activity at Baseline and During Listening to “Happy” and “Sad” Music

Baseline Music Condition Post t d

SC 6.56 (3.58) happy 6.29 (3.49) 3.72*** .68
sad 6.01 (3.45) 6.57*** 1.19
RR 18.03 (2.51) happy 19.46 (2.90) 8.08*** 1.43
sad 18.22 (2.93) 1.14 .20
HR 73.99 (9.03) happy 74.26 (9.44) .58 .10
sad 73.90 (9.53) .18 .03
TEMP 34.82 (2.25) happy 34.81 (2.34) .15 .03
sad 34.96 (2.11) 2.26* .41
CORR 5.78 (3.82) happy 5.72 (4.33) .37 .66
sad 6.36 (4.17) 3.26** .59
ZYG 3.87 (1.92) happy 4.17 (2.53) .97 .18
sad 3.11 (1.59) 5.45*** .99
Note: t-tests represent changes between baseline and music conditions (happy or sad). p values were adjusted for multiple comparisons. SC ¼ skin conductance (mS); RR ¼
respiratory rate (breaths/min); HR ¼ heart rate (bpm); TEMP ¼ finger temperature ( C); CORR ¼ corrugator electromyographic activity (mV); ZYG ¼ zygomaticus
electromyographic activity (mV). *p < .025; **p  .005; ***p < .0005

as more arousing and ‘‘sad’’ excerpts (M ¼ 3.90, SD ¼
0.61) as more calming, t(62) ¼ 14.04, p < .001, d ¼
2.34. The mean rating for liking was 2.63 (SD ¼ 0.64)
for ‘‘happy’’ excerpts and 2.20 (SD ¼ 0.84) for ‘‘sad’’
music stimuli, t(62) ¼ 2.32, p < .05, d ¼ 0.44. Excerpts
were highly unfamiliar to the participants (Mhappy ¼
0.86, SD ¼ 0.83, Msad ¼ 0.35, SD ¼ 0.50), t(50.84) ¼
2.97, p < .01, d ¼ 0.68.
Neither sex nor music sophistication significantly
influenced emotion ratings, all Fs  3.67, p  .06. Also,
general mood before and after the experiment was sta-
ble and in a positive range (awake – tired: Mbefore, ¼
1.88, SD ¼ 0.79; Mafter ¼ 2.22, SD ¼ 0.94; attentive –
distracted: Mbefore, ¼ 1.78, SD ¼ 0.71; Mafter ¼ 2.06,
SD ¼ 0.76; tensed – relaxed: Mbefore, ¼ 4.00, SD ¼
0.95; Mafter ¼ 4.06, SD ¼ 0.62), all ts  1.94, p  .06).
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS) ACTIVITY
Table 3 summarizes the averaged physiological
responses with respect to the recordings of parameters
included in this study in relation to baseline values. It
shows that significant physiological responses to
‘‘happy’’ music were found in two variables (skin con-
ductance, respiratory rate), whereas three parameters
(skin conductance, corrugator, zygomaticus) were asso-
ciated with significant changes in response to ‘‘sad’’
music.
There were variations of physiological responses in
the time course of listening during the two music con-
ditions as calculated relative to baseline. Therefore, the
following analyses will address the change scores with
respect to the ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’ music conditions for
each physiological parameter separately.
 Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 509

Happy
Sad
0,3

0,1

-0,1

-0,3
μS

-0,5

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-0,7

-0,9
1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (s)

FIGURE 2. Means and standard errors of the means (SEM) of changes of skin conductance levels across emotion categories averaged over all happy
respectively sad music excerpts.

Happy
Sad

2,2

1,8

1,4
breaths/min

0,6

0,2

-0,2

-0,6
1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (s)

FIGURE 3. Means and standard errors of the means (SEM) of changes of respiratory activity levels across emotion categories averaged over all happy
respectively sad music excerpts.

Skin conductance. Significant influences of order could
be observed for skin conductance, F(3.7, 111.71) ¼
4.74, p < .01, p2 ¼ 0.14. There was a significant dif-
ference between the first and the second music excerpt,
t(30) ¼ 2.85, p < .001, d ¼ 0.51. Further, there was
a significant main effect for condition, F(1, 27) ¼
15.72, p < .001, p2 ¼ 0.37. Skin conductance during
listening to ‘‘happy’’ music was significantly higher
than during listening to ‘‘sad’’ music. There was also
a main effect for time block, F(4.67, 252.19) ¼ 31.46,
p < .001, p2 ¼ 0.37, indicating an overall decrease of
skin conductance levels in the time course of listening
(see Figure 2).
Respiratory rate. Respiratory rate significantly increased
when listening to ‘‘happy’’ music in comparison to ‘‘sad’’
music, F(1, 28) ¼ 60.32, p < .001, p2 ¼ 0.68. Again, there
was a main effect for time block, F(14.56, 815.36) ¼
1.76, p < .05, p2 ¼ 0.30, indicating an overall higher
breathing rate during music listening as compared to
baseline (see Figure 3).
Heart rate. No significant effects of music condition were
observed for heart rate, F(1, 27) ¼ 2.14, p ¼ .15, ns, but
there was a main effect for time block F(15.92, 859.58) ¼
2.18, p < .005, ¼ 0.39, again indicating higher cardiac
activity during music listening as compared to baseline.
510 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz

Happy
Sad
1,3

0,9

0,5
μV

0,1

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-0,3

-0,7
1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (s)

FIGURE 4A. Means and standard errors of the means (SEM) of changes of corrugator activity levels across emotion categories averaged over all
happy respectively sad music excerpts.

Happy
Sad

1,1

0,7

0,3
μV

-0,1

-0,5

-0,9

-1,3
1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (s)

FIGURE 4B. Means and standard errors of the means (SEM) of changes of zygomaticus activity levels across emotion categories averaged over all
happy respectively sad music excerpts.

Finger temperature. Significant influences of order were
observed for temperature, F(2.07, 64.14) ¼ 3.42, p < .05,
p2 ¼ 0.99. Specifically, temperature increased from the
first to the second piece of music, t(32) ¼ 3.21, p < .01,
d ¼ 0.57. No significant main effects of ‘‘happy’’ or
‘‘sad’’ music on finger temperature occurred, F(1, 28) ¼
1.72, p ¼ .20, ns. However, a significant effect of time
block, F(1.22, 68.26) ¼ 3.86, p < .05, p2 ¼ 0.64, was
found, indicating a small decrease of finger temperature
during music listening. A nonsignificant increase of fin-
ger temperature relative to baseline was also associated
with exposure to ‘‘sad’’ rather than ‘‘happy’’ music (cf.
Table 3).
Facial electromyography. Zygomatic activity was higher
while listening to ‘‘happy’’ music, F(1, 26) ¼ 13.52, p <
.01, p2 ¼ 0.34, than when listening to ‘‘sad’’ music. An
increase of corrugator activity was found for the ‘‘sad’’
music condition, F(1, 27) ¼ 6.53, p < .05, p2 ¼ 0.20.
A significant main effect for time block was found for
both zygomatic, F(6.35, 330.05) ¼ 3.91, p < .001, p2 ¼
0.07, and corrugator activity, F(5.26, 284.07) ¼ 7.05, p <
.001, p2 ¼ 0.12. Whereas zygomatic activity showed
a slight decrease, corrugator activity increased over time
in both music conditions (cf. Figures 4a and 4b).
Table 4 summarizes and compares the effect sizes of
dependent measures in Lundqvist et al. (2009) and the

TABLE 4. Comparison of Effect Sizes (p2 ) of Dependent Measures
(“Happy” versus “Sad” Music) Between Lundqvist et al. (2009) and
Present Study
Lundqvist et al. (2009) Present study
Skin Conductance .18" .37"
Respiration rate n/a* .68"
Heart rate n/a** .07
Temperature .12# .06
Corrugator n/a** .20#
Zygomatic .13" .34"
Note: " indicates values were significantly higher in response to ‘‘happy’’ music as
compared to ‘‘sad’’ music, whereas # indicates the opposite effect. *This parameter
was not being recorded. **Data were reported as not significant; information to
calculate effect sizes not available.
present study based on change scores. Results suggest
significant and empirically relevant associations between
music listening and psychophysiological response pat-
terns with respect to the two emotion categories. However,
there are both similarities and differences in these patterns
of changes. For example, the results of the present study
indicated no significant differences in finger temperature,
whereas respiratory rate was significantly affected.
Sex and music sophistication. Musicality ranged from
nonmusicians to well-trained musicians (range ¼ 32–
111, M ¼ 75.8, SD ¼ 20.7; nonmusicians: M ¼ 57.75,
SD ¼ 11.73; musicians: M ¼ 93.81, SD ¼ 9.20).
Neither sex nor music sophistication yielded any
main effects on the dependent measures in this study;
all Fs  2.85, p  .10. Moreover, these variables also did
not interact with other independent measures (time 
sex  music condition; time  music sophistication 
music condition; all Fs  1.84, p  .14).
Discussion
We designed the present study to investigate the psy-
chophysiological effects of listening to music excerpts
representing ‘‘happiness’’ and ‘‘sadness’’ in healthy adult
listeners. Following Lunqvist et al. (2009), we assumed
similar patterns of responses would occur in behavioral
as well as physiological measures. In particular, we
expected that musically induced ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’
emotions would evoke differential changes from pre-
to post-measurements in terms of emotion ratings as
well as differential time course of physiological
responses. Furthermore, we expected that levels of
music sophistication modulated those.
First, participants felt significantly less ‘‘happy’’ after
listening to music of either emotion category. However,
Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 511
there remained a significant difference in happiness
indicating higher values after listening to ‘‘happy’’ music
as compared to ‘‘sad’’ music. Moreover, perceived sad-
ness increased after listening to ‘‘sad’’ music, which is in
line with expectations (Lundqvist et al., 2009). Given
that participants started the experiment in a positive
mood, it is not too surprising that listening to generally
unfamiliar music did not lead to increases in positive
affect (Hunter, Schellenberg, & Griffith, 2011). With
respect to induced sadness, ‘‘sad’’ music, again as
expected, was highly effective in intensifying this emo-
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tion, whereas ‘‘happy’’ music was not effective in this
sense. It is important to note that listening to music may
enhance instantaneous feelings of negative emotions
without affecting overall mood negatively (Garrido &
Schubert, 2011). Furthermore, current research suggests
that listening to ‘‘sad’’ music can evoke a range of feel-
ings of reward that could explain the somewhat para-
doxical finding that the ‘‘sad’’ music excerpts were
associated with relatively high happiness ratings (Taruffi
& Koelsch, 2014).
Previous studies suggest a trend of deactivation in
experiments concerning physiological responses to
music listening (e.g., Kreutz et al., 2002). A similar, but
nonsignificant trend was also observed here in ratings of
overall mood, especially wakefulness and attention,
which could be interpreted as a general increase of
relaxation over time in participants while being seated.
Contrary to our expectations, emotions other than hap-
piness and sadness were also affected, specifically dis-
gust and fear in the presence of ‘‘sad’’ music. However,
the changes indicated a somewhat subtle shift of emo-
tional states. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of emo-
tional changes with respect to negative emotions
including sadness, fear, and disgust is common accord-
ing to the Differential Emotion Theory (Izard, 1977).
Considering ANS responses, the present study
revealed both similarities and differences with respect
to the precursor study by Lundqvist et al. (2009). In that
study, no differences between baseline and music con-
ditions were reported. By contrast, our findings show
that, in comparison to baseline, skin conductance levels
decreased across both music conditions, albeit more
strongly in response to ‘‘sad’’ music, perhaps indicating
an overall trend of physiological relaxation. However,
respiratory rate (a measure not included in Lundqvist
et al., 2009) increased in response to ‘‘happy’’ music
only, but not in the presence of ‘‘sad’’ music. Although
the literature on music listening and respiration is rel-
atively scarce, elevated rates of breathing in response to
music listening are common (Ellis & Brighouse, 1952).
With respect to our final physiological measure, finger
512 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz
temperature, the hypothesized increase in response to
listening to ‘‘happy’’ music was not observed, thus
resembling findings by Blood and Zatorre (2001) and
Craig (2005).
Considering change scores, skin conductance levels
were greater during listening to ‘‘happy’’ music as com-
pared to ‘‘sad’’ music, which is in line with Lundqvist
et al. (2009) as well as with other studies (Khalfa et al.,
2002, 2008). These findings support the notion of
a rather robust association between highly activating
music and psychophysiological indicators of arousal
(Gomez & Danuser, 2007; Trochidis, Sears, Trân, &
McAdams, 2013). In addition, Rickard (2004) found
significantly greater increases in skin conductance when
listening to emotionally powerful music. She concluded
that an intense emotional reaction to music, in general, is
accompanied by an increase of skin conductance level.
Listeners responded to listening to ‘‘happy’’ music with
relatively faster breathing as compared to ‘‘sad’’ music. As
the above analysis reveals, breathing was, in fact, unaf-
fected by the latter music condition. This pattern, if con-
sidered along with heart rate, provides further indication
that the ‘‘sad’’ music used in this study must not be
equated with ‘relaxing’ music despite the fact, that some
parameters did suggest deactivation, specifically skin
conductance levels. The observation that heart rate was
not significantly affected resonates well with several pre-
vious studies (Ellis & Brighouse, 1952; Gomez & Danu-
ser, 2007; Khalfa et al., 2008; Lundqvist et al. 2009).
However, it may be that changes in heart rate occur with
some latency after exposure to music has ceased (Ber-
nardi et al., 2006; Iwanaga, Ikeda, & Iwaki, 1996). More-
over, although the BVP-sensor is a common instrument
to measure heart rate, it delivers more artifacts and shows
less sensitivity in comparison to an electrocardiogram
(ECG). Maybe the lack of outcome regarding heart rate
in our study as well as in Lundqvist et al. (2009) is due to
the limited sensitivity of the BVP-sensor.
The electromyographic measurements show a greater
activity at the zygomaticus region when listening to
‘‘happy’’ music in comparison to the ‘‘sad’’ music condi-
tion. Contrary to the results of Lundqvist et al. (2009)
there is also an increase in corrugator activity when listen-
ing to ‘‘sad’’ music. The patterns of changes in corrugator
and zygomaticus activity were found in line with the
hypothesis of differential activation of these muscles with
respect to the music conditions. By contrast, facial elec-
tromyography was not affected by ‘‘happy’’ music per se, if
only the comparison to baseline is considered, but only in
relation to ‘‘sad’’ music. These results, at least in part,
support the findings of previous research (Khalfa et al.,
2008; Thayer & Faith, 2006). Further, previous work
points to a correlation between zygomaticus/corrugator
activation on the one hand, and positive/negative stimulus
valence on the other (Ellis & Simons, 2005; Witvliet, 1998).
To conclude so far, the music conditions induced distinct
patterns of physiological activation and deactivation,
which indicate that ‘‘sad’’ music had overall greater phys-
iological effects than ‘‘happy’’ music with respect to both
deactivation and facial muscular responses.
ORDER EFFECTS
The observed order effects between the first and second
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music excerpt for skin conductance and temperature
may represent an orienting response, which means that
a reaction to a novel stimulus occurred, triggering auto-
nomic reactions that are unrelated to the nature of the
stimulation. Orienting responses have been frequently
reported in studies using skin conductance (Dawson,
Schell, & Filion, 2016).
MUSIC EXPERTISE
Against expectations, no differences with regard to musi-
cality were found. Differences between musicians and
nonmusicians were overall negligible, although a highly
reliable construct for the assessment of music sophistica-
tion was applied here (Schaal et al., 2014). However, this
observation is corroborated by previous work suggesting
that emotional reactions to music are more strongly asso-
ciated with listener characteristics other than music
expertise (Bigand et al., 2005), let alone characteristics
of the music stimuli as well as situation and context of
listening. Nevertheless, this does not preclude differences
in listening strategies between musicians and nonmusi-
cians that could extend to some components of emo-
tional processing (e.g., Bigand & Poulin-Charronnat,
2006). In addition, only amateur musicians took part in
our study. Maybe professional musicians are more likely
to experience strong emotions in music.
EFFECTS OF SEX
Neither Lundqvist et al. (2009) nor the present findings
entail significant sex differences in subjective and auto-
nomic responses. Similar findings have been reported in
the past (Kallinen, 2005; Rickard, 2004; Robazza et al.,
1994). Kallinen (2005) concluded that certain demo-
graphic variables including sex could be less important
in emotional responses to music as compared to other
variables such as age, physical or mental condition, or
music experience of the listener. Recently, personality
traits have been considered as significant moderators
of emotional ratings of music (Vuoskoski & Eerola,
2011).

TIME BLOCK EFFECTS
Physiological recordings revealed significant changes
over time during listening across conditions for several
parameters. These patterns reveal the dynamic nature of
induced bodily changes in the course of listening. It is
likely that some of the dynamics continue to unfold
during the silence periods between music presentations.
However, it remains a methodologically challenging
task to decompose the various trends of continued
response to the music activation and the potentially
counteracting forces of silence and the associated shift
of perceptual and attentive focus from auditory to other
environmental information. At least in this study, it can
be concluded that roughly two minutes of exposure to
music suffice to evoke significant physiological reac-
tions including directional trends in some parameters,
specifically skin conductance, respiratory rate, and
facial electromyography.
LIMITATIONS
To the best of our knowledge, there have been few
attempts to replicate Lundqvist et al. (2009) in order
to ascertain the reproducibility of the rather complex
pattern of observations. Although we have been success-
ful to some extent in reproducing the previous findings,
there remain a number of issues. Recent work on repro-
ducibility of psychological research (Open Science Col-
laboration, 2015) can be seen as the perhaps most
profound response so far to a long-standing debate on
the importance of replication. Despite the absence of
a single measure to assess the replication success, the
authors found: a) a significant reduction of successful
replication in a sample of 100 studies across several
different measures of replication success, and b) a sub-
stantial general decline of effect sizes across studies. As
can be seen in Table 4, effect sizes in the previous study
were high, so there was a chance to replicate the pattern
of findings. Nevertheless, the substantial effect of finger
temperature changes notwithstanding, we were unable
to reproduce this finding in the precursor study.
In the present study, in contrast with the findings of
Lundqvist et al. (2009), the co-occurrence of different
basic emotions while listening to ‘‘happy’’ and ‘‘sad’’
music could be observed. The ‘‘sad’’ music excerpts were
also linked to enhanced negative feelings including ‘‘dis-
gust’’ and ‘‘fear.’’ Therefore, the physiological responses
might reflect, at least in part, negative valence in broader
terms and not just the experience of musical sadness.
Facial muscle activity in particular is strongly related to
affective valence (Bradley & Lang, 2000; Juslin et al.,
2013; Larsen, Norris, & Cacioppo, 2003). Nevertheless,
music is a complex stimulus and it is a quality of music
Psychophysiology of Music Listening and Emotion 513
to elicit a variety of feelings. That is supported by the
results of Hunter et al. (2008). In two experiments, par-
ticipants listened to 30-sec excerpts of ‘‘happy’’ and
‘‘sad’’ songs that varied in tempo (fast and slow) and
mode (major and minor). The ratings of ‘‘happiness’’
and ‘‘sadness’’ showed that music could elicit mixed
feelings. A subsequent investigation (Hunter, Schellen-
berg, & Schimmack, 2010) also showed that ‘‘sad’’ music
excerpts elicit more ambivalent ratings than did
‘‘happy’’ music excerpts. Moreover, the present study
showed a slight, but significant decrease in happiness
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when listening to ‘‘happy’’ music, when pre- and post-
measurements were compared. Lundqvist et al. (2009)
did not examine this comparison. Different approaches
could be an explanation for this decrease. When the
participants arrived at the laboratory, they were in a pos-
itive mood and accordingly showed high ratings for
happiness. The music excerpts were not specially
selected for them, so it might not be surprising that the
‘‘happy’’ music could not increase happiness ratings. In
addition, the experimental condition could be unfamil-
iar to the participants, which might lead to a decrease of
happiness in general. Nonetheless, the additional ratings
of ‘‘wakefulness,’’ ‘‘attention,’’ and ‘‘tension’’ before and
after the experiment showed no significant changes, so
a fundamental change in mood can be eliminated.
The current study used a video condition between the
single music excerpts to reduce carry-over effects of
the emotional tone from one music excerpt to the next.
The duration of an emotional episode, however, can last
from a few seconds up to several hours (Verduyn, Del-
vaux, Van Coillie, Tuerlinckx, & Van Mechelen, 2009).
This variability of duration is caused by different fac-
tors, for example, personality traits, the importance, and
intensity of the eliciting stimulus or the reappearance of
a stimulus. There are also differences between emotions;
for example, ‘‘sadness’’ seems to be more persistent than
‘‘joy’’ or ‘‘anger’’ (Verduyn, Van Mechelen, & Tuerlinckx,
2011). Therefore, we assume that potential carry-over
effects, if present at all in our study, were similar to those
in the previous study by Lundqvist et al. (2009).
For future studies, it would be advisable to add a silent
control condition supplementing exposure to emotional
music excerpts. It would thereby be possible to deter-
mine a clearer coherence between emotional ratings,
respectively autonomic responses and corresponding
condition over time.
Individual difference variables like personality or
music preferences were not included in this study. For
example, Kallinen and Ravaja (2006) found that extra-
version is positively associated with the overall intensity
of emotions like ‘‘happiness,’’ ‘‘sadness,’’ and ‘‘tenderness’’
514 Antje Bullack, Niklas Büdenbender, Ingo Roden, & Gunter Kreutz
in response to music, whereas Kreutz et al. (2007)
observed influences of stylistic preferences on emotional
responses to music excerpts. Moreover, Liljeström et al.
(2012) found that self-chosen music arouses more
intense emotions as randomly selected music as indicated
by psychological and physiological markers. By contrast,
however, work by Iwanaga and Moroki (1999) as well as
Bernardi et al. (2006) suggested little influence of music
preference on physiological measures.
Conclusions
The present results corroborate the view that listening
to music evokes differential emotional responses at both
behavioral and physiological levels, thus supporting
the philosophical emotivist position. Therefore, the
findings add further support to the notion that ‘‘happy’’
and ‘‘sad’’ music can be used to effectively modulate
emotional states as reflected, for example, in facial elec-
tromyography, skin conductance, and respiration.
Importantly, there seems to be little influence of poten-
tially moderating variables such as music sophistication
or sex. However, more research is needed, as there were
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