Individual Differences in Music-Perceived Emotions 253 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN MUSIC-PERCEIVED EMOTIONS: THE INFLUENCE OF EXTERNALLY ORIENTED THINKING LIILA TARUFFI depicted by the music) are not culturally determined, but Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Berlin, Germany universal across human cultures. This idea is supported by a number of studies that showed that even young RORY ALLEN,JOHN DOWNING,& PAMELA HEATON children are able to recognize basic emotions represented Goldsmiths, London, United Kingdom by music, including happiness and sadness (Cunning- ham & Sterling, 1988; Dalla Bella, Peretz, Rousseau, & PREVIOUS MUSIC AND EMOTION RESEARCH SUGGESTS Gosselin, 2001; Kastner & Crowder, 1990; Nawrot, 2003), that individual differences in empathy, alexithymia, per- anger (Cunningham & Sterling, 1988; Heaton, Allen, sonality traits, and musical expertise might play a role in Williams, Cummins, & Happe´, 2008; Kastner & Crowder, music-perceived emotions. In this study, we investigated 1990; Nawrot, 2003), and fear (Cunningham & Sterling, the relationship between these individual characteristics 1988; Heaton et al., 2008; Nawrot, 2003). However, ques- and the ability of participants to recognize five basic tions remain about the extent that this ability is influ- emotions (happiness, sadness, tenderness, fear, and enced by listener characteristics. If such individual anger) conveyed by validated excerpts of film music. differences exist across the typical population (meaning One hundred and twenty participants were recruited that we are not all the same at recognizing emotions in through an online platform and completed an emotion music), it follows that the ‘‘universal’’ tendency to per- recognition task as well as the IRI (Interpersonal Reac- ceive musical emotions can be modulated by individual tivity Index), TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia Scale), BFI factors. (Big Five Inventory), and Gold-MSI (Goldsmiths Musi- Preliminary evidence for individual differences in cal Sophistication Index). While participants recognized music-perceived emotions comes from research on the emotions depicted by the music at levels that were facial and verbal expressions of basic emotions. better than chance, their performance accuracy was Although healthy individuals generally perform well negatively associated with the externally oriented think- in recognizing basic emotion expressed in faces and ing subscale from the TAS-20. Our results suggest that voices, it has also been shown that there are consider- alexithymia, previously linked to a deficit in perception able and stable individual differences in the accuracy of of facial and vocal expressions of emotion, is also asso- people’s judgments (e.g., Bowles et al., 2009; Ekman & ciated with difficulties in perception of emotions con- Oster, 1979; Matthews et al., 2015; Miura, 1993; veyed by music. Palermo, O’Connor, Davis, Irons, & McKone, 2013). With regard to facial expression, the perception of emo- Received: September 26, 2014, accepted April 9, 2016. tional faces and pictures can be altered by temporary moods in an affect-congruent fashion (Bouhuys, Bloem, Key words: music-perceived emotions, alexithymia, & Groothuis, 1995; Isen & Shalker, 1982). For example, empathy, personality traits, musical expertise Bouhuys and colleagues (1995) demonstrated that induced sad mood leads to an increased perception of T HAS LONG BEEN DEBATED WHETHER, AND TO sadness in ambiguous emotional expressions. Further- what extent, music expresses emotions that are more, there is some evidence for sex differences, with I effectively understood across cultures (e.g., Balkwill female children and adults being more sensitive to non- & Thompson, 1999; Thompson & Balkwill, 2010). A verbal emotion cues than male children and adults (e.g., landmark study by Fritz and colleagues (2009) showed Allgood & Heaton, 2015; Briton & Hall, 1995). With that people from a native African population called Mafa, regard to verbal expression, research suggests that youn- naive to Western music, were able to recognize the three ger participants are more sensitive to emotional voices ‘‘basic’’ emotions of happiness, sadness, and fear con- than older participants (Allen & Brosgole, 1993; Brosgole veyed by Western music. Their findings strongly suggest & Weisman, 1995; Kiss & Ennis, 2001; Orbelo, Grim, that music-perceived emotions (i.e., the emotions Talbott, & Ross, 2005; Paulmann, Pell, & Kotz, 2008). Music Perception, VOLUME 34, ISSUE 3, PP. 253–266, ISSN 0730-7829, ELECTRONIC ISSN 1533-8312. © 2017 BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE DIRECT ALL REQUESTS FOR PERMISSION TO PHOTOCOPY OR REPRODUCE ARTICLE CONTENT THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS’S REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS WEB PAGE, HTTP://WWW.UCPRESS.EDU/JOURNALS.PHP?P¼REPRINTS. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/MP.2017.34.3.253 254 Liila Taruffi, Rory Allen, John Downing, & Pamela Heaton Further preliminary proof that individual differences listener, emotion recognition may lead to deeper under- can influence perception of musically expressed emo- standing as well as greater aesthetic appreciation of the tions arises from music research investigating felt emo- music (Goodman, 1968). Therefore, it is important tions (i.e., emotions evoked in response to the music). to understand how emotions are decoded through A few studies have shown that listener characteristics music, and to identify which factors influence this consistently influence the individual’s personal emo- decoding process. As a contribution to this field of tional experience and enjoyment of sad music. For research, we examined the relationship between the per- instance, trait empathy (Taruffi & Koelsch, 2014; Vuos- ception of musical emotions and individual differences koski & Eerola, 2012; Vuoskoski, Thompson, McIlwain, in empathy, alexithymia, personality traits, and musical & Eerola, 2012) and the personality trait of openness to expertise. Such characteristics were chosen over other experience (Vuoskoski et al., 2012) are associated with plausible candidates, like mood, because they are the enjoyment of sad music and the susceptibility to strongly implicated in the recognition of musical emo- music-evoked sadness. Similarly, the enjoyment of sad tions, as the following review illustrates. music is positively associated with individual differences Empathy is defined as an individual affective response in musical empathy and absorption (Garrido & Schu- to the observed, imagined, or inferred experiences of bert, 2011, 2013), and is negatively associated with emo- others, involving both perspective-taking capabilities tional stability (Taruffi & Koelsch, 2014). As perceived or tendencies, and emotional reactivity (Singer & and felt emotions are intrinsically connected (Gabriels- Lamm, 2009). Apart from the literature on negative son, 2002), it is likely that such individual factors may music-evoked emotions, to date only one study has impact both types of musical responses. Moreover, the directly examined the relationship between trait empa- so-called ‘‘paradox of sad music’’ perfectly illustrates the thy and music-perceived emotions (Wo¨llner, 2012). In existence of individual differences in the perception of this study, a string quartet performance was video sad music (Garrido & Schubert, 2011, 2013; Huron, recorded, and the members of the quartet were asked 2011; Taruffi & Koelsch, 2014). Many listeners describe to rate their expressive musical intentions during the sadness conveyed by music as pleasant (positive the performance. Independent observers were asked to emotions associated with sad music include nostalgia, evaluate the musicians’ expressive intentions, and peacefulness, wonder, tenderness, and transcendence; observers with higher affective and overall empathy Taruffi & Koelsch, 2014), while others perceive it as scores performed better than observers with lower negatively valenced. scores on these measures. In line with this finding, To sum up, although previous studies have provided Resnicow and colleagues (2004) found a significant pos- substantial evidence for the role of individual differ- itive correlation between emotional intelligence (a con- ences in music-evoked emotions, research has yet to struct involving empathy) and correct identification of identify the individual characteristics influencing the emotions in music, suggesting that the correct decoding perception of emotional expressions in music. Impor- of emotions in music is an important aspect of emo- tantly, emotion perception may draw on more general tional intelligence. mechanisms of emotional sensitivity, which are neces- Several studies have highlighted an association between sary for adequate social functioning. For instance, alex- empathic deficits and alexithymia (Guttman & Laporte, ithymia – a personality trait characterized by a reduced 2000; Jonason & Krause, 2013; Moriguchi et al., 2007; ability to translate internal emotional experiences into Silani et al., 2008). Conscious understanding of one’s precise, explicit verbal form, common in autism spec- own emotions is linked to the understanding of another trum disorder (Allen & Heaton, 2010; Nemiah, Freyber- individual’s feelings (Singer et al., 2004), and it is unsur- ger, & Sifneos, 1976) - is linked to deficits in perception prising that alexithymia correlates with empathic deficits. of facial and vocal expressions of emotions (Heaton Alexithymia is found not only in psychiatric and psycho- et al., 2012; Jessimer & Markham, 1997; Lane