The arousing and cathartic effects of popular heartbreak songs as revealed in the physiological responses of listeners

Abstract

Songs that convey sorrowful emotions enjoy widespread popularity. The expressions and effects of negative emotions vary considerably across cultures and musical forms. This study explores the physiological responses to five popular "heartbreak" songs, focusing on the relationships between the temporal dynamics of emotion and the verse-chorus form. Listeners' skin conductance and finger temperature were used to infer levels of arousal and relaxation, and the analysis of these time-series data was guided by a priori knowledge of the musical form. We found that two particular time periods in these songs, the passage preceding the chorus and the entrance of the chorus, evoked significant skin conductance responses. Given that the chorus is usually the most favorite element of a popular song, these two responses may reflect the elevated arousal associated with the feelings of "wanting" and "liking", respectively. Moreover, the average finger temperature exhibited a U-shaped curve across each song. The significant decreases of finger temperature within the first part of songs revealed an accumulation of negative emotions in listeners, whereas the significant increases of finger temperature within the second part may reflect a release, resolution, or regulation of negative emotions. Our findings shed new light on the rewarding nature of the chorus and the cathartic effects associated with the versechorus form of heartbreak songs.

Female Listeners’ Autonomic Responses to Dramatic Shifts Between Loud and Soft Music/Sound Passages: A Study of Heavy Metal Songs

“…This effect highlights the role of hedonic contrast in music appreciation. In line with recent studies on the progression of reward-anticipation to reward-gain in music ( Salimpoor et al, 2011 ; Tsai et al, 2014 ; Li et al, 2015 ), we have shown how the temporal dynamics of musical arousal/tension affect listener’s physiological-emotional responses Although this study sheds new light on the positive psychological effects of heavy metal music, more investigations are required to compare the time-varying nature of musical emotions in different genres and forms.…”

“…The goal of this study is to examine female listeners’ autonomic responses to passages of contrasting arousal and tension. While previous studies have demonstrated how listeners respond to the temporal dynamics of musical emotion ( Schubert, 2004 ; Bachorik et al, 2009 ; Egermann et al, 2009 ; Coutinho and Cangelosi, 2011 ; Tsai et al, 2014 ; Tsai and Chen, 2015 ), the dramatic shifts between a loud, aggressive passage and a soft, relieving passage may shed new light on how the time-varying music-expressed emotion affects listeners. We only recruited female participants because loud heavy metal music seems to consistently evoke intense negative feelings in female listeners ( Nater et al, 2006 ).…”

“…On the other hand, the verse-chorus form in popular music benefits from the shifts between the low-to-moderate arousal level associated with the verse and the high arousal level associated with the chorus. Recently, Tsai et al (2014) provided supportive evidence that the cathartic effect of popular sad songs may stem from the reinterpretation of the musical materials within the second verse-to-chorus progression and the third chorus that contain dynamic changes. It appears that the adaptive significance and functions of negatively valenced music may relate to a listener’s intertemporal integration and esthetic appraisal of musical emotions.…”

Current Emotion Research in Music Psychology

“…One view holds that negative affect is inhibited in aesthetic contexts, such that it is pleasurable to experience any emotion when listening to music (Garrido & Schubert, 2011;Schubert, 1996). In line with this view, pieces that are perceived to sound sad also tend to be judged as beautiful (Eerola & Vuoskoski, 2010), and exposure to sad sounding music can improve sad mood states (Tsai, Chen, & Tsai, 2014;van den Tol & Edwards, 2014). Conflicting evidence emerges from behavioral and physiological studies, however, which often report that listening to sad sounding music does indeed induce negative emotions (e.g., Blood et al , 1999;Garrido & Schubert, 2015;Green et al, 2008;Juslin, Liljeström, Laukka, Västfjäll, & Lundqvist, 2011;Mitterschiffthaler, Fu, Dalton, Andrew, & Williams, 2007;Vuoskoski et al, 2012).…”

Romantic Breakup Distress, Betrayal and Heartbreak: A Review

“…Other factors such as forgiveness [138], finding a new partner/ rebound [123], social support [98], healthy diet [40], heartbreak songs [129], and ball sports and dancing [54] can mediate breakup distress. Finally, interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy [19], intranasal oxytocin [89] and MDMA (3-4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) [52] have been effective.…”