The “Ifs” and “Hows” of the Role of Music on the Implementation of Emotional Regulation Strategies

Abstract

Music is believed to aid the implementation of emotion regulation strategies like distraction or reappraisal, but empirical studies have shown null results. However, the moderating role of one’s relation with music (musical sophistication) and/or executive functioning skills has not been considered yet. In addition, little is known about how music acts. In the present study, we induced anger in a group of participants characterized by musical sophistication and executive functioning. We asked them to regulate their emotional state and measured regulation efficacy. Participants were split into four groups, defined by regulation strategy (distraction vs. reappraisal) and music (with vs. without). Results indicated music effects in higher, but not in lower musical sophistication participants. In the former, music benefitted from reappraisal but was an impaired distraction. Two different executive functions—working memory and affective flexibility—had opposite effects: higher, but not lower working memory participants benefited from music; lower, but not higher, effective flexibility participants took advantage of music. Reports of subjective experience suggested that music favors more empathic reappraisals, and that these may be more long-lasting. Our findings support the idea that music effects depend on listeners’ characteristics, and they raise new hypotheses concerning the specificity of emotional regulation aided by music.

Electroencephalography Based Microstate Functional Connectivity Analysis in Emotional Cognitive Reappraisal Combined with Happy Music

“…When participants perform cognitive reappraisal tasks, they may consider the background music irrelevant; therefore, they will not incorporate the influence of happy music into the emotional regulation process. Carvalho found that for people who enjoy music, a combination of music and cognitive reappraisal can improve emotion regulation [ 9 ]. Most importantly, the effect of happy music on cognitive reappraisal was influenced by individual differences.…”

“…Baltazar et al showed that the combination of music and cognitive reappraisal did not significantly improve the effect of emotion regulation compared with music or emotion regulation alone [ 8 ]. Carvalho experimentally demonstrated that, in people who enjoy music, the combination of music and cognitive reappraisal improved emotion regulation [ 9 ]. They also found that in cognitive reappraisal, the musical features to which participants focused their attention were not the lyrics of the song, but the feelings and memories triggered by the music, which may increase empathy and facilitate the re-perception of events [ 9 ].…”

“…Carvalho experimentally demonstrated that, in people who enjoy music, the combination of music and cognitive reappraisal improved emotion regulation [ 9 ]. They also found that in cognitive reappraisal, the musical features to which participants focused their attention were not the lyrics of the song, but the feelings and memories triggered by the music, which may increase empathy and facilitate the re-perception of events [ 9 ]. Currently, research on music in relation to cognitive reappraisal strategies relies mainly on psychological theories and obtains its results through subjective reports, but lacks evidence of relevant neural mechanisms.…”

The adaptation and validation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) in Italian: The Gold-MSI-IT

“…This means that, despite its self-reported nature, the instrument allows a quantification of individual levels of performance (Lima et al, 2020). The publication of the English version of the Gold-MSI obtained a vast resonance and the use of the instrument in diverse research areas pertaining to music psychology has contributed to add knowledge about the concept of musical sophistication and how it relates to various human functions and systems such as emotion regulation (Carvalho et al, 2022), language perception (Lad et al, 2021;Yates et al, 2018), music-induced emotions and affects perception (Küssner & Eerola, 2019;Smit et al, 2019;Taruffi et al, 2017) and age-related changes in brain structure (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2021).…”

Eficacia de la Musicoterapia en la Satisfacción con los Roles y Actividades Sociales en Pacientes Neurológicos

“…Asimismo, la música es una fuente de placer que se torna en un estímulo altamente motivador y gratificante que genera fuertes recompensas en el ser humano (Zald & Zatorre, 2011). De hecho, la música comúnmente se relaciona positivamente con mayores índices de bienestar , siendo un estímulo frecuentemente empleado por las personas para su propia autorregulación emocional (Carvalho et al, 2022;Fernández-Company & García-Rodríguez, 2021). Sobre este particular, la falta de estrategias de regulación emocional se encuentra asociada a conductas desadaptativas (Navarro-Loli et al, 2020).…”