The Nontheistic Sacred: The Psychological Functions of Metal Music and Artefacts

Abstract

Objective: To examine if the functions of the nontheistic sacred in a secular context are consistent with previous studies of the sacred in religious contexts. Methods: Two experiments examined the psychological functions of the nontheistic sacred within a secular context – metal music culture. The first experiment examined music as a form of nontheistic sacred through a comparison of death metal fans (n=89) listening to death metal or hard rock. The second experiment examined how some metal cultural artefacts were perceived as sacred by metal fans (n=52), and how their loss or defilement was experienced when compared to non-sacred artefacts.Results: The first experiment found that the death metal music was perceived as more sacred than hard rock music to the metal community, it promoted higher levels of positive affect, and it was associated with significantly higher levels of prosocial behavioural intentions, social relatedness, mood maintenance, and self-awareness, with no differences in empathy and negative affect. The second experiment found that acts of desecration of sacred items, when compared to non-sacred items, led to a higher state of anger and the loss of the items led to significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety. Conclusions: The two experiments present evidence that the nontheistic sacred is experienced within the secular context of metal music in terms of functions and effects consistent with previous literature exploring the sacred in religious contexts.

Bending and bonding: a randomized controlled trial on the socio-psychobiological effects of spiritual versus secular yoga practice on social bonding

“…Future work could study whether there is a distinction between social bonding and proto-transcendental experience or if they are, instead, the same effect manifested in a different way. Secular group gatherings that are able to create a sense of connection to something bigger than oneself/transcendental experiencesuch as sporting events that can allow one to feel connected to a team spirit (Halldorsson, 2020;Sullivan, 2018), or a music concert/festival that allows one to feel a connection to something sacred (Messick, 2019) may be able to create social bonds in ways similar to religious rituals. Thus there is scope for future research to be conducted in these settings to better understand ritual social bonding in secular contexts.…”

Are heavy metal fans sexist?: The relationship between metal music depicting misogynistic violence and sexism

“…Despite the evidence of violent themes influencing aggression when preferences are not accounted for (Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003), it has been found that music listeners that prefer death metal -a musical genre that frequently includes violent lyrical themesactually feel joy, peace, and wonder when listening to death metal (Thompson, Geeves, & Olsen, 2019), which are characteristics consistent with interpreting the music as sacred (Messick et al, 2022). Other themes prevalent in heavy metal, including drug use, suicide, and mental health struggles, are indicative of a pre-existing emotional vulnerability among listeners of heavy metal, with many using heavy metal music as a coping mechanism and as a source for social relatedness (Baker & Bor, 2008;Messick, 2021).…”