Effects of instrumental music on the activation of Robert Plutchik's basic emotions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46311/2178-2571.40.eURJ4666Keywords:
Basic emotions, Instrumental music, Robert PlutchikAbstract
This study aimed to investigate the basic emotions proposed by Robert Plutchik and the timbre of instruments from four instrument families (strings, electrophone, percussion, and wind), without isolating any other dimension of sound, considering that previous studies have highlighted the relevance of timbre for the perception of emotions. In four meetings, an average of 38 participants out of a total of 67, of both sexes, aged between 16 and 71, listened to an hour of solo instrumental music and then filled in a questionnaire containing the eight basic emotions, and shared their experiences as a group. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test showed a value of p = 0.002, indicating that different families of instruments activate different emotions, thus confirming the hypothesis of this study. The results revealed that there was no single instrument activating a single emotion and showed a circular relationship between the instrument families and emotions: surprise and anticipation were activated by the German zither-strings and the wind-clarinet; fear and anger were activated by the wind clarinet, the electrophone-theremin, and the marimba percussion; displeasure and trust were activated by the marimba percussion and the German zither-strings; sadness and joy were activated by the German zither-strings, the electrophone theremin, and the marimba percussion. The compatibility of the data obtained in this study with data from previous studies provides new insight into the importance of instrument timbre, and it offers a central basis for further research into other aspects of music involved in the activation of emotions.
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