Author: Julia Vigl

Categories
Music Project

Music And Well-Being

The Benefits of Music Music not only has a powerful emotional impact, it also contributes to health and well-being. Whether through listening, playing, or composing, music is a fundamental aspect of leisure for many, serving as both an expression of personal identity and a tool for managing difficult emotions. In addition, research has revealed the far-reaching effects of music, showing links between musical training and memory, language skills, and academic success. Some people find that listening to music in the background while studying helps them focus. Others turn to music to motivate themselves before facing challenges. Below is an overview of our research looking at the positive effects of music. Click on the articles to read more about our findings. Our Research Listening to music in the classroom In a mixed-methods study, we examined the effects of listening to self-selected music before class on mood, motivation, concentration, and learning in a high school setting. In the first week, students experienced a standard school day without music, while in the second week they incorporated self-selected music before each class. Our results revealed robust positive effects on mood, motivation, and concentration, with moderate effects on learning outcomes.Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed that perceived benefits were primarily attributed to the generation of positive and energizing emotions, improved attention, and the establishment of a routine that provided a break between classes. These findings suggest that the integration of self-selected music can serve as an effective and cost-efficient strategy to enhance students’ emotional well-being, motivation, and concentration in a school setting.

Categories
Music induced emotions

Performance Features and Music Induced Emotions

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Aims The aim of this study was to investigate how the quality of performances influences listeners’ music-evoked emotions. Specifically, the study examined the effects of performance variations at three levels of proficiency (plain, semiprofessional, professional) on liking and felt emotion. It also explored interactions between performance and listener attributes known to modulate musical emotion induction. Methods Study 1 involved 207 participants who listened to music excerpts performed at different levels of proficiency. Pairwise differences between each performance condition were examined, along with interaction effects with listener attributes, such as musical expertise. Pretesting of the stimuli was conducted prior to the study. In Study 2, 143 participants listened to all three versions of a selection of music excerpts used in Study 1. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data in Study 2, exploring the interaction effects between performance and listener attributes, including musical expertise, musical aptitude, personality factors, and current mood state. Results Across both studies, the results consistently demonstrated that liking and the intensity of emotion increased as the performance quality improved. Additionally, Performance × Listener Features interactions were found, indicating that the emotional effect of the performance condition was amplified in participants with higher musical expertise and aptitude. This study addresses the gap in knowledge regarding the influence of performance quality on music-evoked emotions. By examining the specific role of performance features, the study provides valuable insights into the factors involved in musical emotion induction. Vigl, J., & Zentner, M. (2023). How much does performance quality matter in musical emotion induction? Main effects and interaction effects with listener features. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000590

Categories
Music induced emotions

Listener Features and Music Induced Emotions

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Aims The aim of this study was to comprehensively understand the role of listener attributes in the induction of musical emotions. Specifically, we investigated the relative influence of musical expertise, objectively assessed musical aptitude, the Big Five personality traits, and positive and negative mood on musical emotion induction. Methods A total of 113 participants, consisting of 45% musicians and 55% nonmusicians, were included in the study. Participants provided ratings of felt emotion in response to 12 excerpts of Western classical music, selected to evoke different types of emotions. The ratings were obtained using the Geneva Emotion Music Scale (GEMS)-25, a domain-specific scale for assessing music-evoked emotion. The data were analyzed with MANOVAS and multiple regresions based on the intensity and granularity of the emotions. Results The findings of the study suggest that expertise played a significant role in musical emotion induction. The effects of mood and personality traits varied depending on the type of outcome, such as the type of experienced emotion and the type of emotional responding (intensity vs. granularity), as well as the presence of other listener factors. Overall, listener features accounted for approximately 30% of the variance in musically evoked emotions. The results of this study have implications not only for the understanding of musical emotion induction but also for applications that involve personalized musical listening. Gerstgrasser, S., Vigl, J., & Zentner, M. (2023). The role of listener features in musical emotion induction: The contributions of musical expertise, personality dispositions, and mood state. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 17(2), 211-224. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000468 Read the Article

Categories
Emotion Music Project

Factors of Music Induced Emotions

The emotional impact of music Music has the ability to express and evoke emotions that listeners can recognize and experience within themselves. Previous studies indicate that the primary reason for intentional music listening is often the emotional impact it provides. Whether it’s to enhance, reduce, or alter one’s mood, music holds the power to elicit emotions in roughly half of listening episodes, with positive emotions prevailing. The strongest emotions are reported when music receives focused attention and when it is listened to alone. However, individuals sometimes find it challenging to differentiate between the emotions they genuinely felt while listening to music and those they perceive as inherent to the composition itself. Which emotions does music induce? The fact that music is able to evoke emotions is something that everyone has probably felt at some time. In research, there are three main approaches to the question of what kind of emotions are involved, whereby in our research we focus primarily on the latter. The dimensional approach represents emotions on the basis of the expression of several continuums, above all on the basis of the dimensions valence (positivity/negativity) and arousal (strength or intensity of the emotion). Discrete emotion models apply basic emotions such as joy, sadness, anger or fear to the measurement of music-induced emotions. Domain-specific approaches take into account the special character of aesthetic emotions and define music-specific emotion terms. One example is the GEMS, with 45 emotion terms, 9 dimensions and the three superordinate factors Sublimity, Vitality and Unease. Factors influencing music induced emotions Despite the general consensus among music listeners regarding the intended emotional expression of a piece of music, there exist variations among individuals in terms of the intensity and differentiation of their emotional responses to music. These differences can primarily be attributed to four factors that influence the emotional impact of musical compositions: the musical structure, the performance, the personal characteristics of the listener, and the context in which the music is experienced. In our research, we take a closer look at these four factors and their interactions and base our studies on the Induction Rule Model (Scherer & Zentner, 2001). Read about our published articles Performance Features and Music Induced Emotions Read More Listener Features and Music Induced Emotions Read More

Categories
Close relationships Project

Love in times of Covid

About the Project This project is a longitudinal study that was launched at the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020 and ran for two years. Its aim is to take a closer look at romantic relationships during the pandemic, specifically to examine the trajectories of relationship and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, we seek to identify factors that help or challenge couples under unusually stressful conditions, such as the current pandemic. We hope that this will facilitate the development and deployment of effective means of prevention and intervention for couples facing unusual challenges in the future. Over 3000 individuals participated in the first measurement point of the study in April 2020 and shared the perceived changes in their relationships and living arrangements with us. More than 2500 individuals also took part in at least one of the five other measurement time points, which allowed us to draw conclusions about eventual changes in relationship dynamics during the pandemic.  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab Study design The longitudinal study started in April 2020 and was open to all individuals who were currently in any form of romantic relationship. After participating in the first measurement point (T1), individuals were invited to the second and third measurement point individually after 10 days (T2 and T3). For the subsequent measurement time points, all participants were invited in November 2020 (T4), March 2021 (T5), and March 2022 (T6).  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab At each measurement point, participants were asked about their relationship and sexual satisfaction, about their worries regarding the pandemic, and about symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. At the first measurement time point, various life circumstances (living situation, occupation, demographic information) and stable personality traits (anxious and avoidant attachment style, negative affectivity) were assessed.  Publications and Findings To date, we have published two articles on the project in peer-reviewed journals, and a third article is available as a preprint. In addition, we provide preliminary data, which have not yet been published as independent articles.  Published Articles, Preprints, and Additional Information Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 (Preprint) Additional Information Learn more about our first article, which was published in PLOS ONE as part as the Love in Times of Covid project.  In this article, we analyzed the first measurement point of our longitudinal study in April 2020 and addressed whether relationship and sexual satisfaction changed among cohabitating and non-cohabitating couples at the onset of the pandemic. In addition, we sought to identify vulnerabilities and resilience factors for romantic relationships. Learn more about the second article we published in the Journal of Personality as part of the Love in Times of Covid project. In this article, we focused on changes in relationship and sexual satisfaction among cohabitating and non-cohabitating couples, analyzing the study period of one year (April 2020 – March 2021). Moreover, we were able to show what influence external stressors, personal vulnerabilities as well as their interaction had on relationships during the pandemic.  Learn more about the third article, wich was written as part of the Love in Times of Covid project and is currently available as a preprint.  In this article, we extended the research period by another year (April 2020-March 2022) and were able to identify different classes of change patterns in relationship and sexual satisfaction during the pandemic. In addition to providing information on what proportion of the sample followed the different change trajectories during the pandemic, we were able to highlight predictors of class membership as well as predictors of breakups.   In this report, we provide insight into findings related to the project that are not addressed in the published articles. For example, you will find information about the changes in daily routine participants reported at the beginning of the pandemic, about the factors participants themselves experienced as predictors of an improvement or deterioration in their relationship, and about the extent to which domestic and care work developed during the pandemic.

Categories
LITOC project

Love in times of Corona – Additional Information

Everyday Life Changes due to the Pandemic Occupational Changes 71% of employed men and 79% of employed women reported that their job situation had changed as a result of the pandemic. Changes were primarily related to increased time in the home office (49% of women, 60% of men), fewer hours worked (27% of women, 36% of men), job closure (19% of women, 8% of men), leave of absence (9% of women, 7% of men), but also increased hours worked (11% of women, 18% of men).  Time Outside the Appartment At the beginning of the pandemic (April-May), men tended to spend more time outside the home than women. On average, man spent 16 hours per week away from home, including 8 hours for work, 5 hours for leisure, and 3 hours for other activities such as shopping. Women spent an average of 10 hours per week outside home, including 5 hours for work, 3 hours for leisure, and 2 hours for other activities. Worries Regarding the Pandemic Pandemic-related concerns were surveyed using six different domains on a scale from 1 (not at all concerned) to 10 (very concerned). The figure shows that participants were primarily concerned about the health of others and the spread of the virus. They were less concerned about their own health, work, financial aspects, social contacts and friendships, and their partnership. Worries tended to decrease at the beginning of the pandemic, were slightly higher again between November 2020 and March 2021, and were rather low in March 2022.  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab Self-reported Impact of the Pandemic on Different Areas of Life In November 2020, we asked participants about the impact the pandemic has had on their lives so far. With regard to their own health, the health of significant others and the financial situation, participants most frequently reported that there had been no changes due to the pandemic. In the areas leisure time, relationships with family/friends and work situation, on the other hand, mainly negative changes were reported. Positive changes occurred only among a few participants, although as many as 10 percent of people reported positive changes in all areas (except leisure).  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab Romantic Relationship Aspects In November 2020, participants were asked whether their relationship has improved or declined throughout the pandemic and which factors affected these changes. The graph below shows the categories that participants mentioned most frequently in terms of an overall improvement in relationship satisfaction during the first six months of the pandemic. It can be observed that especially emotional closeness, laughter/humor as well as a good quality of conversation contributed to the relationship becoming better during the pandemic. Cohabitants more frequently reported the positive effect of joint activities, non-cohabitants the importance of emotional closeness.  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab The graph above shows the categories mentioned by cohabitants and non-cohabitants in November 2020 in connection with a deterioration of the relationship.  It can be seen that the reasons for deterioration differ greatly between cohabitants and non-cohabitants. For non-cohabitants, lack of joint activities and poor balance of joint/separate time play a particular role. Cohabitants more often reported a lack of emotional closeness, unsatisfactory sex life or problematic personality traits of themselves and their partner. Division of Domestic Work and Childcare When considering participants who lived together with their partners, we also examined whether the division of housework and childcare had changed during the pandemic. As the graph below shows, there were overall small changes over time, which mainly affected the division of childcare, maintenance, as well as cleaning. Interestingly, on average, the division evolved toward more shared responsibility. For this graph, we only included participants who took part in all six measurement points (n = 325).

Categories
LITOC project

Love in Times of Corona – Article 3 (Preprint)

Trajectories of Relationship and Sexual Satisafaction Over Two Years in the Covid-19 Pandemic (Preprint) About the Preprint In the second article of our project Love in Times of Covid we aimed to extend the findings from our first and second article by covering the full period of the longitudinal studies, namely two years in the Covid-19 pandemic.  The aim of this article was to identify different classes of trajectories in relationship and sexual satisfaction within two years of the pandemic that might be occluded by a focus on average patterns of change. In addition to assigning participants to trajectory groups, we investigated baseline variables, as measured at the first measurement point, that were associated with membership in trajectory groups and predictors of separation that existed in this sample. The sample corresponds to that of article 2: only participants who agreed to participate in the longitudinal study by providing their e-mail address at the first measurement point were included (N = 2,952). In the data analysis, we first conducted latent class analysis to determine the different patterns of trajectories in relationship and sexual satisfaction that existed in the sample and what proportion of participants belonged to each of the different classes. Subsequently, we conducted binary logistic regressions to identify which predictors (measured at T1) of class membership and separation existed in our sample. Main Findings According to the latent class analysis, three different patterns of trajectories over time emerged for both satisfaction measures, i.e., sexual and relationship satisfaction: a high descending class, a high fluctuating class, and a low ascending class. Despite these similar patterns, the class sizes as well as the strength of the different patterns of change were different for relationship and sexual satisfaction.  CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab Somewhat surprisingly, our analyses showed that the trajectories of relationship and sexual satisfaction within the same individuals do not necessarily coincide. Thus, the two class memberships were only moderately related, and for 41% of participants, they did not coincide.  Predictors of Class Memberships Predictors of the high fluctuating classes – i.e. those classes characterized by strong fluctuations during the pandemic – were mainly non-cohabitating and psychological symptoms. Individuals with children, higher levels of avoidant attachment style, and low life satisfaction were more often assigned to the low ascending class of relationship satisfaction. Predictors of the same class related to sexual satisfaction were similar, but effect sizes were much smaller. In contrast, cohabitating individuals, those with low psychological symptoms, high life satisfaction, and low avoidant attachment style were more likely to be in the high descending classes. In terms of predictors of separation, we were only able to identify female gender and non-cohabitating Cite this Article Vigl, J., Talamini, F., Strauss, H., & M. (2022, November 24). Trajectories of Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction Over Two Years in the Covid-19 Pandemic. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/92xjk Go to Preprint

Categories
LITOC project

Love in Times of Corona – Article 2

Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction in the First Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic About the Article In the second article of our project Love in Times of Covid we aimed to extend the findings from our first article by covering the period of one year in the pandemic. Based on the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model (Karney & Bradbury, 1995), we investigated the predictors of relationship and sexual satisfaction during the pandemic and examined the interactions between pandemic-related stressors and personal vulnerabilities.  Time in the pandemic and severity of mobility restrictions were used as external stressors; negative emotionality, psychological symptoms, and anxious and avoidant attachment styles were included as personal characteristics. In addition, we also examinded whether living with children in the specific context of the pandemic could be a vulnerability amplifying the effect of external stressors. Only prospective measurement time points were included in the analyses, more specifically the measurement time points between April 2020 and March 2021 (N = 2,859). Before analyzing the data, we replaced missing values with controlled imputation and then proceeded to answer our hypotheses using four multilevel models, one each to predict relationship and sexual satisfaction among cohabitating and non-cohabitating participants.  Main Findings CC BY-ND image by the Music, Emotion, Assessment, and Personality Lab Consistent with our first article, our analyses showed that relationship and sexual satisfaction differed between cohabitating and non-cohabitating participant:s, not only in terms of mean satisfaction but also in terms of patterns of change over time.  For cohabitating individuals, we observed slightly negative linear trends for both satisfaction measures, such that both relationship and sexual satisfaction in this group were below the norm values of the scale validation studies at the last measurement time point.  Non-cohabitating individuals, on the other hand, showed a stronger negative linear trend related to relationship satisfaction and a quadratic trend related to sexual satisfaction: in this group, sexual satisfaction increased until November 2020 and then slightly decreased again – a trend that might correspond to the relaxed and re-established mobility restrictions. Predictors of Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction For both satisfaction measures, as negative predictors we identified time in the pandemic, avoidant and anxious attachment style, psychological symptoms, and longer relationship duration. Among cohabitating individuals, parenthood was also associated with lower relationship and sexual satisfaction.  Pandemic-related mobility restrictions had no effect on relationship satisfaction, slightly negative effects on sexual satisfaction among non-cohabitating individuals, and surprisingly, slightly positive effects on sexual satisfaction among cohabitating individuals.  Among cohabitating individuals, an interaction between time in the pandemic and parenthood also emerged as predictors of both satisfaction measures: thus, although individuals with children were generally more dissatisfied in their relationships and with their sex lives, those without children showed a greater decrease in their satisfaction.  Among non-cohabitating individuals, we observed an interaction between time in the pandemic and avoidant attachment style as predictors of sexual satisfaction: the higher the level of avoidant attachment style, the lower the satisfaction in general, and the weaker the quadratic trend-that is, the recovery in sexual satisfaction by November 2020. Cite this Article Vigl, J., Talamini, F., Strauss, H., & Zentner, M. (2022). A Prospective Study of Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction During the First Year of the COVID‐19 Pandemic: The Role of Dispositional Vulnerabilities and External Stressors. Journal of Personality. Go to Article

Categories
LITOC project

Love in Times of Corona – Article 1

Relationship Satisfaction in the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic About the Article This first article of our project Love in Times of Covid aimed to explore which impacts the pandemic had on couples in its early stages (spring 2020). This included examining whether relationship satisfaction decreased at the onset of the pandemic, whether this was more prevalent among noncohabitants than cohabitants due to mobility constraints, and what predictors might predict the perceived change in relationship satisfaction.  In order to answer the research questions, we only included the first measurement point of the longitudinal study in April 2020 in order to draw conclusions about the initial period of the pandemic. At this measurement point, participants indicated how satisfied they were with their relationship currently and also retrospectively reported their relationship satisfaction before the pandemic. A mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures (ANOVA) was used to compare relationship satisfaction in April 2020 with retrospectively assessed satisfaction before the pandemic and to compare cohabitating and non-cohabitating participants. To identify predictors of change in relationship satisfaction, we computed multivariate regressions. Main Findings Overall, we found relationship satisfaction during the pandemic to be lower than retrospectively recorded satisfaction before the pandemic, with this difference being significantly stronger among non-cohabitating individuals. Moreover, in an additional analysis, we found that sexual satisfaction in particular declined at the beginning of the pandemic, again mainly among non-cohabitating participants.  Non-cohabitating Couples During the Pandemic To explore this stronger impact of the pandemic among non-cohabitating individuals in some detail, we examined the information on whether and what relationship-related activities had changed as a result of the pandemic. Cohabitating individuals reported that conversation and joint activities occurred somewhat more frequently at the start of the pandemic, sexual activity and conflict occurred at about the same rate, and only time for oneself (i.e., time without one’s partner) decreased. In contrast, non-cohabitating individuals reported that joint activities, sexual activities, and also conflicts decreased significantly, while the frequency of conversations remained the same and time for oneself increased. Factors Influencing Relationship Satisfaction During the Pandemic WHICH FACTORS HAD A POSITIVE INFLUENCE? Having a happy relationship before the pandemic Seeing the partner more often and spending more time together (e.g. talks, leisure activities, sexual activities). This is true for both cohabitating and non-cohabitating couples – thus, cohabitating couples also benefited from spending more time together. A secure attachment style that manifests itself, for example, in feeling connected in a romantic relationship, having trust and confidence, and partners communicating openly and accepting each other. Being satisfied with the degree of privacy experienced at home. Having the possibility to spend time outside the own living space. WHICH FACTORS HAD A NEGATIVE INFLUENCE? Arguing more frequently with the partner. Experiencing psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety or increased stress. Experiencing pandemic-related concerns (e.g. worrying about own health or health of loved ones, financial situation or relationships). Experiencing job insecurity. A insecure attachment style, e.g. being anxious, dismissive or avoidant in the relationship, withdrawing in case of conflicts, worrying about being rejected or being left by the partner. WHICH DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN COUPLES LIVING TOGETHER AND COUPLES LIVING APART? The frequency of conflicts actually had a stronger influence on cohabitating couples than on non-cohabitating ones. We assume that it was particularly difficult for cohabiting couples to distance themselves from each other after an argument, since much time was spent together at home. The extent of time for oneself was found to affect relationship satisfaction positively for cohabiting couples but negatively for non-cohabiting couples. In particular, among cohabiting couples, time for oneself may have compensated for the large increase in time spent together at home. Cite this Article Vigl, J., Strauss, H., Talamini, F., & Zentner, M. (2022). Relationship satisfaction in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-national examination of situational, dispositional, and relationship factors. Plos one, 17(3), e0264511. Go to Article