Musical experiences are often reported to influence emotions (Juslin & Västfjäll, 2008; Sloboda, O'Neill, & Ivaldi, 2001): people consciously and unconsciously use music to change, create, maintain or enhance their emotions and moods (affect) on a daily basis for their personal benefit (DeNora, 1999; Schramm, 2005). This is known as affect regulation. However, existing research has not yet answered questions of how music regulates affect, especially beyond the expressive properties of music (Meyer, 1956). The aims of the studies presented here were to investigate (a) how music functions to regulate affect, (b) which affects it regulates, and (c) whether music listening can be considered a successful affect regulation device. A one-week diary study with interviews and a three-week diary study were conducted. The main findings were: (1) music helps through broader affect regulation strategies like distraction, introspection, and active coping; music can for example distract someone from the affect or situation, or help to think about the affect or situation in a rational way; (2) music plays a major role in creating happiness and relaxation; (3) music overall is a successful regulation device with a range of underlying mechanisms helping different strategies. The current paper is a valuable addition to the existing literature and provides several new insights into the function of music for affect regulation in everyday life. The insight gained into which strategies and underlying mechanisms are involved when music is used for affect regulation might be used for the benefit of people's emotional wellbeing.
Batt-RawdenK.DeNoraT. (2005). Music and informal learning in everyday life. Music Education Research, 7 (3), 289–304.
2.
BehneK. (1997). The Development of “Musikerleben” in adolescence: How and why young people listen to music. In DeliégeI.SlobodaJ. A. (Eds.), Perception and cognition of music (pp. 143–159). Hove, Sussex: Psychology Press.
3.
BushmanB. J.BaumeisterR. F.PhilipsC. M. (2001). Do people aggress to improve their mood? Catharsis belief, affect regulation opportunity, and aggressive responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81 (1), 17–32.
4.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56 (2), 267–283.
5.
ChristensenT. C.FeldmanBarrett L.Bliss-MroreauE.LeboK.KaschubC. (2003). A practical guide to experience-sampling procedures. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4, 53–78.
6.
DeNoraT. (1999). Music as a technology of the self. Poetics, 27, 31–56.
7.
FichmanL.KoestnerR.ZuroffD. C.GordonL. (1999). Depressive styles and the regulation of negative affect: A daily experience study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23 (5), 483–495.
8.
FolkmanS.LazarusR. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48 (1), 150–170.
9.
GabrielssonA. (2010). Strong experiences with music. In JuslinP. N.SlobodaJ. A. (Eds.), Music and emotion: Theory, research, applications (pp. 547–574). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.
GabrielssonA.LindströmS. (1995). Can strong experiences of music have therapeutic implications? In SteinbergR. (Ed.), Music and the mind machine: The psychophysiology and psychopathology of the sense of music (pp. 195–202). Berlin: Springer.
11.
GlaserB. G.StraussA. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research (2007 reprint ed.). New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.
12.
GrossJ. J. (1999). Emotion regulation: Past, present, future. Cognition and Emotion, 13 (5), 551–573.
13.
GrossJ. J. (Ed.). (2007). Handbook of emotion regulation. New York: The Guilford Press.
14.
GrossJ. J.RichardsJ. M.JohnO. P. (2006). Emotion regulation in everyday life. In SneyderD. K.SimpsonJ. A.HughesJ. N. (Eds.), Emotion regulation in families: Pathways to dysfunction and health (pp. 13–35). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
15.
HeideF. J.BorkovecT. D. (1984). Relaxation-induced anxiety: Mechanisms and theoretical implications. Behavior Research Therapy, 22 (1), 1–12.
16.
HektnerJ. M.SchmidtJ. A.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2007). Experience sampling method: Measuring the quality of everyday life. London: Sage.
17.
HevnerK. (1937). The affective value of pitch and tempo in music. American Journal of Psychology, 49, 621–630.
18.
JuslinP. N. (2009). Emotional responses to music. In HallamS.CrossI.ThautM. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology (pp. 131–140). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
19.
JuslinP. N.LaukkaP. (2004). Expression, perception, and induction of musical emotions: A review and a questionnaire study of everyday listening. New Music Research, 33 (3), 217–238.
20.
JuslinP. N.VästfjällD. (2008). Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31 (05), 559.
21.
KnoblochS.ZillmannD. (2002). Mood management via the digital Jukebox. Journal of Communication, 52 (2), 351–366.
22.
LarsenR. J. (2000). Toward a science of mood regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11 (3), 129–141.
23.
MeyerL. B. (1956). Emotion and meaning in music. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
24.
MorrisW. N.ReillyN. P. (1987). Toward the self-regulation of mood: Theory and research. Motivation and Emotion, 11 (3), 215–249.
25.
NorthA. C.HargreavesD. J.HargreavesJ. J. (2004). Uses of music in everyday life. Music Perception, 22 (1), 41–77.
ReisH. T.GableS. L. (2000). Event-sampling and other methods for studying everyday experience. In ReissH. T.JuddC. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 190–222). New York: Cambridge University Press.
28.
SaarikallioS. H. (2008). Music in mood regulation: Initial scale development. Musicae Scientiae, 12 (2), 291–309.
29.
SaarikallioS.ErkkiläJ. (2007). The role of music in adolescents’ mood regulation. Psychology of Music. 35 (1), 88–109.
30.
SaloveyS.StroudL. R.WooleryA.EpelE. S. (2002). Perceived emotional intelligence, stress reactivity, and symptom reports: Further explorations using the trait meta-mood scale. Psychology and Health, 17 (5), 611–627.
31.
SchererK. R.ZentnerM. R. (2001). Emotional effects of music: Production rules. In JuslinP. N.SlobodaJ. A. (Eds.), Music and emotion: Theory and research (pp. 361–392). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
32.
SchrammH. (2005). Mood Management durch Musik: Die alltägliche Nutzung von Musik zur Regulierung von Stimmungen [Mood management with music: The everyday use of music for the regulation of mood].Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag.
33.
SlobodaJ. A. (1992). Empirical studies of emotional responses to music. In Ricss-JonesM.HolleranS. (Eds.), Cognitive bases of musical communication (pp. 33–46). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
34.
SlobodaJ. A. (2010). Music in everyday life: The role of emotions. In JuslinP. N.SlobodaJ. A. (Eds.), Handbook of music and emotion: Theory, research, applications (pp. 493–515). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
35.
SlobodaJ. (2008). Science and Music: The ear of the beholder. Nature, 454 (7200), 32–33. doi:10.1038/454032a.
36.
SlobodaJ. A. (1991). Music structure and emotional response: Some empirical findings. Psychology of Music, 19, 110–120.
37.
SlobodaJ. A.JuslinP. A. (2001). Psychological perspectives on music and emotion. In JuslinP. N.SlobodaJ. A. (Ed.), Music and emotion: Theory and research [Psychologische benaderingen van muziek en emotie] (pp. 71–104). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
38.
SlobodaJ. A.O'NeillS. A.IvaldiA. (2001). Functions of music in everyday life: An exploratory study using the Experience Sampling Method. Musicae Scientiae, 5 (1), 9–32.
39.
ThayerR. F.NewmanJ. R.McClainT. M. (1994). Self-regulation of mood: Strategies for changing a bad mood, raising energy, and reducing tension. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (5), 910–925.
40.
Van GoethemA. (2010). Affect regulation in everyday life: Strategies, tactics, and the role of music. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Keele University.
41.
Wolfsdorf KamholzB.HayesA. M.CarverC. S.GulliverS. B.PerlmanC. A. (2006). Identification and evaluation of cognitive affect-regulation strategies: Development of a self-report measure. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30 (2), 227–262.
42.
ZentnerM.GrandjeanD.SchererK. R. (2008). Emotions evoked by the sound of music: Characterization, classification, and measurement. Emotion, 8 (4), 494–521.
