Loved music can make a listener feel negative emotions

Abstract

This paper tested the applicability of cognitive unit activation (CUA) theory to explain the paradoxical enjoyment of felt negative emotions in music. CUA refers to preference for activation of cognitive units (as distinct from non-activation) as proposed by Martindale (1984, 1988). Content analysis of open-ended responses by 60 participants to a self-selected loved and hated piece of music was conducted. Negative emotions were spontaneously evoked for the loved music condition by 19 participants. The same salient emotions (e.g., sadness) could be evoked by both loved and hated music. The distinction between terms used to described loved versus hated music led to a reappraisal of past literature, with the conclusion that there are qualitative differences among negative emotions, those which occur as affect valence (AV) and those which occur as emotion valence (EV). When a piece of music is hated, the disliking or avoidance response in itself is considered negative AV – regardless of the EV (e.g., sadness) induced in the listener. Consequently, the CUA model is modified by addition of a negative AV inhibiter to explain how sadness can activate a cognitive unit, thus adding to the enjoyment of the experience, without producing avoidance intentions/behaviors (dislike of the music leading to a desire to stop it or leave it). A good match between felt and expressed emotions was more frequently reported (n = 34) for loved than for hated pieces (n = 12), suggesting activation of “mirror circuits.”