Emotions Evoked by Music Are Universal

Study Shows Happy, Sad, and Fearful Emotions in Western Music Are Understood by Other Cultures
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

March 20, 2009 -- Three basic emotions evoked by Western music affect people everywhere, regardless of culture or habits, a new study shows.

People in Africa who've never listened to a radio can still pick up on happy, sad, and fearful emotions in Western music, researchers say in the journal Current Biology.

These emotions in music can be universally recognized, says Thomas Fritz of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. "These findings could explain why Western music has been so successful in global music distribution, even in music cultures that do not as strongly emphasize the role of emotional expression in their music," Fritz says in a news release.

In some musical traditions, music is appreciated for qualities other than emotions, such as group coordination rituals, the researchers say.

(More here.)