LIKING, AROUSAL POTENTIAL, AND THE EMOTIONS EXPRESSED BY MUSIC

Previous research indicates that the specific emotions expressed by st imuli may be closely associated with their pleasing and arousing quali ties, and this parallels psychomusicological research on the relations hip between these two stimulus qualities. In light of this, the presen t research contends that the emotions expressed by musical stimuli are associated with their pleasing and arousing qualities. Sixty subjects rated 32 musical excerpts on Ii-point scales representing the express ion of eight specific emotions. Statistical analyses showed that these emotion ratings were predictable on the basis of 60 additional subjec ts' ratings of each excerpt in terms of 'liking' and 'arousal potentia l'. This indicates that ratings of liking and arousal potential are es sentially similar to ratings of the specific emotions expressed by mus ical stimuli. These results are discussed in terms of the relationship between liking and arousal potential, and the implications that this may have for research on affective processes.