Emotions of music listening in Finland and in India: Comparison of an individualistic and a collectivistic culture. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saarikallio, Suvi; Alluri, Vinoo; Maksimainen, Johanna; Toiviainen, Petri
• Is Part Of: Psychology of music. Volume 49:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: 989
• Page End: 1005
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: music listening -- emotions -- cross-cultural comparison -- everyday life -- psychological functions; Music -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; 781.11
• DOI: 10.1177/0305735620917730
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-7356

Abstract

Music is appreciated for emotional reasons across cultures, but knowledge on the cross-cultural similarities and differences of music-evoked emotions is still sparse. The current study compared music-evoked emotions in Finland and in India, contextualizing them within the perceived psychological functionality of music in an individualistic versus collectivistic culture. Participants ( N = 230) answered an online survey on music-evoked emotions and related personal meanings. A mixed-method approach using factor analysis and qualitative content analysis was used to identify the concepts for cross-cultural comparison. Results show that both cultures value music for positive emotional experiences, but the prevalence of more detailed emotional nuances and underlying meanings is distinctively different. The highest-scoring emotion factor for Finns was Power-Empowerment while for Indians it was Peaceful-Transcendence. For Finns, the personal relevance of music was distinctively related to self-enhancement, self-reflective insights, and self-expression, while for Indians the relevance was particularly related to using music as a mood management tool for reaching positive, relaxed, and motivated affective states. Both cultures found music important for experiencing social connection. The results partly reflect the individualistic-collectivistic dimensionality of cultures and emphasize the relevance of contextualizing music psychological knowledge of music-evoked emotions in individuals' culturally bound meaning-making processes.