Abstract
Our main question is: is there any correlation between a life with music on one hand and ability to handle emotions on the other hand? In order to illuminate this question, we have performed a series of studies on the Swedish Twin Registry.
Our studies confirmed the expectation that a high level of musical activities throughout life, particularly if there has been ensemble playing or singing, was associated with good ability to handle emotions. We also found that the association between music practice and emotional skill was strongly influenced by genetic factors.
We found that there were statistically significant independent relationships between artistic achievement in general (writing, music, visual arts, theatre and dance) and the ability to handle emotions and those concomitant achievements in several forms of art added to one another from this point of view.
In separated qualitative interviews with monozygotic twin pairs who had had lifelong discordance with regard to music activity (piano playing), we showed that the discordance had arisen because of randomly occurring life conditions but also that the musically inactive twin talked longer and showed more evidence of sympathetic arousal during talk about childhood music experiences (uneasiness?) than the musically active partner did. As expected, the musically active twin had more diverse and detailed descriptions of music experiences that were related to flow.
The relationship was examined between the ability to handle emotions and objective measures of musicality (rhythm, melody and pitch) and likelihood of working in creative occupations. General intelligence was correlated with all three aspects of musicality. However, regardless of education, age and general intelligence, among men a high pitch score (good ability to differentiate high and low notes) was significantly associated with high likelihood of working in a creative occupation. Among women, the corresponding analysis showed that good ability to handle emotions (but not musicality) was associated with working in a creative occupation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto alexithymia scale-I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38(1), 23–32.
Baumgartner, T., Lutz, K., Schmidt, C. F., & Jancke, L. (2006). The emotional power of music: How music enhances the feeling of affective pictures. Brain Research, 1075, 151–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2005.12.065.
Bojner Horwitz, E., Lennartsson, A. K., Theorell, T. P., & Ullén, F. (2015). Engagement in dance is associated with emotional competence in interplay with others. Frontiers of Psychology, 6, 1096. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01096.
Borsci, G., Boccardi, M., Rossi, R., Rossi, G., Perez, J., Bonetti, M., et al. (2009). Alexithymia in healthy women: A brain morphology study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 114(1–3), 208–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2008.07.013.
Carson, S. H., Peterson, J. B., & Higgins, D. M. (2005). Reliability, validity, and factor structure of the creative achievement questionnaire. Creativity Research Journal, 17, 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1701_4.
De Gucht, V., & Heiser, W. (2003). Alexithymia and somatisation: Quantitative review of the literature. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 54(5), 425–434.
Deng, Y., Ma, X., & Tang, Q. (2013). Brain response during visual emotional processing: An fMRI study of alexithymia. Psychiatry Research, 213(3), 225–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2013.03.007.
Dissanayake, E. (2000). Antecedents of the temporal arts in early mother-infant interaction. In N. L. Wallin, B. Merker, & S. Brown (Eds.), The origins of music. Boston: MIT Press.
Duan, X., Dai, Q., Gong, Q., & Chen, H. (2010). Neural mechanism of unconscious perception of surprised facial expression. NeuroImage, 52(1), 401–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.04.021.
Eriksson, H., Harmat, L., Theorell, T., & Ullén, F. (2016). Similar but different: Interviewing monozygotic twins discordant for musical practice. Musicae Scientiae, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864916649791.
Fukunishi, I., Sei, H., Morita, Y., & Rahe, R. H. (1999). Sympathetic activity in alexithymics with mother’s low care. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 46(6), 579–589.
Gabrielsson, A. (2011). Strong experiences with music – music is much more than just music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grabe, H. J., Schwahn, C., Barnow, S., Spitzer, C., John, U., Freyberger, H. J., et al. (2010). Alexithymia, hypertension, and subclinical atherosclerosis in the general population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68, 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.07.015.
Grape Viding, C., Osika, W., Theorell, T., Kowalski, J., Hallqvist, J., & Bojner Horwitz, E. (2015). The “culture palette”- a randomized intervention study for women with burnout symptoms in Sweden. British Journal of Medical Practitioners, 8(2), a813.
Heinzel, A., Schafer, R., Muller, H. W., Schieffer, A., Ingenhag, A., Eickhoff, S. B., et al. (2010). Increased activation of the supragenual anterior cingulate cortex during visual emotional processing in male subjects with high degrees of alexithymia: An event-related fMRI study. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 79(6), 363–370. https://doi.org/10.1159/000320121.
Honkalampi, K., Hintikka, J., Saarinen, P., Lehtonen, J., & Viinamaki, H. (2000). Is alexithymia a permanent feature in depressed patients? Results from a 6-month follow-up study. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 69(6), 303–308. https://doi.org/10.1159/000012412.
Jorgensen, R. S., & Houston, B. K. (1986). Family history of hypertension, personality patterns, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 48(1–2), 102–117.
Jorgensen, M. M., Zachariae, R., Skytthe, A., & Kyvik, K. (2007). Genetic and environmental factors in alexithymia: a population-based study of 8,785 Danish twin pairs. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 76, 369–375. https://doi.org/10.1159/000107565.
Juslin, P. N., & Sloboda, J. A. (Eds.). (2010). Music and emotion: Theory and research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Laiho, S. (2004). The psychological functions of music in adolescence. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 13(1), 47–63.
Laricchiuta, D., Petrosini, L., Picerni, E., Cutuli, D., Iorio, M., & Chiapponi, et al. (2014). The embodied emotion in cerebellum: A neuroimaging study of alexithymia. Brain Structure and Function. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0790-0.
Lennartsson, A.-K., Bojner Horwitz, E., Theorell, T., & Ullén, F. (2017). Creative artistic achievement is related to lower levels of alexithymia. Creativity Research Journal, 29(1), 29–36.
Li, S., Zhang, B., Guo, Y., & Zhang, J. (2015). The association between alexithymia as assessed by the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale and depression: A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.02.006.
Luminet, O., Bagby, R. M., & Taylor, G. J. (2001). An evaluation of the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in patients with major depression. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 70(5), 254–260. https://doi.org/10.1159/000056263.
Madison, G. (2011). Cause and affect: A functional perspective on music and emotion. In F. Bacci & D. Melcher (Eds.), Art and the senses (pp. 329–350). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mantani, T., Okamoto, Y., Shirao, N., Okada, G., & Yamawaki, S. (2005). Reduced activation of posterior cingulate cortex during imagery in subjects with high degrees of alexithymia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Biological Psychiatry, 57(9), 982–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.01.047.
Mattila, A. K., Saarni, S. I., Salminen, J. K., Huhtala, H., Sintonen, H., & Joukamaa, M. (2009). Alexithymia and health-related quality of life in a general population. Psychosomatics, 50(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.50.1.59.
Mattila, A. K., Saarni, S. I., Alanen, E., Salminen, J. K., Kronholm, E., Jula, A., et al. (2010). Health-related quality-of-life profiles in nonalexithymic and alexithymic subjects from general population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68(3), 279–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.09.010.
Moriguchi, Y., Ohnishi, T., Lane, R. D., Maeda, M., Mori, T., Nemoto, K., et al. (2006). Impaired self-awareness and theory of mind: An fMRI study of mentalizing in alexithymia. NeuroImage, 32(3), 1472–1482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.04.186.
Nemiah, J. C. (1996). Alexithymia: Present, past–and future? Psychosomatic Medicine, 58, 217–218. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199605000-00004.
Porges, S., & Byrne, E. (2012). Research methods for measurement of heart rate and respiration. Biological Psychology, 34(2–3), 93–130. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030105119290012J. Accessed June 25, 2012.
Ruud, E. (2010). Music therapy: A perspective from the humanities. Gilsum: Barcelona Publishers.
Salminen, J. K., Saarijarvi, S., Aairela, E., & Tamminen, T. (1994). Alexithymia–state or trait? One-year follow-up study of general hospital psychiatric consultation out-patients. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38(7), 681–685.
Salminen, J. K., Saarijarvi, S., Aarela, E., Toikka, T., & Kauhanen, J. (1999). Prevalence of alexithymia and its association with sociodemographic variables in the general population of Finland. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 46(1), 75–82.
Sifneos, P. E. (1973). The prevalence of ‘alexithymic’ characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 22(2), 255–262.
Sifneos, P. E. (1996). Alexithymia: Past and present. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(Suppl. 7), 137–114.
Theorell, T. (2014). Psychological health effects of musical experiences. In Theories, studies and reflections in music health science. Dordrecht: Springer.
Theorell, T. P., Lennartsson, A. K., Mosing, M. A., & Ullén, F. (2014). Musical activity and emotional competence – a twin study. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 774. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00774.
Theorell, T., Lennartsson, A. K., Madison, G., Mosing, M. A., & Ullén, F. (2015). Predictors of continued playing or singing – from childhood and adolescence to adult years. Acta Paediatrica, 104(3), 274–284. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12870.
Theorell, T., Madison, G., & Ullén, F. (2017). Associations between alexithymia, musical ability, and working in a creative occupation: Different patterns for men and women. Submitted 2017.
Tolmunen, T., Heliste, M., Lehto, S. M., Hintikka, J., Honkalampi, K., & Kauhanen, J. (2011). Stability of alexithymia in the general population: An 11-year follow-up. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 52(5), 536–541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.09.007.
Ullén, F., Mosing, M. A., Holm, L., Eriksson, H., & Madison, G. (2014). Psychometric properties and heritability of a new online test for musicality, the Swedish musical discrimination test. Personality and Individual Differences, 63, 87–93.
Ullén, F., Hambrick, D. Z., & Mosing, M. A. (2016). Rethinking expertise: A multifactorial gene-environment interaction model of expert performance. Psychological Bulletin, 142(4), 427–446. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000033.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Theorell, T., Ullén, F. (2018). Music Practice and Emotion Handling. In: Bonde, L., Theorell, T. (eds) Music and Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76240-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76240-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76239-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76240-1
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)