The Effects of Music on the Emotion Regulation Process

Hillsong, Of Dirt & Grace: Heart Like Heaven

With the advent of high-speed Internet, music has never been more accessible through music hosting platforms such as YouTube, 8tracks, SoundCloud, and Spotify. This availability of music with merely a few clicks is highly beneficial to a person’s emotion regulation activities because people can choose what music to listen to, when, and where to listen to music. Emotion regulation is the process in which a person maintains equilibrium in his state of mind by managing his emotions (Moore, 2013). When a person succeeds in regulating his emotions, his initial emotional response to any given circumstance changes. He would then be able to look at his current situation with a different perspective, and thus be able to address it with a different approach. Music is the best tool to regulate one’s emotions as it is ‘what feelings sound like out loud’ (Cates, 2013, p.136) and also the shorthand of emotion. This paper, therefore, focuses on how an individual’s emotions can be regulated by using music, lyrical and/or instrumental, as a means to find clarity, to divert, and to validate his or her feelings.

Music can be used as a means to find clarity in one’s emotions. This is because music has the ability to speak on behalf of one’s mind, even if it is of the instrumental genre. This process of clarification begins with music helping an individual to identify (Saarikallio & Erkkliä, 2007) and to comprehend one's emotions by expressing hidden, suppressed, or undefined emotions in melody and in words. When one has a clear mind after evaluating his or her emotions, one would be able to face day-to-day challenges with a variety of approaches. For instance, music provides clarity to Australian singer-songwriter Sean Marchetti by helping him with his approach to life’s challenges and enabling him to think differently from how he normally would (Marchetti, 2014). Containing the power of catharsis, music helps one to release negative emotions and thereby provide a certain kind of relief. In other words, music has the power to calm an individual down and to help an individual sort out his or her feelings. Lyrical music, usually in the form of a narrative, also has the power to inspire an individual to discern and to approach challenging situations with a wider range of perspectives.

According to Saarikallio & Erkkliä (2007) listening to sombre music when dealing with unhappy emotions would temporarily increase one’s level of unhappiness; however, on a long-term basis, the state of unhappiness would fade off after one has gained clarification and understanding of his or her emotions. This is due to the fact that there is a certain catharsis that occurs in sharing another’s words (Gladding et al., 2008). For example, songs like Go (Johnson, 2009, track 11); Breaking You (Assad & Glover, 2012, track 5); and, Nothing Is Wasted (Gray, Ingram & McKelvey, 2011, track 8) address various challenging situations in a rather clear and comprehensive manner through its lyrics and its melody. These examples of songs could enable an individual to experience a catharsis and in turn successfully regulate his or her emotions.

Besides that, music can also be used as a means to divert one’s negative emotions to something more positive. Based on the research by Saarikallio and Erkkilä (2007, p.99) the subjects of the research found that their minds stray easily when there is silence. These subjects would then utilise music to fill that silence because it helps them to “forget about disturbing feelings and thoughts that kept going round and round in their head.” When one gives focus to the music he or she is listening to, his or her attention will be diverted from his or her own emotions to certain musical characteristics of the music; thus avoiding contemplating upon or focusing on his or her emotional state. This focus shifting process is parallel to using music to reduce the perception of pain (Moore, 2013) in the medical and clinical field, an unconventional practice that was found to be highly effective. Based on a published research conducted by a similar group of people in 2001 and then another one ten years later in 2010, it was found that on the days that patients undergo music therapy before, during, or after burn dressing changes or debridement, they experienced a significant reduction in pain, muscle tension, and anxiety compared to the days that they did not (Fratianne et al., 2001; Tan, Yowler, Super, & Fratianne, 2010). This reveals the effectiveness of using music as a means to divert negative emotions in times of pain.

However, certain types of music should be avoided when utilising it as a form of diversion during the emotion regulation process. According to Moore (2013), this is because music that is dissonant, unpleasant, or negative increases brain activities in the amygdala (the portion of the brain that detects threatening stimuli). Although, listening to music that is pleasant would increase brain activities in the anterior cingulate cortex (whose key function includes the regulation of emotions), the orbitofrontal cortex (whose role include decision making and emotion processing) and the lateral prefrontal cortex (where information in regards to one’s personal life and relationships are stored). This inverse relationship among the amygdala and the three other portions of the brain shows the importance of being mindful to the type of music that one listens to while using it as a form of diversion.

Furthermore, music can be used as a means to validate one’s feelings as well, though this is more applicable to lyrical music more than its instrumental counterpart. Similar to the way people speak words of validation into each other’s lives to affirm and to encourage, lyrical music perform the same function, but in a more aesthetic manner - the addition of intricate melody as accompaniment. To validate a person is also to recognise and to accept another person’s internal experiences as valid (Hall, 2012). During the season finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah noted that all of the people she interviewed had one thing in common - the desire for validation (Sapadin, 2013). Self-validation, by utilising lyrical music, is one of the best ways for emotionally sensitive individuals to manage their feelings as lyrics have the ability to fuel self-acceptance, thus curbing dependence on others for constant validation. When one accepts oneself, one would be at peace, which results in emotion equilibrium.

People, especially songwriters, find that it therapeutic to express emotions (Gladding et al., 2008). This is in accordance with Saarikallio and Erkkilä (2007)’s finding that music is a way of expressing and releasing emotions. In order to overcome negative emotions so that one can move on in life, bottled up emotions have to be expressed and resolved. When an individual listens to musical narratives of songwriters, he or she tunes in to the words and emotions expressed in the music, and in turn experience a catharsis. Some examples of songs that validate feelings and emotions include More Like Falling in Love (Gray & Igram, 2009, track 1); Lament (Assad & Kipley, 2012, track 9) ; and, Here I Am Anyway (Pardo & Wilson, 2013, track 9). On a side note, Militello (2015) raised the potential of using music to validate the emotions of memory-impaired individuals to reduce unwanted behaviours. When one can identify oneself with the lyrical music, one would have comfort in the realisation and validation that he or she is not alone, thus satisfying the human need to belong.

In conclusion, music is therefore a powerful means to enable a person to have a healthy social and mental lifestyle by way of regulating his or her emotions due to the benefits it offers. For example, being able to help one to regulate his or her emotions by speaking on behalf of one’s mind, managing one’s brain activities, enabling one to discern and to approach challenges with new perspectives, filling the silence, fuelling self-acceptance, satisfying the human need to belong, and, additionally, enabling one to achieve an emotion equilibrium. Thus, it is vital to be mindful of the music one chooses to listen to due to its limitless potential for influence.

References

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Assad, A., & Kipley, P. (2012). Lament. On Heart. [CD]. Brentwood, TN: Sparrow.

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Johnson, M. (2009). Go. On Love drunk. [CD]. New York, NY and Vancouver, BC: Columbia Records.

Marchetti, S. (2014, November 21). Music Gives Me Clarity. Sean Marchetti. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.seanmarchetti.com.au/blog/music-gives-me-clarity/

Militello, L. (2015, May 28). Linda Militello: Music helps bring memories to life. The Buffalo News. Retrieved from http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/my-view/linda-militello-music-helps-bring-memories-to-life-20150528

Moore, K.S. (2013). A systematic review on the neural effects of music on emotion regulation: Implications for music therapy practice. Journal of Music Therapy, 50(3), 198-242.

Pardo, J., & Wilson, J. (2013). Here I Am Anyway. On Carry me. Brentwood, TN: Sparrow.

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Tan, X., Yowler, C. J., Super, D. M., & Fratianne, R. B. (2010). The efficacy of music therapy protocols for decreasing pain, anxiety, and muscle tension levels during burn dressing changes: A prospective randomized crossover trial. Journal of Burn Care and Research, 31(4), 590–597.

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8 June 2015

Synthesis Paper

English For Academic And Professional Communication