The Prevalence of Emotional Reactions

Abstract

This chapter looks at the prevalence of specific emotions. The issue was initially mostly a matter of speculation among researchers — often based on personal experience, and sometimes slipping into the treacherous territory of debating what people ought to experience, rather what they actually do experience. However, over the last ten years or so, a large number of empirical studies have addressed the question empirically. The results accumulated to date suggest the following three conclusions: music arouses mostly positive emotions; music may arouse both basic and complex emotions; and certain emotions occur more frequently and consistently than others.