A new look at the potential links between music practice, empathy, and prosociality

IF 1.6 3区心理学 0 MUSIC

Psychology of Music Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI:10.1177/03057356241312213

Dorothée Morand-Grondin, Beatriz Oliveira, Floris T van Vugt, Simon Rigoulot

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Engaging in music practice is often assumed to increase empathy and prosociality. However, data in support of this relationship are limited, leaving unclear which components of empathy (cognitive empathy, emotional contagion, and emotional disconnection) and prosocial behaviors, if any, would be affected. Here, we recruited musicians with more than 2 years of musical experience ( n = 80) and nonmusicians ( n = 89) to measure empathy (using subjective and objective measures) and prosociality (using economic games). We hypothesized that musicians would score higher than nonmusicians on empathy and prosociality, and that musicians who practice more would show greater effects. Using classical and Bayesian analyses of variance (ANOVAs), we found no difference between musicians and nonmusicians in empathy and prosociality, and no correlation with the amount of practice. Exploratory analyses revealed associations between the age of onset of music practice and empathy, suggesting that it is not music practice per se but specifically its initiation in early life that could be linked to empathy. These findings challenge the common assumption that music practice in general increases empathy and prosociality and invites to explore in which specific contexts music practice does so (e.g., particular age ranges or group-based settings).

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重新审视音乐实践、移情和亲社会性之间的潜在联系

参与音乐练习通常被认为可以增加同理心和亲社会。然而，支持这种关系的数据有限，尚不清楚共情的哪些组成部分（认知共情、情绪感染和情绪脱节）和亲社会行为（如果有的话）会受到影响。在这里，我们招募了有2年以上音乐经验的音乐家（n = 80）和非音乐家（n = 89）来测量共情（使用主观和客观测量）和亲社会（使用经济游戏）。我们假设音乐家在同理心和亲社会方面的得分比非音乐家高，而且练习得多的音乐家会表现出更大的效果。使用经典和贝叶斯方差分析（ANOVAs），我们发现音乐家和非音乐家在共情和亲社会性方面没有差异，并且与练习量无关。探索性分析揭示了开始音乐练习的年龄和同理心之间的联系，这表明不是音乐练习本身，而是早期音乐练习的开始可能与同理心有关。这些发现挑战了通常认为音乐练习通常会增加同理心和亲社会的假设，并邀请人们探索音乐练习在哪些特定背景下会这样做（例如，特定的年龄范围或基于群体的设置）。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Psychology of Music Multiple-

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

17.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Psychology of Music and SEMPRE provide an international forum for researchers working in the fields of psychology of music and music education, to encourage the exchange of ideas and to disseminate research findings. Psychology of Music publishes peer-reviewed papers directed at increasing the scientific understanding of any psychological aspect of music. These include studies on listening, performing, creating, memorising, analysing, describing, learning, and teaching, as well as applied social, developmental, attitudinal and therapeutic studies. Special emphasis is placed on studies carried out in naturalistic settings, especially those which address the interface between music psychology and music education.