The present studies investigated the effects of personal (i.e., self-selected) music and music pre-selected by the researcher on the induction of sadness and joy while taking into consideration the influences of perceptual and individual factors in line with a reciprocal-feedback model (RFM). Regarding music perception, spreading activation in the cognitive network triggered by music and the BRECVEMA (Brain stem reflexes, Rhythmic entrainment, Evaluative conditioning, Contagion, Visual imagery, Episodic memory, Musical expectancy, Aesthetic judgement) mechanisms underlying musical emotions were explored using quantitative and qualitative self-reports. For individual factors, trait and ability emotional intelligence and motives in mood regulation were controlled. Results from the pilot study (Study 1, N = 66) confirm that music chosen by participants exerts stronger effects on reported mood, and that sadness and joy are evoked primarily by contagion and episodic memory associated with music. Study 2 ( N = 149) replicated and extended these findings. Reports of a conscious marker for spreading cognitive activation (e.g., familiarity or engagement with the music) was higher when listening to personal music, yet also when inducing joy. When sadness was induced, higher activation was also related to participants’ more frequent reports of BRECVEMA mechanisms. For emotional intelligence, clarity of emotions promotes joy while management of emotions promotes sadness. Emotion recognition impairs induction of both moods. Motives of discharge, mental work, and solace influence inductions of sadness, and diversion influences inductions of joy. Finally, the RFM provides a comprehensive conceptualisation of mood induction, integrating situation, music, and listener.

This study investigated correlative, factorial, and structural relationships between scores for ability emotional intelligence in the workplace (measured with the Geneva Emotional Competence Test), as well as fluid and crystallized abilities (measured with the Intelligence Structure Battery), carried out by a 188-participant student sample. Confirming existing research, recognition, understanding, and management of emotions were related primarily to crystallized ability tests measuring general knowledge, verbal fluency, and knowledge of word meaning. Meanwhile, emotion regulation was the least correlated with any other cognitive or emotional ability. In line with research on the trainability of emotional intelligence, these results may support the notion that emotional abilities are subject to acquired knowledge, where situational (i.e., workplace-specific) emotional intelligence may depend on accumulating relevant experiences.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Rettungskräfte müssen im Notfalleinsatz häufig mit emotional belastenden Situationen und ihren eigenen Reaktionen auf menschliches Leid umgehen. Wir untersuchten Rettungskräfte hinsichtlich ihrer Empathie und emotionalen Reaktivität sowie Strategien zur Emotionsregulation und Bewältigung schwieriger Situationen und stellten Zusammenhänge zum chronischen Stresserleben her. Zum Vergleich diente eine studentische Vergleichsstichprobe, welche keine medizinischen Berufserfahrungen vorwies. Methode Stress, Empathie, Emotionsregulation und Bewältigungsstrategien wurden mittels einer Fragebogenbatterie erfasst. Emotionale Reaktivität wurde experimentell mit normiertem Bildmaterial zur Erzeugung von Ekel, Trauer, Angst und Freude untersucht, welches auf einer mehrstufigen Skala von angenehm bis unangenehm beurteilt wurde. Ergebnisse Rettungskräfte (n = 161) erlebten weniger Stress, waren weniger empathisch und machten seltener oder ähnlichen Gebrauch von Strategien zur Emotionsregulation und Bewältigung wie Studierende (n = 56). Sie empfanden zudem ekel- und trauerauslösende Bilder weniger unangenehm. Mehr Reaktivität auf Ekelbilder, mehr Empathie, Emotionsunterdrückung und vermeidende Bewältigungsstrategien waren mit mehr Stress assoziiert. Konklusion Eine verminderte, jedoch nicht niedrige Empathie könnte im Einsatz hilfreich zur emotionalen Abschirmung sein, während nach dem Einsatz eine aktive Auseinandersetzung mit eigenen Emotionen und erlebten kritischen Situationen adaptiv zum Schutz vor Stress erscheint.

No abstract

Spreading activation in the cognitive network explains why music is experienced as familiar or likable. It might also be a premise for the emotion-inducing mechanisms of the BRECVEMA framework (Brain stem reflexes, Rhythmic entrainment, Evaluative conditioning, Contagion, Visual imagery, Episodic memory, Musical expectancy, Aesthetic judgment). Both perspectives constitute important aspects of music experience and are influenced by individual differences. In two studies ( n = 125 and n = 153), potential indicators for spreading activation and BRECVEMA mechanisms for single instances of music listening were assessed with a new questionnaire. The results indicated that Typicality of music, Liking, and attentional Engagement underlie spreading activation. The mechanisms Evaluative conditioning and Contagion in unison (Conditioning/Contagion), as well as Visual imagery and Episodic memory could be reliably assessed. Findings revealed that (a) Engagement, Conditioning/Contagion, and Visual imagery increased with musical expertise; (b) spreading activation and mechanisms were stronger when listening to self- rather than pre-selected music; (c) sad music evoked stronger Engagement, Conditioning/Contagion, and Episodic memory when it was self-selected; (d) spreading activation and mechanisms were associated with music empathizing and systemizing and the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal; and finally, (e) regulating sadness with sad music was associated with habitual suppression and stronger Conditioning/Contagion.