Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners

Abstract

Many people enjoy sad music and the appeal for tragedy is widespread among the consumers of film and literature. The underlying mechanisms of such aesthetic experiences are not well understood. We tested whether the pleasure induced by sad, unfamiliar instrumental music is explained with either a homeostatic or a reward theory, which postulate the opposite patterns of changes in the key hormones. We report an experiment where 62 women listened to sad music while serum prolactin (PRL) and oxytocin (OT) and stress marker (CORT, ACTH) concentrations were collected. Two groups of participants were recruited on the basis of low and high trait empathy. In the high empathy group, the prolactin and oxytocin levels were significantly lower after the music condition in comparison to silence. This group also reported an increase of positive mood after the music condition and higher ratings of being moved than the low empathy group. None of the stress markers showed any changes across the conditions or groups. The hormonal changes are not consistent with a homeostatic theory proposed by Huron (2011), while exhibiting a pattern expected of general reward. The findings illuminate how unfamiliar and low arousal music may give rise to pleasurable experiences.