THE IMPACT OF MUSIC ON SUBJECTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF EMOTION WHILE VIEWING FILMS

Despite continued acknowledgment of the importance of music in viewing films, empirical studies investigating the interaction of music with film are conspicuously absent. Evidence from a few isolated cognitive studies suggests that the relationship between music and film is additive. Little is known, however, about the physiology of emotional response to viewing film-music stimuli. The present study utilized both self report as well as physiological indices to investigate the nature of the film and music relationship. Six-second films (having either negative or positive valence and low-or high-arousal) were paired with excerpts from instrumental classical music (pretested for valence and arousal). Results indicate a fairly straight-forward, additive relationship in terms of emotion self report. The modulating role of music on physiological reactions to film, however, was more complex. This study corroborates previous evidence regarding the subjective experience of viewing images with music. Physiological evidence, however, suggests that the interactions between music and film not always are predictable.