Music's Influence on Empathy
Location
Allegheny B, Hotel Madison, JMU
Start Date
4-5-2019 4:20 PM
Description
Music affects the emotions, feelings, and thoughts of a person but can it affect a person’s skill of empathy? I define empathy as the ability to sense, share, and understand other people’s emotions. I use 2 thoroughly tested survey instruments, the Toronto Empathy-Based Questionnaire (TEQ) to provide a baseline measurement of empathy, and the Goldsmith’s Musical Sophistication Index (GMSI) to ascertain a base understanding of each participant’s background in music and how important it is to them. Participants will also take a Beat Perception and Melody Memory task to test their abilities in music. I will also conduct semi-structured interviews with individual participants aimed at exploring respondents’ appreciation of and investment in music. The research is not yet complete; however, the research methods indicate there are ways to determine if people’s abilities in music influence their level of empathy.
Presentation Type
Presentation
Music's Influence on Empathy
Allegheny B, Hotel Madison, JMU
Music affects the emotions, feelings, and thoughts of a person but can it affect a person’s skill of empathy? I define empathy as the ability to sense, share, and understand other people’s emotions. I use 2 thoroughly tested survey instruments, the Toronto Empathy-Based Questionnaire (TEQ) to provide a baseline measurement of empathy, and the Goldsmith’s Musical Sophistication Index (GMSI) to ascertain a base understanding of each participant’s background in music and how important it is to them. Participants will also take a Beat Perception and Melody Memory task to test their abilities in music. I will also conduct semi-structured interviews with individual participants aimed at exploring respondents’ appreciation of and investment in music. The research is not yet complete; however, the research methods indicate there are ways to determine if people’s abilities in music influence their level of empathy.