Music\u27s Influence on Empathy

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