Music and Emotions: Psychological Aspects with Regard to the Origin and Evolution of Music

Roman Mlejnek Music and Emotions: Psychological Aspects with Regard to the Origin and Evolution of Music Dissertation thesis Abstract Music and emotion is of deep interest in today's research in many different disciplines. This thesis summarizes contemporary knowledge of emotion and analyses music's related phenomena which could enlighten the importance of emotionality (sound, speech, play, movement). Interindividual differences are discussed mainly with regard to musicality. Selected problems (especially from music aesthetics and music theory) are commented from the point of view of contemporary psychology. In the first place, this thesis notices common psychological mechanisms working in music of different types, times and cultures. Special consideration is devoted to the question of the origins of music and it's evolutionary basis. The thesis includes two empirical studies based on questionnaire surveys. The first one explores Janáček's collection of speech melodies with regard to it's potential as research stimuli for research in music and speech. The second one deals with physically experienced reactions and is focussed on musicians and their differences to non- musicians. Key words: music, emotion, origins of musi