Locus of emotion: the effect of task order and age on emotion perceived and emotion felt in response to music.

The relationship between emotions perceived to be expressed (external locus EL) versus emotions felt (internal locus--IL) in response to music was examined using 5 contrasting pieces of Romantic, Western art music. The main hypothesis tested was that emotion expressed along the dimensions of emotional-strength, valence, and arousal were lower in magnitude for IL than EL. IL and EL judgments made together after one listening (Experiment 2, n = 18) produced less differentiated responses than when each task was performed after separate listenings (Experiment 1, n = 28). This merging of responses in the locus-task-together condition started to disappear as statistical power was increased. Statistical power was increased by recruiting an additional subject pool of elderly individuals (Experiment 3, n = 19, mean age 75 years). Their valence responses were more positive, and their emotional-strength ratings were generally lower, compared to their younger counterparts. Overall data analysis revealed that IL responses fluctuated slightly more than EL emotions, meaning that the latter are more stable. An additional dimension of dominance-submissiveness was also examined, and was useful in differentiating between pieces, but did not return a difference between IL and EL. Some therapy applications of these findings are discussed.