Chills in music: A systematic review

Resumen

Chills are a psychophysiological response which can be experienced when listening to music. They have been of particular interest in scientific research on music because of their association with emotion and pleasure. However, with the literature doubling in size since the last review on the subject, it has become increasingly difficult to gain a broad and integrated understanding of the empirical and theoretical research on music-evoked chills (MECs). Notably, crucial questions remain about the criteria that are necessary and sufficient to characterise MECs. In this article, we systematically review the literature on MECs in order to reconcile diverging opinions and empirical findings on their psychological nature, and to develop a preliminary model that provides a robust framework for future hypothesis-driven research. We explore the context behind current research on MECs, discuss how they relate to emotional and aesthetic responses, assess current empirical measures and paradigms, summarise their physiological and neural correlates, categorise their possible stimulus-driven elicitors, examine how they are affected by individual differences, and evaluate theoretical perspectives about their potential evolutionary causes. We conclude by providing a preliminary model of MECs that suggests different pathways for the experience of MECs, a dataset listing pieces of music reported to elicit MECs in the reviewed literature, and a set of open issues, hypotheses, and recommended approaches for future research.

Áreas y palabras clave

Cómo citar (APA 7)

de Fleurian, R., & Pearce, M. (2020). Chills in music: A systematic review. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000341