"Who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once," English poet Robert Browning once wrote. Browning was referring to the idea that music can make us feel less alone.
A new study has just found that this is true — and that music can actually help us imagine social interactions.
In the study by researchers in Australia, Sweden and Germany, 600 people were asked to imagine being on a journey toward a faraway mountain. They did this either in silence or while listening to music.
The researchers chose folk music in Spanish, Italian or Swedish, because music like this has "a strong history in use with themes of social interactions." Some of the music had words and singing; some didn't.
Music Can Help Us Imagine Social Interactions
"Who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once," English poet Robert Browning once wrote. Browning was referring to the idea that music can make us feel less alone.
A new study has just found that this is true — and that music can actually help us imagine social interactions.
In the study, researchers from Australia, Sweden, and Germany asked 600 people to imagine being on a journey toward a faraway mountain. Participants did this either in silence or while listening to music.
The researchers chose folk music in Spanish, Italian, or Swedish because this type of music has "a strong history of use with themes of social interactions." Some of the music had words and singing; some did not.
NOTE:
Thank you, JB. This has been duly noted.
