Social Feedback Influences Musically Induced Emotions

Numerous studies have shown that music is a powerful means to induce emotions. The present study investigates whether these emotional effects can be manipulated by social feedback. In an Internet-based study, 3315 participants were randomly assigned to two groups and they listened to different music excerpts. After each excerpt, participants rated emotions according to arousal and valence dimensions. Additionally, those in group 2 received feedback allegedly based on the emotional ratings of preceding participants. Results show that feedback significantly influenced participants' ratings of group 2 in the manipulated direction compared to the group without feedback.