People who can skillfully interpret other people’s emotional states may also be better at assessing the emotions conveyed by music, new research shows.
Humans have been making music throughout recorded history, “but it doesn’t seem to serve any obvious biological function,” says University of Oregon musicologist and cognitive scientist Zachary Wallmark.
The new research lends support to one explanation for the evolutionary origins of music: that it facilitates social connection, much like empathy does.
Wallmark co-led the study alongside psychologist Benjamin Tabak at Southern Methodist University. They report their findings in the journal Emotion.
Rather than ask people to assess their own empathy, Wallmark and Tabak looked at a more objective measure: people’s skill in interpreting others’ feelings….