A comparison of the discrete and dimensional models of emotion in music

TLDR

The study systematically compares perceived emotions in music using discrete and dimensional models, and introduces a new set of stimuli. A pilot study created 110 film music excerpts representing discrete emotions and bipolar dimensions, which were rated by 116 non‑musicians. Highly representative excerpts were discriminated, linear mapping revealed strong correspondence between discrete and dimensional models along valence and arousal, allowing a two‑dimension reduction without loss of fit, while the discrete model showed poorer resolution for ambiguous examples, and the stimulus set provides rich material for future studies.

Abstract

The primary aim of the present study was to systematically compare perceived emotions in music using two different theoretical frameworks: the discrete emotion model, and the dimensional model of affect. A secondary aim was to introduce a new, improved set of stimuli for the study of music-mediated emotions. A large pilot study established a set of 110 film music excerpts, half were moderately and highly representative examples of five discrete emotions (anger, fear, sadness, happiness and tenderness), and the other half moderate and high examples of the six extremes of three bipolar dimensions (valence, energy arousal and tension arousal). These excerpts were rated in a listening experiment by 116 non-musicians. All target emotions of highly representative examples in both conceptual sets were discriminated by self-ratings. Linear mapping techniques between the discrete and dimensional models revealed a high correspondence along two central dimensions that can be labelled as valence and arousal, and the three dimensions could be reduced to two without significantly reducing the goodness of fit. The major difference between the discrete and categorical models concerned the poorer resolution of the discrete model in characterizing emotionally ambiguous examples. The study offers systematically structured and rich stimulus material for exploring emotional processing.