Whoever has attended a concert of some musical group at least once, then, for sure, remembers that strange feeling of unity with all the screaming, singing, waving hands and dancing crowd of spectators.
And some musicians even collect entire stadiums, forcing tens of thousands of people to chant the words of a song. What kind of magic does music have?
The mystery of the sorcery of melodic sounds was solved by senior researcher in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Chris Loersch and Nathan Arbuckle of the Department of Sociology and Social Sciences at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
In their experiments, they asked 879 students from American and foreign universities to listen to seven different songs. Among them were sad and bravura, military marches and music played during sports, as well as ritual drumming.
And each time, the scientists found out what feelings the volunteers experienced, and how they perceived other participants in the experiment while listening? It turned out that those students who were most impressed by the melodies had a burning desire to almost become related to other listeners.
“Melodies and songs have a unique ability to influence the mood and behavior of a large number of people at once, as a result of which each person has a desire to unite into an organized group,” says Chris Lersh. - Therefore, most likely, the very first music arose at the dawn of evolution to unite primitive people into a close-knit and manageable collective. And then she became necessary for establishing contacts and strengthening friendly ties.
Scientists suggest that even today we go to concerts just to join the crowd.
- Between people such strong bonds are formed that even for a short time of performances everyone around becomes like family members, - explains Nathan Arbuckle. - It doesn't matter that you are strangers. Music binds and guides you not as an individual, but as a member of a group. And, as a rule, when a person turns into a part of a large whole, then he experiences a strong emotional uplift. Indeed, in life, any of us strive to be an ideal team member. The desire to join the team is a drug-like feeling.
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QUESTION WITH A RIB
Why do some people like to listen to music alone?
“This is an illusion,” says Oleg Prokhorov, candidate of psychological sciences. - In fact, when a music lover enjoys the performance of his favorite musicians, shutting himself up in his room or putting on headphones, he is deceiving himself. There is a kind of virtual association with the fans of the same group. The person feels that he is communicating with the same fans as himself. And he gets pleasure from this illusion. By the way, the same self-deception occurs with fans of television series.
BTW
DISSENTING OPINION OF DARWIN
The founder of evolutionary science, Charles Darwin, was convinced that music served a different purpose - to be a sexual bait for the opposite sex. In fact, his theory does not contradict the hypothesis of American scientists. Since music allows you to gain control over a large number of people, it naturally increases your chances of choosing the most suitable partner.