High levels of synesthetic endorsement in a study on music listening styles

Glasser, Solange, Osborne, Margaret S., and Krause, Amanda E. (2024) High levels of synesthetic endorsement in a study on music listening styles. In: [Presented at the First Joint UKSA and ASA International Synaesthesia Conference]. From: First Joint UKSA and ASA International Synaesthesia Conference, 10-12 May 2024, Oxford, UK.

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Abstract

This presentation focuses on the discussion of a surprising result in a study investigating the association between endorsed synaesthetic experiences and music engagement and cognitive styles, in response to music listening: namely, the unusually high level of synaesthetic endorsement in a population of young adults. The sample comprised of 310 individuals aged 18-34 (M = 20.03, Mdn = 19, SD = 3.06), with 237 identifying their gender as female (76.50%). Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire that included demographics, the musicianship module of the MUSEBAQ, the Music Engagement Test (MET), the short version of the Music-Empathizing-Music-Systemizing Inventory (MEMS Inventory), and items from the Synesthesia Battery. Only complete responses were considered. In total, when asked directly about whether they had synaesthesia (n = 302), 196 participants said no (64.90%), 89 (29.50%) said they were not sure, and 17 (5.50%) said they were completely confident that they had synaesthesia. However, 61 of the people who were 'not sure' and a further 31 of the people who said 'no', did select 'yes' to at least one of the synaesthesia type questions. Therefore, for subsequent analyses, a binary classification based on whether the participants had endorsed none (n= 193) or at least one of the synaesthesia types (n= 109) was created. This unusually high endorsement of at least one type when presented with a full list of currently known types of synaesthesia suggests that one explicit question may not best capture individuals' experiences of synaesthesia or synaesthesia-like experiences in self-report measures. This finding also compels reflection on both population awareness of synaesthesia and how we, as researchers, classify synaesthetic experiences.

Item ID: 83012
Item Type: Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Keywords: social psychology of music, music psychology, social and applied psychology of music, synesthesia, music listening, everyday music listening, music engagement style
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Date Deposited: 27 Jun 2024 00:02
FoR Codes: 36 CREATIVE ARTS AND WRITING > 3603 Music > 360301 Music cognition @ 50%
52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1301 Arts > 130102 Music @ 40%
28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 60%
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