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The evolutionary benefit of less-credible affective musical signals for emotion induction during storytelling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Caitlyn Trevor Open the ORCID record for Caitlyn Trevor [Opens in a new window]  and
Sascha Frühholz
Caitlyn Trevor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, 8050Zurich, Switzerlandcaitlyn.trevor@psychologie.uzh.ch
Sascha Frühholz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, 8050Zurich, Switzerlandcaitlyn.trevor@psychologie.uzh.ch Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0317Oslo, Norwaysascha.fruehholz@uzh.chhttps://www.psychology.uzh.ch/en/areas/nec/kaneuro.html
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Abstract

The credible signaling theory underexplains the evolutionary added value of less-credible affective musical signals compared to vocal signals. The theory might be extended to account for the motivation for, and consequences of, culturally decontextualizing a biologically contextualized signal. Musical signals are twofold, communicating “emotional fiction” alongside biological meaning, and could have filled an adaptive need for affect induction during storytelling.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 44 , 2021 , e118
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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