Neuroscience
Some pieces of music you can’t escape knowing, and for children in 1960s Britain, God Save the Queen would qualify, according to research published back then. But a new study in the Psychology of Music suggests times have changed: only six in ten children at a Dorset primary school were able to correctly name the piece. Yet, the British National Anthem still appears capable of rousing positive, nationalistic associations within the young. When The University of Surrey researchers Naomi Winstone and Kirsty Witherspoon asked 62 Sussex schoolchildren, aged eight to ten, to listen to the British National Anthem, and two pieces with similar musical properties, the children said they felt more positive emotions listening to the anthem compared with the other pieces, and nearly half described a specifically national basis for their reaction, such as feeling honoured or loyal to the country.
Winstone and Witherspoon noted that various sectors of society – politicians, teachers and in some cases students themselves – have called for schools to take a role in guiding a more “balanced perspective on British patriotism.” This study shows how symbolic content can elicit nationality-linked emotions in young children, emotions that will inevitably play some role in the more explicit national identity that is known to develop from around age 11. The researchers said that “gaining a deeper understanding of how children respond to nationally salient music might provide insight into how music education can best foster positive identity with an increasingly diverse Britain.”
--‘It’s all about our great Queen’: The British National Anthem and national identity in 8–10-year-old children
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Post written by Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
How do British children feel when they hear the National Anthem?
Winstone and Witherspoon noted that various sectors of society – politicians, teachers and in some cases students themselves – have called for schools to take a role in guiding a more “balanced perspective on British patriotism.” This study shows how symbolic content can elicit nationality-linked emotions in young children, emotions that will inevitably play some role in the more explicit national identity that is known to develop from around age 11. The researchers said that “gaining a deeper understanding of how children respond to nationally salient music might provide insight into how music education can best foster positive identity with an increasingly diverse Britain.”
--‘It’s all about our great Queen’: The British National Anthem and national identity in 8–10-year-old children
Post written by Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) for the BPS Research Digest.
Our free fortnightly email will keep you up-to-date with all the psychology research we digest: Sign up!
- Young Girls Particularly Prone To Getting Stuck In Role Of Bullying Victim
Young girls are far more prone than boys to getting stuck in the role of bullying victim. That's according to a new investigation by psychologists who studied hundreds of children at 17 primary schools in Hertfordshire and North London. Dieter Wolke...
- Emotions In Music Are Universally Recognised
Here in Britain, we all know an up-beat summer tune when we hear one, but what about other parts of the world? Perhaps our culture's summer anthem would sound to others like a soulless dirge. In fact a new study suggests this isn't the case at...
- How Do You Use Music?
Hang on, let me just turn down Paolo Nutini. You see, while reading this new study by the aptly-named Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Adrian Furnham, I was listening to Nutini's recent live concert in Denver. Using music in this fashion, as a background...
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