Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.21187/jmhb.2021.18.2.001

Empathy With Music From a Selfobject Perspective  

Choi, Jin Hee (Ewha Music Wellness Research Center)
Chong, Hyun Ju (Department of Music Therapy, Graduate School, Ewha Womans University)
Publication Information
Journal of Music and Human Behavior / v.18, no.2, 2021 , pp. 1-17 More about this Journal
Abstract
Using Kohut's selfobject perspective as a foundation, this qualitative study explored the empathy with music and analyzed the empirical meanings in relation to 'Mirroring selfobject need', 'Idealized selfobject need', and 'Twinship selfobject need'. The participants included 13 music therapy graduate students who took part in individual interviews about their musical experiences. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via content analysis. As a result, seven categories with 16 meaningful concepts emerged under three dimensions: Gratification of selfobject need for mirroring, gratification of selfobject need for idealization, and gratification of selfobject need for twinship. Participants described experiencing unconditional understanding and acceptance from music, feeling stronger and safer in music, and being identified with and connected to music. These findings suggest that participants continuously gratify their selfobject needs by expanding the self and empathizing themselves through music. This study in significant in that it is the first qualitative study to analyze participants' musical experiences from Kohut's selfobject perspective.
Keywords
empathy; musical empathy; selfobject need; content analysis;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Volgsten, U. (2012). The roots of music: Emotional expression, dialogue and affect attunement in the psychogenesis of music. Musicae Scientiae, 16(2), 200-216.   DOI
2 Kohut, H. (1984). How does analysis cure? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3 Schore, A. N. (2003). Affect regulation and the repair of the self (Norton series on interpersonal neurobiology) (Vol. 2). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
4 Chong, H. J. (2019). Musical behavior and therapy. Seoul: Ewha Womans University Press.
5 Auchincloss, E. L., & Samberg, E. (2012). Psychoanalytic terms and concepts (4th ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press.
6 Chessick, R. D. (1985). Psychology of the self and the treatment of narcissism. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
7 Choi, E. H. (2001). Kohut's understanding of the self. Korean Journal of Christian Counseling, 2, 105-126.
8 Clair, M. (2010). Object relations and self psychology (4th ed.) (S. M. Ahn, Trans.). Seoul: Cengage Learning. (Original work published 1986)
9 DeNora, T. (1999). Music as a technology of the self. Poetics, 27(1), 31-56.   DOI
10 Downey, T. W. (1978). Transitional phenomena in the analysis of early adolescent males. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 33(1), 19-46.   DOI
11 Lee, D. H., Shin, J. Y., & Kim, Y. J. (2016). A qualitative study on traumatic experiences of adolescents losing friends from the Sewol ferry disaster based on counselors' reports. Korean Journal of Psychology: General, 35(1), 89-120.   DOI
12 James, D. K., Spencer, C. J., & Stepsis, B. W. (2002). Fetal learning: A prospective randomized controlled study. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 20(5), 431-438.   DOI
13 Kang, S. K., Yang, D. H., & Moon, J. Y. (2016). A qualitative content analysis on relapse experience of drug addicts. Corrections Review, 26(1), 89-114.   DOI
14 Kokal, I., Engel, A., Kirschner, S., & Keysers, C. (2011). Synchronized drumming enhances activity in the caudate and facilitates prosocial commitment-if the rhythm comes easily. PloS One, 6(11), e27272.   DOI
15 Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage.
16 Lee, D. H., Lee, C. H., Shin, J. Y., Khang, M. S., Jeon, J. Y., Lee, H. J., & Kim, M. J. (2017). A qualitative study on the internal experiences of adolescent victims' parents of the Sewol ferry disaster: Focused on psychological-emotional, physical, cognitive, behavioral dimensions. The Korean Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 29(2), 255-291.   DOI
17 Park, S. H. (2020). Empathy: Yesterday and today. Seoul: Hakjisa.
18 Rhee, K. C. (1997). The phenomena of empathy and its process. Theology and the World, 35, 171-203.
19 Sand, S., & Levin, R. (1992). Music and its relationship to dreams and the self. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 15(2), 161-197.
20 Seo, H. S., & Lee, J. E. (2017). A qualitative content analysis on a second conviction experience of the offenders monitored by GPS system: Targeted on the sex offenders probationers in "A" city. Korean Journal of Probation, 16(2), 75-115.
21 Overy, K., & Molnar-Szakacs, I. (2009). Being together in time: Musical experience and the mirror neuron system. Music Perception, 26(5), 489-504.   DOI
22 Hume, D. (2019). A treatise of human nature. Prague: E-Artnow.
23 Winnicott, D. W. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena: A study of the first not-me possession. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34, 89-97.
24 Seo, S. M. (2005). A study on the behavior of adolescence's music listening. Journal of Music and Human Behavior, 2(2), 1-14.
25 Bruscia, K. E. (2014). Defining music therapy (3rd ed.). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
26 Chong, H. J. (2011). Influence of music on human behavior. Seoul: Hakjisa.
27 Coplan, A., & Goldie, P. (2011). Empathy: Philosophical and psychological perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.
28 Kernberg, O. F. (1995). Object-relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
29 Kim, K. S., & Chong, H. J. (2020). The grounded theory on self-empathy phenomenon in music and imagery experience. The Korean Journal of Arts Therapy, 20(1), 25-44.   DOI
30 Kohut, H. (1957). Observations on the psychological functions of music. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 5(3), 389-407.   DOI
31 Kohut, H. (2009). The restoration of the self. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32 Kohut, H. (2013). The analysis of the self: A systematic approach to the psychoanalytic treatment of narcissistic personality disorders. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33 Rabinowitch, T. C., Cross, I., & Burnard, P. (2012). Long-term musical group interaction has a positive influence on empathy in children. Psychology of Music, 41(4), 484-498.   DOI
34 Kohut, H. (2018). The search for the self: Selected writings of Heinz Kohut 1978-1981. London: Routledge.
35 Laird, L. (2015). Empathy in the classroom: Can music bring us more in tune with one another? Music Educators Journal, 101(4), 56-61.   DOI
36 McDonald, M. (1970). Transitional tunes and musical development. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 25(1), 503-520.   DOI