GUEST EDITORS' NOTE

Abstract

This thematic issue of Psychological Topics provides a collection of 12 articles covering empirical and theoretical contributions to the interdisciplinary field of psychology of music. Diverse topics in this field include processing and responding to music, as well as music-related behaviours such as listening to, performing and creating music that are examined in children and adults, musicians and non-musicians, in fundamental and applied contexts. The collection of articles presented in this issue reflects the diversity of topics and different methodology and study designs that researchers in the field of psychology of music use. This special issue brings two review articles, one about musicality in infancy and the other about flow in music performance, and one theoretical paper on expectancy in music. Nine articles present empirical studies. Research questions include perception of consonance and dissonance in music, perceived and induced emotions with music and moving images, music-evoked emotions in children, importance of self-determination theory concepts for solo-performance, personality and creative self-beliefs, multicultural effectiveness and artistic preferences, social influence in rating music, role of singing in well-being and comparison of funeral music characteristics in different cultures. We hope that this special issue will offer something of interest for readers already acquainted with the field of psychology of music, but also provide an interesting insight and reading for those just learning about this field. We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation for all the authors who contributed to this issue, as well as all academic reviewers. We would also like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board for their support and assistance. Finally, we would like to give special thanks to the family of Professor Emeritus Sandra Trehub, who has sadly passed away before this issue was finished, for making it possible that her contribution to this issue could be published. It is a great honour for us that Professor Trehub’s review article about musicality in infancy, to which she dedicated her career, opens this special issue.