Music and Affective Phenomena: A 20-Year Content and Bibliometric Analysis of Research in Three Eminent Journals

The purpose of this study was to establish trends in the study of music and affective phenomena through a content and bibliometric analysis of three eminent music research journals, the Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, and Music Perception, for the years 1990 through 2009. Excluding editorials, paper responses, and book reviews, 1,293 articles were examined, resulting in 286 (22%) publications that met criteria for further analysis. Data indicated several trends with respect to the sample analyzed, including a notable but not significant decrease of affective studies in the Journal of Research in Music Education, with significant increases in the journal Music Perception. Other trends indicated the emergence of topics and methods that were less prevalent when compared to the overall sample but that evidenced significant increases throughout the period analyzed. These increases occurred for topics relating to expression, physiological and neurological issues and for the use of descriptive methodologies. Other notable trends included increases in examinations of folk, jazz, and world musics.