Música, rituales y mundos de sentido. El rol del refuerzo multimodal en la producción de emociones en tres confesiones religiosas en Bogotá

Óscar Hernández Salgar; Juan Daniel Gómez Rojas; Luis Gabriel Mesa Martínez; Luis Fernando Valencia Rueda; Diego Alberto Gómez Nieto; María Camila Mendoza Castro; Laura Rocío Molina Bohórquez; Julio César Guevara Prieto

Music, rituals and worlds of sense. The role of multimodal reinforcement in the production of emotions in three religious confessions in Bogotá

Authors

Óscar Hernández Salgar Pontificia Universidad Javeriana https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4041-434X
Juan Daniel Gómez Rojas Pontificia Universidad Javeriana https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4088-0922
Luis Gabriel Mesa Martínez Pontificia Universidad Javeriana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2330-9145
Luis Fernando Valencia Rueda Pontificia Universidad Javeriana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0188-0738
Diego Alberto Gómez Nieto Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8454-0279
María Camila Mendoza Castro Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Laura Rocío Molina Bohórquez Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1843-8401
Julio César Guevara Prieto Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá

Abstract

This article explores the role of music, along with other modes of expression, in the production of emotion in three distinct religious rituals in Bogotá. The research sought to prove the theoretical concept of “worlds of sense,” within which greater correlation between the contents of different signifying languages not only produces greater emotional intensity but also delineates what behaviors are possible. To accomplish this, interviews and questionnaires were completed, the expressive material of each ritual was analyzed, and the emotional response of nine subjects was measured through physical behavior and electro-encephalographic measurements. The analysis allowed us to conclude that the ritual with less predictability and greater concordance between music and other significant elements is also the ritual in which emotions are expressed with greater intensity and the mandates of the church/mosque are followed more rigorously, while rituals with predictable structures and greater contradiction between the musical and other key elements show less emotional intensity and a lower level of obedience. However, it is impossible to establish a direct causal relationship between the expressive material and the emotional response. Towards the end of the article, other lines of inquiry are proposed to examine the potential of music to influence behavior in the context of multimodal reinforcement experiences.