Dear all,

I would like to invite you to participate in a survey investigating Inhibited Emotional Self-Awareness and Musical Performance as part of my master’s research conducted in the musicology division of the Institute for Theater Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin under the supervision of Prof. Miriam Akkermann.

The purpose of this research study is to shine a light on classical musicians with self-assessed alexithymia — (partial) lack of or trouble verbalising emotions — in their reconciliation with the significant societal assumption of emotiveness in music performance. We are seeking participants who will evaluate their experience of music in the following questionnaire to further research this phenomenon.

The questionnaire consists of a number of questions (without any additional media samples), is available fully in both, English and German, and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Being 18 or over is a necessary condition for participation; practical musical experience — regardless whether professional or as an ‚amateur‘ — is not strictly necessary, but of great relevance. Forwarding this survey to potential participants in your personal circles is explicitly appreciated!

At a later point, we would like to conduct follow-up conversations with some of the participants; providing your contact information, however, is explicitly optional, and a fully anonymous participation in the survey the default option. Additional information on the research question, the data protection, as well as the further course of this research can be found in the introduction.

The survey can be accessed via the following link (the language can be set on the first page, if necessary):

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/alexithymia-and-music

Thank you very much for your attention, and, perhaps, participation! Should any further questions arise, you are more than welcome to contact me via benjamin.skorov@fu-berlin.de.

Kind regards
Benjamin