Karan Douglas MAPP, Bucks New University (alumnus) 1 st June, 2019

1. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Without music life would be a mistake* - The influence of music playing and listening on hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing (*Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900) Karan Douglas MAPP, Bucks New University (alumnus) 1st June, 2019

2. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Research studies The Impact of playing a musical instrument on well-being 2016, Unpublished thesis, MSc Applied Positive Psychology, Bucks New University The sound of music - the effect on wellbeing and perceived workplace performance of listening to personally selected music during the working day 2019, Unpublished thesis, MSc Business & Organisation Psychology, University of Liverpool

3. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Review of literature • Music and wellbeing has not been researched in Positive Psychology • Majority of research is in the fields of Music Therapy and Music Psychology • Congruence of theories relating to hedonic wellbeing • Diversity of theories relating to eudaimonic wellbeing

4. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Playing alone vs playing with others

5. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Playing alone The 2nd Mozart clarinet concerto – it’s really beautiful, it makes me feel really happy Engaged in the music, feel happy, feel excited, charged Can be so exciting, can blow your head off, feel absolutely brilliant; overwhelming happiness If I’m feeling sad, I play some sad stuff, gradually get happier, it cheers me up; its my go-to place if I’m upset Start playing, sort of wave, like deep love, strong emotion, can make me cry It’s a way of being aware of how I’m feeling, a way of getting out what’s in your head, feels good to give a voice to it Playing on my own, quite a private experience, like keeping a diary An adventure, find that piece of music, work out how to do it, how that little riff goes Set myself more challenging pieces technically, pushing myself; you have to focus and your fingers might hurt but you power through Practise & practise and what I want doesn’t come, I can be really determined, it takes a lot of work, it will be right When you get it right, it’s so thrilling, yeah that’s the sound I wanted Get it right, like climbing Everest, an elation, huge grin; you feel absolutely brilliant

6. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Playing with others A joint experience that you all enjoy; incredible rush; on a real high if it does well; I let myself free a lot live; with other people there is a buzz If everyone connects, you feel that electricity running through the whole group, it supercharges you, like if electricity were an emotion I remember feeling really nervous in my legs, not like a bad thing, an incredible sort of rush Feeding off the audience and other band members; the crowd really responded, just having the best time When you’ve got an audience you go up a gear, an overall upping of game The colour is when you’re playing with different people, those colours are bounced back and forwards between you When I’m playing with others, particularly performing, makes you really focus, has that added level Playing with your friends, really enjoying it, they’re getting lost, you’re getting lost, has the ability to take over you What we share in that time together, its quite precious, it’s to do with bonding with people

7. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Musical playing and Eudaimonia Start to feel the music in the same way, the dynamics; people you are really used to playing with – you really do start to become as one Lose track of time, you’re playing and suddenly 2 hours gone, not a conscious thing, kind of lose yourself Flow Special and emotional, the album dad made when we were little kids, and then we played it as a family 25 years later, totally emotional moment Peak experiences Being asked to play in the orchestra, be treated as a professional soloist, recognition at last Improvising is very in the moment, with some people there is a connection, it feels really right; you have to trust the person you’re writing with The memories and feelings at the time are ingrained into the song, it’s like if you were cooking, the binding ingredient is the feel and the emotion Creativity If I couldn’t play music, I don’t know that I’d know how to express myself; I feel empty if I don’t play; like the death of a parent Daimon I felt I hadn’t been me for a very long time, playing music was part of being me again

8. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Listening to self selected music at work – impact on wellbeing and workplace performance

9. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Listening to self selected music at work – impact on wellbeing and workplace performance

10. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Hedonic and eudaimonic outcomes of music listening & playing

11. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Hedonic and eudaimonic outcomes of music listening & playing

12. 5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium Future research • More research on the integration of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being – rather than as separate constructs • Is hedonia a pre-requisite to eudaimonia? • How important is hedonic reward to pursuit of eudaimonic activities? • Are hedonic and eudaimonic activities “inputs” to subjective well-being rather than outputs? • Daimon, growth, development of ones potential, life purpose, meaning – what is the developmental aspect of well-being? • How do hedonia and eudaimonia change with age? • What are the dark sides of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being?