Just listening to a piece by Hans Zimmer or John Williams is enough to give you goosebumps. It can also happen when playing the music of your favorite bands, or at a very specific moment in a movie. Why do we react this way? What does science have to say about it? First of all, only two-thirds of the world's population seems to experience this sensation, and secondly, experts talk about a combination of emotional and cognitive elements.
If I had to name one thing that gives me goosebumps without fail... it's the last part of the duel between Luke and Darth Vader in "Return of the Jedi". The power that scene transmits, amplified by its fabulous music and the madness on Luke's face, completely drunk with fury... whew. I imagine our readers must remember scenes from other movies that convey a similar feeling, or perhaps they are lucky enough to reproduce it every time they listen to their favorite artist. We know it feels great, but another thing we are interested in knowing is its origin. What causes such a physical response?
When you get goosebumps
Scientists usually use the French term Frisson to describe it, applicable to those chills in which the "cold" itself has nothing to do with it, while goosebumps is called piloerection. Different studies suggest that goosebumps is an evolutionary remnant of our ancestors, who had an endothermic layer of heat under their hair that helped them stay warm.
About two thirds of the population can experience frisson, and according to a group of researchers at Eastern Washington University, these are people who are more "open to experiences".
What do they mean by that? Psychologist Mitchell Colver describes people with a greater "openness" to experiences as having very active imaginations, appreciative of beauty and nature, with the ability to reflect deeply on their feelings, and lovers of variety in life.
Added to this are cognitive components, among which the "mental predictions" that each person makes about how the music or its associated images will develop stand out, and these components would be even more powerful than the emotional factor, therefore, those people with a deep "intellectual immersion" in music and film could experience frisson more often.
