Has it ever happened to you? You are listening to a moving piece of music and suddenly chills run up your spine. The hair on your arms and shoulders tickle with goosebumps.
This is called frisson and it's a French word meaning "aesthetic chills" or as some like to call it "skin orgasm", as waves of pleasure run all over the skin.
piloerection (goosebumps), the physical part of frisson, source
Emotions play a major role in this complex process and emotionally charged music is the most common trigger. But not only music can make you hairs stand. Looking at a great piece of artwork, watching a movie, reading a book or even touching another person can release frisson.
Roughly two thirds of the world's population can have frisson. Let's find out why.
For the last 50 years scientists have been trying to unlock the secret how this process occurs, by tracking how people react emotionally to unexpected stimuli in their environment, stressing on music as the easiest way to trigger frisson. Musical arrangements that include surprising and unexpected shifts in notes, dynamics or just have kick-ass moments are the most common triggers for frisson. They violate the listeners' expectations in a positive way, making a strong emotional and physical reaction.
Science is still having a hard time figuring out why this phenomenon occurs in the first place.
Some suggest that goosebumps are an evolutionary holdover from the time when our ancestors were hairier. Keeping themselves warm through endothermic layer to keep the heat under the hairs on their skin. After a sudden change in temperature, like a cold breeze your hair raises up for a moment to keep the heat. The theory suggests that even after we invented clothing to keep us warm, the psychological structure is still taking place, producing the aesthetic chills.
Listeners who experience frission also score high on a personality trait called Openness to Experience. These people usually have an active imagination, seek new experiences, find beauty in nature and often reflect deeply on their feelings and life. Some traits are inherent like appreciation of beauty and others are cognitive such as imagination and intellect. It turns out that those who intellectually immerse themselves in the music, experience frission more often and intensely than others who just let the music flow over them.
I'm sharing with you this amazing live performance by Moloko that gives me the goosebumps every time I play it. I encourage you to share with us your most memorable song that makes your hair stand.
