The Impact of Red Songs and Music Training Experience on Implicit Prosocial Attitudes: Evidence from the SC-IAT Paradigm and Event-Related Potentials.

Prosocial behavior is a core element of social harmony, and implicit prosocial attitudes, which may outperform explicit assessments in predicting real-world behavior, underscore their unique utility in prosocial and moral research contexts. Moreover, red songs, a distinctive musical form emerging in specific revolutionary and developmental periods of China, align with this prosocial potential, as they are characterized by lyrics advocating patriotism, collective memory, and emotional resonance. However, the specific effect of red songs on implicit prosocial attitudes, as well as the potential moderating role of music training experience in this relationship, remains underexplored. This study aimed to explore whether red songs enhance implicit prosocial attitudes compared to neutral songs, whether music training modulates this effect, and the underlying neural correlates using the Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) and event-related potentials (ERPs). A mixed-factorial design was used with 60 college students (30 with ≥5 years of music training, 30 without). Participants completed the SC-IAT (measuring implicit prosocial D-scores) while EEG data were recorded, while listening to red ("China in the Lantern Light") and neutral ("Lake Baikal") songs. ERP components (N1, P2, N3, LPCs) were analyzed. Behaviorally, no significant main effects of song type or music training were observed, but a significant interaction emerged (F(1, 58) = 4.09,