3.

2WritingSample

MusicandthePowerofInfluence:HowMusicChangesOurMoods
By:CandaceMartino
TheUniversityofTampa

Introduction

Musiccanbecommunicatedallcrossculturalandlinguisticboundariesinwaysthat

ordinarylanguageslikeEnglishandFrenchcannot.Infact,manyviewmusicastheuniversal
language.Everyhumanculturehasmusic,justastheydolanguage.Though,thecharacteristics
differculturetoculture.Nonetheless,thestrongcorrelationsdetectingtheconnectionsbetween
emotionsandmusichavebeenresearchedthroughouttheworld.
AccordingtoBoothby(2016),atleasttwobasichumanemotionscanbedetectedwhile
listeningtomusicthatcontributestothespecificmelodiesthataffectexpressionofemotion.
Higherpitchandrapidlyfluctuatedtemposareassociatedwithhappiness,whiletheopposite
conveyssadness.Perhapshumanshaveaninnatemusicalsense.Languagealsohasamelody
consistingofrhythm,pitch,andtempothatareusedtoconveyemotioninspeech.Likewise,
whenmusicislistenedtoeitherfromafamiliarcultureoranother,oneinfersemotionbasedon
melodiccuesthatmimicuniversalcues.Justaslanguagedoes,musichassyntax(rulesfor
orderingelements)suchasnotes,intervals,andchordsintocomplexstructures.Individually
noneoftheseelementsalonecarrymeaning,ratherthemelodydoes.Themelodywhichisa
muchlargerstructureconveysemotionalmeaningbymimickingtheprosodyofspeech.
Indeed,musiccantapintheverycoreofhumansbothindividuallyandcollectively,
whichiswhythisspecificresearchwillbedefiningthestrongrelationshipbetweenmusicand
moods.Ithasbeenlongestablishedthatmusicaffectsthebrainsneuronsthatproduceserotonin,
whichisakeychemicalthataffectsmoods(DoesMusicInduceEmotion,2016).

Thereasoningbehindthisconductedexperimentistoattempttogobeyondwhat
previousstudieshaveshownandultimatelyfindouttherelationbetweenmusicandemotion.
Withthatbeingsaidthefollowinginformationprovidedwilltrytoexplainwhyandhowmusic
affectsoneinsomanyways.Inaddition,theresearchwillshowthecorrelationbetweenthe
differentgenresofmusicandtheirdirectimpacts.
LiteratureReview
Nomatteronesreligion,race,age,orgender,musichasbecomeauniversallanguage.
Duetothestrongemotionalconnectiononeexperienceslisteningtomusic,iswhyitwascreated
inthefirstplace.Musicisfoundineverycultureacrosstheworld.Inthepresentandpast,music
hasbeenaroundsincethebeginningoftime.Becausemusichasbeenaroundforovercenturies,
ithasanunlimitedamountofuse;fromcelebratinglife,honoringGods,allthewayto
mesmerizingfansatconcerts.Musichasanendlessamountofimpacttohumansandwillonly
getstrongerasfurtherresearchdevelops(Little,2016).
AccordingtoNativeNet(2005),theoriginofmusiccanbehardtodatespecifically
becauseitstartedsimplywithsinging,clapping,andbangingofobjectseversincehumans
walkedtheearth.Therefore,thereisnotangibleobjectsorinstrumentsthatcanbediscoveredby
archaeologists.Manyscientistsagreethatformsofsongandmusichavebeenaparthumanlife
sincethebeginningoftime,evenifphysicalevidenceisnotavailable.TheCreativityInstitute
(2015)statesthatscientistsdidstarttofindevidenceofmusicalinstrumentsandartaround
50,000yearsago.Aroundthistime,aculturalexplosiontookplace.Songswereusedtopraise
gods,artpiecesweredrawnoncavewalls,andmusicalceremonieswereconductedasloved

onespassedaway.Thiswasthefirsttimehistoryshowedanemotionaltietomusic,andsince
then,thatconnectionhasonlygrownstronger.
AccordingtoHansen,Whitehouse,&Silverman(2014)theworldhasseenanumberof
artiststhathavechangedmusicforever.Musichasalwayshadaformofstructurebutitwasnot
untilthe1700sthatmusicreallybegantohaveastrongemotionalimpactontheirlisteners.
Beethovenisknownasoneoftheworldsalltimegreatestcomposers.Hewasknownasa
prodigy;playingforKingandQueens,royalfamiliesandhighrankedofficials.Allbecauseof
theemotionaljourneyiscompositionstookthelisteneron.Historicpioneerslikethegreat
Beethoven,havepavedthewayforthemodernmusicandtheeffectsitcanhaveonsociety.
The1900swerethestartofthemoderneraofmusic.Thismeantmoreartistsused
similarinstrumentsandstrongstructuresthaneverbefore.However,thisbynomeansstatesthat
morethanonesongwasthesame,butamoresimilarconnectioncouldbefound.The1900s
werethebirthofcountlessartistsandbandsincludingTheBeatles,TheRollingStones,Stevie
Wonder,MarvinGaye,andJimiHendrix.Theseartistsallcontinuedtohelpcontributetothe
changeandimprovementsofthemusicculture.ConcertssuchasWoodstockbecamemuchmore
popularasfanswantedtoexperiencetheirfavoriteartists/bandslive.AccordingtoJuslin&
Sloboda(2001),theliveaspecthadanentirelydifferentemotionalimpactthatlaterbecamea
majorpartoftheAmericancultureduringthe20thcenturyandleadingintothe21stcentury.
Whilemoretraditionalmusiccontinuedtogrowduringthe21stcentury,thefast
improvementsoftechnologybegantocreateanewgenre.Electronicmusicbegantotakesociety
bystorm,mainlybecauseanaccesstoacomputerwastheonlynecessaryequipment.Artists

suchasJustinTimberlakeorBeyonctookadvantageofthisnewlycreatedgenre,andhelped
placeelectronicpopmusicinthehistorybooksjustasmanyothermajorartistsdidinthepast.

Impact
Importance
Afterreviewingtheliteratureabove,itisnowclearthatmusicinanyformhasbeenapart
ofthehumansocietysincethebeginningoftime.Overtheyears,eachgenerationhasseenits
shareofartists,andeachartisthashelpedcreateameltingpotofdifferentgenresofmusic.
Classical,rock,R&B,blues,rap,theyallareconsideredmusic,yetcanallhaveanextremely
differenteffectonthelistener'semotionduetohowthesongsarecreated.
Althoughmanyexperimentshavebeenconductedlinkingtypesofmediacontentto
certainmoods,scienceislackingexperimentsthatspecificallyconnectmusicgenrestomood
changes.ThepreviouslyconductedexperimentsdonebyBoothby(2016),linkingmoodsand
mediacontent,havegivenpositiveresultsthatwouldsupportthepresentedhypothesis.While
musichasproventoaffectonesmood,emotion,andstresslevel,evidencealsoshowsthat
watchingtelevisionhasasimilareffect.Justlikemusic,televisionhasdifferentgenres.One
studyconductedbytheJournalofBroadcastingplacedagroupofpeoplewhowerestressedand
anothergroupwhowerebored,andstudiedwhattypesofshowsormoviestheypreferred.Those
whowereboredoftenselectedprogramsthatwerefastpaced,actionpacked,andmoreengaging.
Theactionandenergyshowedtobringthegroupfromboredomtoamoreactivestateofmind,
thusaffectingtheirmood.Thosethatwerestressedoutpreferredmorerelaxingprograms.This

includedcartoons,homeimprovement,andtelevisionseries.Zillman(2016)statesthatthemore
relaxingshowscalmedtheviewersanddidnotrequiremuchenergytofollow.Whilethevisuals
doindeedplayamajorpartintheenjoymentofwatchingtelevision,theaudioisequally
important.
Audionotonlyintheformofmusic,butinadditionalwayscanaffectapersonsmood
drastically.Fromapeskybeepingsoundswhenthemicrowaveturnsofftothewarmingcalls
fromabirdonaspringmorning,allthesesoundsaremorethancapableofinfluencingones
mood.Childrenencountertheirfirstappreciationforsoundonetotwodaysaftertheyareborn,
accordingtoZillman(2016).AccordingtoFifer(2015),themother'svoiceisreportedtobethe
mostintenseacousticalsignalmeasuredintheamnioticenvironment.Datashowingtheabilityof
thenewborntodemonstratevoicepreferencesarepresented.Thisconnectionmaybeformed
prematurely,butfurthershowsthatsimplytheaudiofrequencyfromamaternalmotheris
calmingandsoothing.Studiesalsoshowthatnewbornspreferandrespondbettertoahigher
tone.Dogshavebeenstudiedaswellandalsoshareaconnectionwiththeirownerduetoaudio
frequencyandrespondmoreconsistentlytoahighertonewhenspokento.
Thepreviouslystatedexperimentswillhelpsupportourthesisandshowthatanysortof
media,inthiscase,musiccanhaveabigeffectonouremotions.Thebasisofthistopicwas
createdbecauseofhowbigmusicisinthisworld.Ithasandwillalwaysbeahugepartofour
livesandhasgivenhumansauniversalwaytoconnect,despitethereligion,race,age,orgender.
Peopleareabletoexpressthemselvesandenjoythepositivemomentsintheirlives,aswellas
reflectonasomethingthatmaybebotheringthem.Likeanythinginthemediaworld,music
givesthelisteneranopportunitytositbackandescapefromreality.Musicisnotanecessity,

likewaterorfood,butinsteadgivespeoplethestrengthandabilitytokeeptheiremotionaland
mentalstatealive.
Hypothesis
Basedonthepreviousfindingsintheliteraturereview,thefollowinghypothesesareproposed:
Hypothesis1:Peoplewholistentomusicwillhavedifferentreactionsdependingonhow
theyarefeelingbeforethesongstarts.Thishypothesisisdrawnfromtheideathateveryone
goesthroughadifferentstateofmindeachandeveryday.Thesemoodscanvaryandhavea
majoreffectonthewaypeoplerespondtothemusic.
Hypothesis2:Peoplewholistentomusicwillbeabletorelievestressandincreasetheir
mentalstateinapositiveway.Thishypothesisisdrawnfromresearchthathasshownthe
particulareffectivenessofusinglivemusictoassistinrelievingtensionandpromotingvigor
(Bailey,1983).Itcanalsobesupportedbytheresults(shownabove)oftheeffectsamothers
soothingvoicehasonanewbornchild.
Hypothesis3:Peoplewholistentomusicwillhavedifferentemotionalreactions
dependingonthegenrethatisplayed.Thishypothesisisderivedfromthestudiesthatshowthe
differentchoicespeoplemakedependingonhowtheyarefeeling,withtheendresultinmind.
(Forexample,ifsomeoneisdowntheyusecertainmusictohelpincreasetheirstateofmind.)
ResearchQuestion:Doesmusichaveaneffectonemotion?

Thisquestionwasmadeinregardstothemultiplestudiesonlinethathaveshownthe
resultsoflisteningandengaginginmusicalactivities.Musicissuchabigpartofourlivesandit
isknowntohavecertaineffectsonourhealth.
Method
Participants
Forthisexperiment,participantswerenotspecificallyselectednordiditcallforacertaintypeof
gendertopartake.Allhadanequalchancetotaketheonlinesurveyaslittleorasmanytimesas
theywished.AnyonewithaccesstotheInternetcouldhavepotentiallybeeninvolved.
Beforetheexperimentbegan,participantswereaskedtogotoaquietroominorderto
focusonlisteningtothemusic.Thesamplesconsistedoffivedifferenttypesofmusicandwere
assignedatrandom.Themusicwasspecificallycomposedforthepurposeofthisresearch
experimentinordertoeliminateconfoundingeffectsduetopersonalmemoriesassociatedwith
themusic.Thedurationofthesongswasplayedinequallengthforcomparisonreasonsinorder
toobtainappropriatedatacollection.Theuptempomusicfeaturedfastbeatswithhighsound
levelswhiletheslowertempomusicfeaturedslowerbeatsandlowsoundlevel.Asfoundin
previousresearchonemotionalexpression,thesecharacteristicshavebeenassociatedwithhappy
andsadexpressions.Theremainingthreegenresincludedelectronicmusicwithanuptempo
beat,followedbyromanticmusicthatwasdesignedtosoothandarousetheparticipants
emotions,andlastlyviolentmusicwhichwascomposedoffasttempomelodyandloudsound
levels.
Equipment

Tokeepthisstudyaslowcostaspossible,noextravagantequipmentwasused.Toallow
theparticipantstolistentothemusic,weprovidedlinkingusingsoftwarecalledQuadricsthat
alreadyhadthemusicloadedforthem.Allthatwasrequiredfromtheparticipant'sbehalfwasto
haveareliablecomputerandInternetconnection.

Procedure
Theindependentvariableforthisresearchwasthetypeofmusicbeingplayedbefore
takingthesurvey.Thedependentvariablewasthetemporarydispositionoftheparticipants.This
wasdeterminedbyhavingtheparticipantseachcompleteasurveyform.Thecontrolledvariables
werethenumberofquestionsaskedandthedurationofthemusicplayed.
ApreparedsurveyformbasedontheBriefMoodIntrospectionScale(BMIS)helpedto
evaluatetheemotions,moods,andtemporarydispositionsoftherandomparticipants.In
additionstothissurvey,therearecommerciallyavailablesurveysthatcanbeacquiredforthe
purposeofthisexperiment,howevertheywillnotbeused.
Thelinkwasmadeavailabletoallthosewhoassociateorknowthefoundingresearchers,
andaskedtobepassedontoothers.Differentmethodstosendoutthelinktotheparticipants
wereusedsuchasemailing,texting,andsocialmedia.Oncethelinkwasclickeditnavigatedthe
participanttothesurvey.Atthetopofthepagewasamusicsample.Itwasassignedrandomlyas
mentionedearlier.Afterlisteningtothemusic,participantswereaskedtotakeashortsurveyto
reflecthowtheyfeel.

Evaluation
49participantscompletedthesurvey,andinterestinglyenoughtheresultsthatwere
receiveddidgiveajustifiedanswertotheresearchquestion(Doesmusichaveaneffecton
emotion?).Theparticipantswereaskedtolistentoarandomizedgenreofmusicandfillouta
surveywhendonetodeterminehowtheywerefeeling.Aspreviouslystated,thetypesofmusic
usedwereRomantic,Electronic,Happy,Sad,andViolent.Allofwhichresultedindifferent
emotionaloutcomesforthelistenerthatwerethencategorizedintothreegroups:positive,
neutral,andnegative.
Afterabouttwoweeksofthelinkbeingactive,theformswerecollectedforevaluations.
Theevaluationprocessconsistedoftotalingupthepointsforeachparticipantandreviewingthe
computerbaseddataonQuadrics.Thepointsystemisratedonascaleonethroughfour.One
meaningnochangeinemotionwasfelt,andfourmeaningastrongchangeinemotionwasfelt.
Wealsotooktheaveragenumbergeneratedfromeachemotiontohelpapprehend.Graphsand
chartsweredesignedinordertogetabetterlookattheresults.
Results
Group1:Positive

Group2:Neutral

Group3:Negative

Lively

Loving

Sad

Happy

Caring

Tired

Active

Calm

Grouchy

Peppy

Fedup

Drowsy
Gloomy
Jittery
Nervous
Thefollowingemotionsbelowwereorganizedtofitinwiththeperspectivecategories:

Positive
Withtheaveragesplacedinthechartbelowasseeninfigure1,itisnoticeablethatall
genresnotincludingromanticshowedachangeinemotion.Violenceshowedthegreatestchange
butonlybyasmallmargin.Withthatbeingsaid,allemotionsexcludingtheromanticgenre,
showedastrongchangeinemotion.Thisraisedcertainquestionstolaterthinkaboutsuchas,
whywasHappyscoreda2.8inthenegativecategory,whentheHappygenrewasthesecond
highest.

Neutral
Theneutralgraphcanbeseenbelowinfigure2.Thiscategoryshowedthathappy,
romantic,andsadmusicseemedtoresultinachangeoftheseemotionswhileelectronicand
violenthadlittleeffect.Thehappygenreshowedthegreatesteffectontheneutralemotions,
whichincludedemotionssuchasloving,caring,andtheactoffeelingcalm.Ontheotherendof
thespectrum,violentmusicresultedinarelativelysmallchangeinemotionwithascoreof2.61.

Negative
Thelastpartofthestudyexaminedthenegativeaspectsofemotionsasaresulttocertain
genresofmusic;thisanalysiscanbeseeninfigure3.Theresultsshowedthatnegativeemotions
werereallygreatlyaffectedbysadmusic(3.1)andsurprisinglyhappymusic,whichfollowed
withascoreof2.8.Electronicmusicwasbarelyaffectedandonlyresultedinascoreof1.83,
whichhelpedshowthatithasagreatereffectwhenitcomestopositiveemotions.

Conclusion
Afterreviewingtheresults,afewquestionshadblisteredtothesurface.Positiveresulted
inverysimilaremotionchanges,besidesromantic.Thiswassurprisingbecauseelectronicand
happywouldsuggestgivingapositivechangeinemotion,yettheoppositegenres,sadand
violentscoredequallyashigh.Asresearcherswestartedtoseeacorrelationinmoodchanges
withsomegenres,butnotall.Wefeelalargertestgroup,anywherefrom75100,wouldhelp
showthecorrelationmorequicklyandmorestrongly.Inadditionto,alongermixofmorethan
twosongsforeachgenremayhavehelpedtohelpfluctuatemoodsmoredrastically.Abiased
viewmayhavebeenmadeiftheparticipantdidordidnotenjoyoneofthesongswechoseto
use.Alongermix(moresongsandalongertimeduration)wouldhelpensurethattheemotions

participantswerefeelingweredecidedmoreunbiased.Thiswouldalsorequireparticipantsmore
timetolistentotheentiremixofmusic,whichcouldpotentiallyaltertheresults.
ItcametoagreatsurprisethatElectronicmusicscoredhighonthepositivechart,highon
theneutral,andlowonthenegative.Asexpectedthehappygenrescoredrelativelyhighonthe
positiveandneutralcharts,butitalsorankedhighamongstthenegativechart.Romanticscored
lowerthanexpectedonthepositivechart,higherthanexpectedontheneutralchartandaboutas
expectedonthenegativechart.Surprisinglythesadgenrescoredhigheronthepositiveand
neutralchartsthanitdidonthenegativecharts.Violencescoredhigheronthepositivegraphic
thanonthenegativegraph.
Thisstudyconductedhelpedbroadentheunderstandingoftheemotionaleffectsof
music.Theresultswereveryinterestingandalsobroughtupsomekeypointsthatarevery
relevantineverydaylives.Whiletheresultstothepositiveandneutralemotionsweren'ttoo
surprisingthisresearch,thenegativeemotionalaspecttothisstudywas.Itwasveryshockingto
seethatthehappymusicscoreda2.8,whichwassecondonlybehindthegenreinthe
negativecategory.
Implication
Overall,afterreviewingtheresultsandtakingagreatamountoftimetoanalyzethe
resultsthereareseveralaspectsofthisthesisthatcouldbeimproveduponforfurtherresearch.
Suggestionsforimprovementwouldbetohavemorerandomsubjectstogetabettersample;this
includesawiderrangeofages.Sincethesurveywasestablishedonacollegecampusmajorityof

theparticipantswhoreceivedthelinkwerecollegeaged.Havingalargergroupwithallage
groupsmoreevenlyrepresentedcouldexpandontheinformationthatwasgathered.
Anothersuggestionforimprovementwouldbetoassesstheeffectsofwordingchoiceon
thesurveyquestions.Noneofthequestionsshouldevertrytoleadtheparticipantstowards
feelingacertainway,butratherallowthemtoanswerquestionsbasedonhowtheyarefeeling.
Onemorefactorthatinfluencedthissurveywasthelengthrestrictionasdiscussed
earlierinthissection.Notonlycouldweexpendthemusicdurationtogetbetterresultsbutalso
thesurveyitselfwasrestrictedtoalimitednumberofquestions.Whilemeaningfulresultswere
obtainedwiththeseconstraints,iftherewasthepossibilitytoaskmorequestions,thesurvey
couldhavegottenmoreinvolved,andproposemoredetailspertainingtothethesissubject
matter.Whilethisismoretimeconsumingfortheparticipants,havingalengthiersurveywould
havehelpedtheresearchfindingstobemoreelaborated.
Asmuchassciencehasdiscoveredaboutthehumanbrainovertheyears,thereisstill
muchthatisunknown.Whiletherearemanyexplanationsforbiologicalquestionsofhowthat
havebeenanswer,onethatstillremainsishowmusichasanemotionaleffectonthehuman
mind.Memoryandemotionsareinnatequalitiesthatarepartofhowhumansfunctions.Music,
ontheotherhandisacreationofmanthathasexistedsincethebeginningoftime.Ithasnever
beenquestionedifmusicaffectshumans:onlyquestionsofhowandwhyremaintobeanswered.

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