The Effect of Preferred Music Genre Selection Versus Preferred Song Selection on Experimentally Induced Anxiety Levels

Journal

Journal of Music Therapy

Year

2003

Volume

40

Issue

1

First Page

2

Last Page

14

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of experimentally induced anxiety levels reached by subjects listening to no music (n = 30), subjects listening to music selected by the experimenter from the subject's preferred genre or artist listed as relaxing (n = 30), and subjects listening to a specific song they listed as relaxing (n = 30). Subjects consisted of 90 individuals, male and female, randomly assigned to one of the three groups mentioned above. Subjects in either music group filled out a questionnaire prior to participating in the study indicating their preference of music used for relaxation purposes. Subjects in Experimental Group 1 marked their preferred genres and/or artists, and Experimental Group 2 marked specific songs used for relaxation purposes. While the experimenter hypothesized subjects in Experimental Group 2 would show less anxiety than both the control group and Experimental Group 1, there were no significant differences found between the 2 music groups in anxiety levels reached. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the no music control group and both music groups in the anxiety level reached by subjects. Subjects listening to music, both songs chosen by the experimenter and subject selected songs, showed significantly less anxiety than subjects not listening to music.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Anxiety; Music Listening; Questionnaires; Receptive Music Methods; Recorded Music Listening; Relaxation

Indexed Terms

Adolescents; Questionnaires; Anxiety; Acoustic Stimulation; Auditory Perception; Patient Satisfaction; Anxiety; Relaxation

Study Type

Randomized Controlled; Trial; Quantitative Methods

Disciplines

Music Therapy

PubMed ID

223555679; 17590964

Document Type

Article

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