The notion that music can influence your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors has been around for a long time and does not come as much of a surprise. Renowned psychologists have suggested that knowing the preference of music leads to surprisingly accurate predictions about personality. While extensive research has been done on this subject, there is scope for so much more. Fast-paced rock anthems tend to pump up emotions while tender and somber performances have the ability to move a person to tears. It is therefore easy to understand the degree of power music holds for it to impact moods and even inspire action. It is for this precise reason, that music therapy is an intervention that is utilized to promote emotional health, help patients cope with stress, and boost psychological well-being.
Music is also a window to the psyche of a person. People define themselves through music and use it to connect and relate to other but the connection between music and identity is still an ongoing study. According to music therapists, music is often seen as a perceptive illusion as it has the ability to manipulate and evoke emotions. The successful manipulation of emotions is what contributes to the chills that one can often feel while listening to music.
In this assignment we have investigated the effects of music on people using four genres: hard rock, urban pop, meditation music, and classical music. With the help of this assignment, we were able to assess the type of personalities of the people who like a particular genre, the emotions they experience courtesy of the said genre and the correlation between psychology of the artists who are the composers of the said genres and the people who listen to them.
Classical Music
Classical music is used as a rehabilitation tool as it eases pain, both mental and physical. It improves sleep quality as studies have shown that people with sleep disorders slept better when falling asleep to classical music. Research has also shown that music can be effective at decreasing pain among surgical and cancer patients. It is said that the people who love classical music are usually more introverted but are also at peace with themselves and the world around them. They are creative and generally have a good sense of self-esteem. Results have shown that listening to classical music enhances the activity of genes involved in the secretion of ‘dopamine’, which is also known as the feel-good hormone. They are generally more productive, more relaxed, are able to build and maintain good social relationships, are less likely to have anxiety as compared to other people, have a better memory and are more emotional. Our experiment proved that people who prefer classical music are calm in nature and are content in life and generally take things easy. However, this is not the case for the composers. One of the most famous composers in the history of music, Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or commonly known as Wolfgang Mozart was discontent most of his life despite his success with his compositions as he felt that he could be much more famous and renowned if he wasn’t confined. The psychopathology of Mozart's letters and biography revealed the psychiatric disorders from which he suffered. It seems that Mozart had demonstrated depressive episodes, some of which were severe in nature. Some psychologists argue that these episodes were not those of depression but rather those of mania or hypomania. However, this is disputed as it is not supported by sufficient historic proof.
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Hard Rock Music
Hard rock is a sub-genre of rock music that began in the mid-1960s. It is widely assumed that the people who listen to rock music are harsh, aggressive and arrogant in real life. This is due to the fact that acts of violence and aggression are found in almost 70% of rock music and raps. It is speculated that most people who listened to this genre had the tendency to be violent, use aggressive and explicit language more frequently and were often found to be abusive towards their spouses, especially women. Because, if emotionally soft music invokes a positive thought in an individual then listening to a hard rock music should invoke negative emotions. However, this is not the case because despite the aggressive image that is projected by hard rock and heavy metal music, researchers found that fans of this style of music are usually quite gentle. Most surprisingly, this type of music was also found to have generated a calming effect on the people who were listening to it. They tend to be creative, but are often introverted and may suffer from low self-esteem. They tend to focus on themselves more than others. Our survey shows that most of the people who listen to rock music do so while doing activities that require them to be pumped up or motivated such as working out. They are not necessarily aggressive or have short tempers. They tend to be on the gentle side. According to music experts, the core of rock songwriting is a form of brutal and raw honesty that comes from being completely immersed in a story or an emotion. Rock artists convey truth through the feeling of music and the truth is often not always a necessarily pretty picture. This helps the artist to create a mindful place where they, along with their fans can explore their own struggles and fears and share it with the world without actually having to succumb to it, experience their own traumas and anger without having to actually go through it. Rock, despite its image was found to have quite a therapeutic effect.
Urban Pop Music
Urban contemporary, which is also sometimes referred to as urban pop, is a music genre that was developed in the 1950s and 1960s. This genre cannot be defined precisely as it is regularly evolving. It is the most popular type of music genre among the youth. Pop music plays an important role in a teen's general social experience. It can positively influence teens, triggering happiness and excitement, instilling confidence or even helping them complete tasks such as household chores or homework, or it helps to relax after a stressful day. However, pop music can have adverse effects as well. Pop songs may contain references to sex, drugs, alcohol or violence. Many of these songs glorify rebellion against authority, degradation of women or self- destructive behaviors. This can negatively influence young, impressionable listeners, affecting their moods, opinions and general outlook of life. The effects of urban pop music on an individual vary widely. Our research and surveys found that generally, people who prefer urban pop are extroverted, honest, and hold themselves in high regard, although they tend to be more uneasy and one lean towards the creative side. But for some fans this not the case. While such songs may uplift some teens, others amplify negative emotions such as anger, depression or poor behavior. The poster boy for pop music, also known by the titles ‘King of Pain’, ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson, was a prime example of this. Financial problems, broken relationships, body dimorphic disorders and cosmetic surgeries, drug abuse, and criminal relationships with minors. Michael's music was an outlet for the grief and trauma he never got to express as a child. His childhood was marred with tragedies such as a father who never validated or loved the boy just for who he was, an identity based solely on popularity and public approval, then the self-loathing he went through due to his acne.
Meditation Music
The wonders of meditation are not unknown to mankind. On a regular basis it does wonders for a person’s wellbeing and mental health. But when accompanied by specially designed meditation music, the effects are ten times more desirable. It is a drug free technique used for reducing stress, overcoming depression, improving your brain function, memory and IQ. Music therapists have stated that it enhances the effects of meditation and the development of sound technology has helped benefit the brain and human consciousness. Meditation music is the subject of intense research at present as it is based on the concept of ‘brain entrainment’. According to this, sound vibrations from music is used to ‘vibrate the brain’ into a desired frequency. This is done by first measuring the frequencies of emotions such as happiness, sadness, fright, drowsiness or excitement with the help of a machine called electroencephalograph (EEG). With the frequencies designed in a specific way it is possible to trigger literally any desired emotion. Meditation music alters the brainwaves to induce a state of deep relaxation. Stress and anxiety, common mental disorders often display physical symptoms. Having too much stress can spark headaches, muscle tension, high blood pressure and heart problems. Those who meditate each day will achieve health benefits such as reduced tension, controlled blood pressure and an overall healthy heart. When someone meditates regularly, their negative emotions will subside thus curing their depression and insomnia along the way. Getting the proper amount of sleep each night greatly increases the benefits.
Conclusion
To summarize, in our surveys and studies, we found that people listen to music for a couple of important reasons. It was observed that music has proved to be a valuable companion to lonely people and helps provide a comfortable level of activation and a positive mood when they’re going through bouts of depression or loneliness. Music has its own place in society and while its social importance may be overvalued, it still plays a significant role.
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