A recent study of undergraduate students suggests that listening to music may help alleviate negative emotions after experiencing a stressful task. This effect appears to be more significant in individuals with low levels of neuroticism. The findings were published in Current Issues in Personality Psychology.
People turn to music for various reasons. Some use it as a way to express their emotions, while others listen to uplift their mood. Music can evoke a broad spectrum of emotions, providing an outlet for joy, sadness, excitement, or nostalgia. Additionally, it serves as a form of entertainment, offering enjoyment and relaxation during leisure time.
Many individuals also use music to boost concentration and productivity, particularly while studying or working. Music fosters social connections, bringing people together at concerts, parties, and other events. It helps individuals define and express their personal and cultural identities. Moreover, music has been shown to help reduce stress.
Study author Lap Yan and his colleagues wanted to check whether the stress-reducing effects of music are equally potent in individuals with high and in those with low neurotic tendencies. The concept of neurotic tendencies as a personality trait was first proposed by Hans Eysenck, a mid-20 century German-born British psychologists known for his work on personality theory.
In Eysenck’s theory, neuroticism is characterized by emotional instability and high anxiety. Individuals with high neuroticism frequently and easily experience negative emotions such as fear, anger, and depression, and they often react strongly to stress. In contrast, individuals with low neuroticism tend to be emotionally stable and less reactive to stress.
The study included 79 undergraduate students from Hong Kong, aged 18 to 25, with 58 females. Participants completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to assess their neurotic tendencies and were divided into high and low neuroticism groups based on their scores.
Participants then completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to assess their current emotions and had their heart rates measured. They underwent the Sing-a-Song Stress Test, a task known to induce stress, which involves singing a song. After this task, participants’ emotions and heart rates were reassessed. Following this, the researchers played Pachelbel’s Canon in D major for the participants and measured their emotions and heart rates once more.
The results indicated that both negative emotions and heart rates increased in both groups after the Sing-a-Song Stress Test. However, after listening to music, negative emotions and heart rates decreased, with levels dropping slightly below the baseline measurements taken at the start of the study. This decrease was more pronounced in the group with low neuroticism.
“Both groups of participants were found to be stressed after the SSST [Sing-a-Song Stress Test] and felt less stressful after listening to comforting music, as reflected by the variations in the NA [negative emotions] score and heart rate,” the study authors concluded.
The study makes a contribution to the scientific understanding of the links between neuroticism and reactions to mild stress. However, it should be noted that the design of the study did not include either counterbalancing or control groups. Therefore, it remains unknown whether the reduction in negative emotions after listening to music is the effect of music or simply of natural recovery from stress.
The paper, “A study on the effect of music listening on people with high neurotic tendency as evidenced by negative affective scores and physiological responses,” was authored by Lap Yan, Hiu Ting Lam, Ka Hei Brigit Au, and Muriel Lin.