The Effect of Music on Behavior
Music has a huge impact on the everyday lives of individuals in America today. It is an important part of the sociological self, which causes a person to feel and act in a certain manner. Sensual guitar playing, a suggestive song, hard rock power chords, or a tune from the past are all highly powerful forces in shaping one's actions. I have taken a particular interest in the way that different genres of music affect student's actions at this university. This paper will take into account the effects that particular genres of music have on people. Because we are in a college town such as Austin it is easy to observe the effects that music has on people. Whether it be at parties, clubs, concerts, or in
…show more content…
Whole periods, not just single occurrences, can be relived by hearing an old favorite. Several weeks ago in my wing on the second floor of Jester East, I performed an experiment. The participants were very well suited for the experiment because they mostly listen to rock and roll and heavy metal. Their musical taste is a far cry from the music I used in this experiment. Sometime around one in the morning I placed a compact disc entitled "80's Dance Party" in my stereo, and turned it up excessively loud. My goal was to see how the male residents in the wing would react. Immediately after the music began doors started to open, and the residents proceeded to pour out into the hall. Though many of them had already been in bed, they all had smiles on their faces. Everyone was dancing around, and talking about times when they remembered having heard a particular song in the past. Dancing around in a dormitory hall during the a.m. hours of a school night may not be perceived as the most rational event to be occurring, yet the participants did not feel strange because of the music that was playing. The feeling that one has when hearing a song is often related to the most memorable moment they experienced while that song was being played. In the case of my experiment, being that all the participants were around 18 years of age, the songs from the …show more content…
This past Thursday I studied the actions of many people at a popular dance club in Austin. The next night I observed the actions of others at a party. The actions of most of the people were similar at both places. At both places, the connecting element seemed to be the music. Inside a dance club or at a party, it is not uncommon for perfect strangers to engage in very provocative dancing. Many of the dance moves exhibited in these situations are extremely sexually suggestive. The rhythm of the music is one of the causes for this behavior. Many of the songs played at these places contain repetitive, pulsating tempos that resemble the tempo of sexual intercourse. Thus, the dance moves are concentrated around the hips and torso areas. There is a culture that is associated with much of the music in clubs and at parties. This culture involves, among other things, promiscuous sexual activity. Even if one did not participate in the cultural aspect of the music they may imitate some of the principles of the culture. A second reason for these actions is that the music is so loud that there is no pressure to engage in conversation. With this pressure absent the sexual relationship accelerates much faster. The fact that the music is so loud provides anonymity for those involved in the dancing. No identity is placed on one's dancing
A couple of months ago, I went to a concert up in Denver. The band that played was called dada. They are a three-man pop rock band that have been playing since their first album was released in 1992. The band has a small following, but the amphitheater still was still quite full by the time the band started playing. Before this concert, I had been to a couple others in the past with bands of a similar type playing in a similar setting to that of the amphitheater I found myself in a couple of months ago. After going to the dada concert, I noticed there was an interesting pattern of where different people sat or stood at these concerts. This pattern divided people up by their social rank, age, and class. There were three different areas to this pattern: the people standing in the front at the stage, the people standing in the middle of the theater, and the people sitting in the back.
If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.
When discussing the effects that listening to music can have on people we need to take into account how different genres of music may have different effects. Many people, including religious and community leaders have been warning the public about the dangers of listening to violent music such as rap and metal. They claim that when people listen to violent music it will incite violent behavior. However in my research I have found many conflicting opinions.
Music is a very fascinating universal phenomenon. Almost everyone likes some sort of music, whether it be the twang of a country song or the intensity of a German rap. Music has the ability to completely change the mood of a situation. It has extensively been investigated and used as a form of therapy for the mind. Therefore it would be interesting to see if it had any impact on a person’s physical ability as well.
Also children as young as 3 or 4 years of age are able to recognize basic emotions in music (Cunningham & Sterling 1988). Emotional contagion it has been argued, facilitates the mother-infant bond (Darwin 1872), as well as social interaction in general terms (Preston & de Waal 2002). In support of this, this emotional contagion seems to create liking and affiliation (e.g. Lakin et al. 2003) which is perhaps beneficial for social interaction (Juslin, P.N. and Vastfjall D., 2008, p.565).
Teenagers have for long been a constant bother to many parents, for many years. It is during this stage that a large number of individuals engage in rebellious acts and are anxious to try out almost everything they lay their hands on. It is clear from the illustrations that music does have a great effect on teenagers. Parents should therefore combine effort in instilling a sense of responsibility and good morals to their young ones since they are the future leaders of the world.
Steven, Kelly, N. (2002). A Sociological Basis For Music Education. International Journal of Music Education. 43. Pp. 40-49
It’s also interesting to think about how music plays a role in someone’s identity. Many articles found discuss the Social Identity Theory, and the people who conduct these experiments always keep this in mind, “Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) maintains that individuals gain a social identity from the groups to which they belong. The theorists claim that members have a desire to evaluate their own group positively and that they achieve positive evaluations through social comparisons with relevant other groups along valued dimensions. One maintains positive social identity and self-esteem through in-group favoritism, positive distinction from the out-group, and, occasionally, out-group derogation (e.g., Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995)” (Tarrant, North, Hargreaves, 2001). Towson’s online database is an excellent place to research what has been found on music’s effects on psychology, and ...
The idea that music leads its listeners to participate in deviant acts can be left up to each individual’s opinion. The truth is, is that there is not sufficient research to prove or disprove whether music has a strong influence, if any, on the listener’s choices to engage in deviant behaviors. One thing for certain is that music can influence a population’s appearance and culture. Whether or not music causes listeners to be deviant, music will continue to be produced and played around the world.
Music is one of the few things that has remained constant through the centuries this world has existed. Not only does music provide entertainment, it also has several effects linked to it. Music allows emotions of happiness and sadness to arise. From those emotions, physical effects, negative or positive, can occur. Music has a profound effect on the emotional, social, intellectual, and physical aspects of a person.
There are many ways in which music affects and surrounds us. It is our creative outlet, our passion, our distraction, our night out or simply our moment of relaxation. Throughout the centuries, music has played a vital role in our lives. We as a society immerse ourselves in music day to day. From grandiose social gatherings and dances in the Middle Ages, to live concerts and monumental performances to date. Music is in films to elicit emotion and in television commercials to make us consumers of the newest technology. More importantly, it is in our preferred listening device because we choose the particular songs and artists we like and want to hear. The Marriam-Webster dictionary defines music as “sounds that are sung by voices or played on musical instruments; the art or skill of creating or performing music.” But why do we choose attend the Bruce Springsteen concert at Wrigley Field and not the Chicago Symphony Orchestra? What makes us enjoy one type of music or artist and not another? Whether you make music or simply enjoy it by listening to it, we are all connected to music in a variety of ways.
"Music Influence On Society." SocialPC - Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy etc. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .
It can be proven, through literary research and personal experiences, that music has a positive effect on learning and memory. It can be concluded that these positive effects have an impact on patients with Alzheimer’s, on the motor skills and auditory memory of mentally disabled children, on students attempting to remember subject manner that they are learning, and on the affectivity of advertisements. On a personal note, music has facilitated my ability to remember things, both positive and negative, a number of times. For example, in high school I memorized the days of the week in French by singing them along with a tune that was already familiar to me. I have also had multiple experiences in which I remember things that I do not want to remember such as advertisements and negative experiences because they were accompanied with specific music. Despite the miniscule negative effects of music on memory, the powerful ability of music to trigger memory production and recall is undeniably beneficial. The profound effect of music on memory and learning makes music a great tool for helping people who want to improve cognitive function, whether they need to receive treatment for a mental disease or learn new information.
Music is can be a very complicated and delightful at the same time. Music affects our bodies in several ways when engaging with it. The complicated and delightful apparatus we call music affect people physically, psychologically, and is great with healing emotional affliction, strengthens emotions, and is known to cure illness. Music also plays an influential role in the socialization of teenagers. Mainstream music is available practically everywhere. It is conveniently accessible over the internet, radio, individual recordings and other forms of technology
Music has incredible effects on the brain and body! Ever since the beginning of time, music has been around. It can influence the way a person thinks and behaves, and also social interactions. Teens are more susceptible to this (Revatto 1). Music can be used in therapy by helping people with depression, and can even be a more natural way to heal the body (“How Music...” 1). In some cases, songs and melodies can help or make diseases worse. Music is a powerful thing and can affect your brain and many other things in your body in numerous ways.