Impact of Music on Emotional State and its Management in Youth

Abstract

At all times we are exposed to a vast variety of sounds consciously or unconsciously, affecting our moods and emotional states. Music has been found to be an effective state management strategy through self-selection and will to alter our mood. The present study explores the effect of unconscious auditory introjections on mood and its management through self-selection. 30 participants were instructed to imagine a past event in their lives expressing specific emotions. The three instructed emotions were anxious, sad and angry. Different expressive music were used including calming, soothing as well as high tempo amped up soundtracks. Immediate verbal responses from the participants during the experiment regarding the study were taken into account. A self-report questionnaire (mDES) was used to assess the impact of music on mood on the basis of positive and negative emotions experienced. The results showed self-reported positive emotions were significantly higher as compared to negative emotions. No significant differences were found between males and females. The study also explored consciously selected music as a strategy for mood management. Implications and further studies suggestions were also discussed.