Relationship between music preference and psychological state of college students

Abstract

Music has been widely used to regulate emotion and mood. This paper aims to disclose the intrinsic relationship between music preference and psychological state of college students. First, the concept of music preference was introduced based on the theories on preference behaviours. Next, an anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among the students of a college in Wuhan, China. The survey data were analysed in details to determine the influencing factors of music preference, and the correlations between music preference and psychological state of college students. The results show that the music preference of college students is affected in different degrees by living environment, personality, life experience and educational environment; most college students prefer Chinese pop music due to their cultural background; 41.5% of the respondents prefer practical teaching methods, while the exploratory teaching method is more suitable for music majors; the music preference of college students varies with emotional instability, complexity of psychological features and genders. The research findings lay a theoretical basis for regulating the psychological state of college students through music education.