Early adolescents' emotional perceptions and engagement with popular music activities in everyday life

Abstract

This study explored young female and male adolescents' engagement with everyday activities involving popular music and their corresponding emotional perceptions. Sixty-six Grade 8 students (37 females, 29 males), aged 13-14 years from mostly White, English-speaking middle-class families near an urban centre in Western Canada completed a list of daily activities that involved popular music and corresponding personal meanings. Responses were coded according to emergent themes including emotional/value, physical, social/cultural, cognitive/competence and moral/spiritual experiences. Content analyses of personal music definitions showed that for all adolescents, a greater number of youth referred to popular music as an emotional or spiritual experience as compared to a cognitive/competence and physical experiences. Implications for gender-inclusive and developmentally appropriate education are discussed.