psych 201

The study of psychology has brought about lots of fascinating discoveries and ideologies that are vital to the human relations. A study report from the University of Kent says music can influence the mood of an individual in a particular way, (University of Kent, 2014). Thus, this study seeks to illustrate how music can enhance or influence the mood of an individual.

Music is an artistic tool that can take away the sadness from an individual. The statement is in support of research conducted to show why people select a particular piece of music when experiencing a bad feeling and its results. The effect of this choice brings about a self-identified sad music on people’s moods. The report shows that if someone listens to a particular music with the intention of enhancing mood. It is, in fact, possible by this person first thinking of the contemporary situation or being distracted rather than listening to the music directly. The study is real. Dr. Annemieke explains that music does not generate a mood, but it plays a strategic role towards achieving the attitude. Also, as a thought music serves as a creative tool as it can make an individual create a new mood or destroy the current mood. It is through the listener trying to interpret the message, (Van & Edwards, 2014).

It is a thrill to discuss this topic as an expression of great interest. Personally, I love listening to music quite a lot and in many ways, music has helped me solve psychological issues whether in my conscious or subconscious. In my experience, it has come to my realization that music changes my way of thinking in turn changing my lifestyle. When in the upcountry it is okay to listen to country music but when in the city, it is appropriate to listen to fancy music. For a long time, I have not been able to understand this concept until the moment I came across this study then the secrets unveiled. The psychology of music is interestingly dynamic as it responds to give a solution to any puzzle. In this case, mood enhancement is the puzzle, the thought is the situation, and the music is the tool, (Sleigh, & McElroy, 2014). A perfect combination of these elements can yield any mood. Recently I noticed my colleague listening to some smooth jazz music, which was unusual. My colleague could listen to some few songs with a series of repetitions while meditating. I tried to ask about this peculiar behavior, and the reply was that the music was helping to balance the emotions whenever they experience a disturbing idea. Later on, I found out that my friend had incessant psychological issues though unaware but would seek to find serenity by listening to the jazz music.

A variable is something that is open to change, such as memory or attitude. According to (Sidman, 1960) an independent variable is a factor that undergoes manipulation to yield an impact on the dependent variable. While a dependent variable is one, an experimenter measures to cause an effect on the independent variable. As we can see, in this article, the experiment conducted confirms that individual have the tendency to enhance their mood by listening to sad music. However, by inception the thought of the situation or any possible distraction is critical in determining the individual’s attitude. Thus, the music takes a role-play of the dependent variable while the scenario in the victim’s mind makes the independent variable. The music can bring about a happy or sad mood through the listener perceiving where or how the music gives a high aesthetic value.

The research study, unfortunately, does not mention details of the challenges encountered while conducting the experiment. Confounds of this experiment include; the intelligence of the participants, the level of knowledge the Respondent and experimenter possess contributes to the response. The respondent gives their results from their knowledge point of view while the experimenter interprets the information depending on their integrity. High integrity can mean quality interpretation as low quality can give a weak understanding or biased results. Additionally, the personality of participants is also essential to determine an outcome. As we know, personality influences lifestyle. Sidman explicates that people with fancy lifestyle give a positive review about a piece of music, as those with lesser lifestyle are likely to give a negative review that which may not be the case always. The gender of a person is also essential. Female species are drawn to listen to soft music to cool down their temper as male species listen to hard rock music to control their anger, (Sidman, 1960).

To conclude, this article is essential to human behavior. As Sleigh illustrates, music is a tool that can promote peace and tranquility. Through it, an individual can enhance any mood in a systematic way. First, by analyzing the scenario, then selecting a song that gives a particular aesthetic value and finally synchronizing the two to yield the particular mood.

References

Sidman, M. (1960). Tactics of scientific research: Evaluating experimental data in psychology. New York: Basic Books.

Sleigh, M. J., & McElroy, J. (2014). The effect of music listening versus written reframing on mood management. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 31(4), 303-315.