Differential Effects of Stimulative and Sedative Music on Anxiety, Concentration, and Performance

Abstract

30 music majors and 30 psychology majors were tested individually under stimulative, sedative, and no-music conditions. Each subject was exposed to one of five types of music: classical, jazz and blues, country/bluegrass, easy listening, and rock/rock and roll. Under each condition subjects indicated their (a) worry about the test, (b) emotionality or physiological-affective arousal, (c) ability to concentrate, (d) expectancy of performance, and (e) like or dislike of the music. Compared with sedative music stimulative music increased worry scores, interfered with concentration, and resulted in lower expectancies as predicted. Thus the effects of music are to be understood in terms of cognitive processes rather than primarily on the basis of physiological-affective responses to musical stimuli. A complex interactive effect on task performance was reported.