Assessing the Influence of Rock Music on Emotions

27 Using projective and objective measures, effects of rock music on emotion were investigated. Sixty students were randomly assigned to three conditions: hard rock, soft rock, and no music. One group listened to hard rock music while taking a projective test with five ink blots and an objective test with an Emotional Assessment Scale (EAS). The same procedure was used for the second group while listening to soft rock. A control group was given the same procedure with no music. Two one way analyses of variance and a Pearson’s correlation were used to determine if types of music affected one’s emotions using projective and objective measures. Significant differences were discovered comparing music with: projective measures, F (2, 59) = 4.41, p < .05, the preference of soft rock over hard rock, r (40) = .37, p < .01, and six of eight emotions on the EAS. Data analyses revealed significant differences between types of rock music and their effects on emotions. ABSTRACT