Perceived and Physiological Indicators of Relaxation: As Different as Mozart and Alice in Chains
Abstract
The effects of listening to different types of music on perceived and physiological indicators of relaxation were evaluated. Fifty-six undergraduate students, 24 males and 32 females, mean age of 21, were randomly assigned to listen to classical, hard rock, self-selected relaxing music, or no music. Participants' relaxation level, skin temperature, muscle tension and heart rate were evaluated before and after exposure to a music condition. Analyses of variance using baseline measures as covariates indicated that skin temperature decreased for all conditions (p = 0.001) and the classical, self-selected relaxing music and no music groups reported significant increases in feelings of relaxation (p = 0.004). These results partially support the hypothesis that classical and self-selected relaxing music can increase perceptions of relaxation to a greater degree than listening to hard rock music. However, no differences were found between different types of music on physiological indicators of arousal. Implications for using music to reduce stress were discussed.
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Previous investigations found increased coping abilities after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation.
“Previous investigations found reductions in perceived levels of psychological stress, increased coping abilities, or altered levels in perceived relaxation after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation [7,33].”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [7]
Previous investigations found reductions in perceived levels of psychological stress after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation.
“Previous investigations found reductions in perceived levels of psychological stress, increased coping abilities, or altered levels in perceived relaxation after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation [7,33].”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [7]
Previous investigations found altered levels in perceived relaxation after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation.
“Previous investigations found reductions in perceived levels of psychological stress, increased coping abilities, or altered levels in perceived relaxation after listening to music in the context of a stressful situation [7,33].”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [7]
Music has been shown to beneficially affect stress-related cognitive processes.
“Music has been shown to beneficially affect stress-related physiological [4–6], as well as cognitive [7], and emotional processes [8,9].”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [7]
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- Authors
- Burns, J., Labbé, E., Williams, K., & McCall, J.
- Affiliations
- University of South Alabama (US)
- Venue
- Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
- Published
- 1999-09
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 197-202
- ISSN
- 0363-3586 (ISSN-L)
- 1090-0586
- 1573-3270
- OpenAlex
- W1846075328
- Cited by
- 79
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Human auditory perception and evaluation
- Keywords
- music listening, relaxation, physiological arousal, classical music, hard rock, skin temperature, muscle tension, heart rate, stress reduction
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Auditory Perception, Biofeedback, Psychology, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Male, Music, Relaxation, Stress, Psychological
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