Music and personality

Some studies show that the type of personality an individual has depends upon the music they listen to. In one study, a group of people listened to each other’s favorite songs. After that they would guess that test subject’s personality and most of the time the other participants were very accurate.

• Blues and jazz fans tend to have a high self-esteem, creative or outgoing and a gentle and at ease person
• Classical music gives people the personality of high self-esteem, creative, introverts and very calm
• Rap fans have a high self-esteem and are outgoing
• Country and western fans are outgoing and hardworking
• Dance fans are creative and outgoing
• Rock/Heavy metal listeners have low self-esteem and not outgoing
• Chart pop fans are hardworking, outgoing, and gentle but not very creative
• Soul fans are creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease

These are just some claims of how the music an individual listens to affects their personality it may not be true for all people. But think about all the people you are around everyday and if they can relate to these descriptions.

Background Music

Another way people are affected by music is the use of it in the background in stores or movies. Using background music in stores and factories are said to make the environment happier and increase production and spending. The type of music played in the store effects the image of the store. Niclolas Gueguen states in "Effect of Background Music on Consumer Behavior." European Journal of Scientific Research 16.2 (2007)

By manipulating the tempo of the background music in a supermarket, found that music tempo significantly effects the pace of in-store traffic flow and dollar sales volume. Research shows that music with a slower tempo (-73beats-minute) compared to a high tempo (+93beats-minute) lead to a decrease in store traffic but an increase in sales volume.

This means that the faster the tempo of the music the faster the customer pace will be in the store. Business people tend to want their customers to stay longer because the customers will buy more.

Music used in movies makes the viewer understand what is happening in a certain scene. Without music it is just dialogue. Music builds on the emotion that character is feeling or to give the scene suspense. This clip shows a scene from the movie Jaws with and without music. The difference is astounding!

Perceived and Felt Emotions

In a study by Bruce Gust he stated that there are two kinds of emotions related to music: perceived emotions and felt emotions. Perceived emotions are feelings that you witness from movies or other people. For example when you watch a television show and your favorite character dies you are overwhelmed and want to cry. Felt emotions are feelings that you have when something personally affects you. An example of this would be when you are depressed from a break up or overjoyed to see a best friend. Your brain uses the auditory cortex to understand rhythm and tempo. It uses the speed of tempo and lyrics to determine what the emotion of the song should be.When you listen to music you can be affected by both of these types of emotions. When you listen to a song you could be influenced to feel how the performer feels or relate the song to your own life. Music is the easiest way to lift your spirits.

Music Therapy

Hello my name is Lauren Mitchell. Welcome to my blog where I will be discussing all the different ways music effects you everyday. There are many ways that we experience the joy of music. It could be at a live concert or just having a jam session in your car. We use music all the time for so many reasons. One reason is for its healing power. A new treatment is music therapy. This form of therapy is relatively new and studies the effects it has on people with diseases, Alzheimers, hospice and depression. One example is how this type of therapy improves cognitive function for patients with Parkinson's disease. The patient uses the number of beats in a song to focus on movement at a steady pace or used to improve the patients speaking ability. Music therapy is growing in popularity with each new discovery. I hope with this therapy citizens will understand how important it is to keep music in people's lives.

If you are interested in this topic there is a documentary called "Alive Inside" that you can watch that gives more information.