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Rebecca Orduna

Monica Rodriguez

ENGL 1302

7 February 2022

Music and Its Effects

Introduction

Music is all around us. Many people listen to music to ease their anxiety, help them focus

on homework, and even to work out. It is said that music does indeed help with all these

activities, but does listening to a certain genre of music, more specifically pop, in the morning

affect someone's mood? In the experiment conducted it is proven that pop music affects

someone’s mood in a positive way, provides motivation for the rest of the day, and improves

mental health.

Explain the Experiment

A four day research experiment was performed to prove whether or not music affects someone's

mood throughout the day. This study was conducted from Sunday through Wednesday during a

couple of heavy days of work and college. This experiment was based on listening to two

different genres of music in the morning. In this study, pop music was listened to on Sunday and

Tuesday while getting ready in the morning, while Monday and Wednesday slower, more

melancholy music was being listened to. Some important factors to keep in mind were waking up

at 7:30AM, attending classes from 8:30AM to 12:00PM, and going to work from 12:30PM to

6PM everyday except Sunday.

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The Effects on Mood

The results found by performing this experiment support the idea that music does have an effect

on someone's mood. On Sunday and Tuesday the participant was in an excellent mood

throughout the day. However, on Monday and Wednesday the effects were different, the

participant had times throughout the day where they felt down and they were not in an ideal

mood. Further research on this topic states that “It can be said that the mood effects of music are

well established” (Rigg, 11). This states that music indeed affects someone's mood enough to say

the effects are “well established”.

Increased Motivation

The second factor that led to the beneficial effects of listening to pop music in the morning was

an increase in motivation for the day. The motivation the music provided was enough to get

through the day efficiently. Research suggests that “The effects of music on the brain can not

only help people concentrate, but also help people relax and sleep” (Xu et al, 7). This provides

insight as to why the participant felt at ease Sunday and Tuesday and had enough concentration

to get through the tasks presented those days; whereas, on Monday and Wednesday they felt

unmotivated and it was difficult to finish homework as efficiently as other days. In essence,

listening to pop music in the morning provides motivation, concentration and relaxation

throughout the day.

Improved Mental Health

The final factor impacted by listening to pop music first thing in the morning was improved

mental health. Studies show that “Reproducing music might help people in mental health care to

build up a stronger relationship with themselves as well as with others” (Mössler et al, 5). This

can be explained because our brains release neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin,
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which stimulate feelings of happiness, when people listen to happy, cheerful music like pop

music. On Monday and Wednesday the participant experienced low mental health due to

listening to melancholy music in the morning while getting ready for the day. Sunday and

Tuesday's findings were extremely different from the other two days this experiment was

performed. The participant had better mental health and this caused a domino effect on mood,

motivation, and tasks throughout the day. Since the participants’ mental health was improved

these days it was easier to complete tasks and have a better overall experience.

Conclusion

The research experiment concluded that listening to music first thing in the morning did in fact

have effects on mood, motivation, and mental health.The study found that the days where

melancholy music was listened to were the days where the participants mood was low, they had

little motivation, and a decline in mental health. These findings are important because it proves

that listening to more upbeat happy music has many good qualities that can help people get

through their day. However, there is still more research to be done to fully understand this

concept and how these findings could vary from person to person based on their music taste.
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Work Cited

Mössler, Karin, et al. “Music Therapy Techniques as Predictors of Change in Mental Health

Care.” The Arts in Psychotherapy, vol. 39, no. 4, 2012, pp. 333–341.,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.05.002.

Rigg, M. G. (1964). The mood effects of music: A comparison of data from four investigators.

Journal of Psychology, 58, 427. Retrieved from

https://tamiu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/mood-

effects-music-comparison-data-four/docview/1290581482/se-2?accountid=7081

Xu, Y., Xu, X., & Deng, L. (2020). EEG research based on the influence of different music

effects. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1631(1)

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1631/1/012147