Psychology studies the functions and behaviors, how something can affect the brain and the emotions that go along with it. But because everything affects the brain, the way humans react also deal with physical attributes, how the body responds when certain things happen. Several studies have been conducted to show how men and women physically react when listening to heavy metal music. The responses varied from each study but for each study, something was certain, humans react to every kind of music they listen to, by raising their body temperature or it slowing down their heart rate.
"Effects of Listening to Heavy Metal Music on College Women" a pilot study done by professors from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio to prove how they physically reacted to music. The study included 18 female college students from a midwestern university in two different rooms, one in baseline silence and another with heavy metal playing. The professors studied heart rate, body temperature, signs of sweat, and facial tension. Heavy Metal, as quoted in the article, has "strong sound, beat and personal style" (Morss) so they used Extol's Call to the Martyrs album. While the college students sat in a comfortable chair with a headrest, while the experimenter examined and asked questions. The experiment concluded that Heavy Metal did in fact did cause changes in facial expressions and reactivity where the heart and facial reactions were much stronger in the room with heavy metal than the silent room and could cause unhealthy harm to some listeners. This study confirmed that college students are surrounded with music, whether it would be at a restaurant or in a dormitory, sometimes they are not able to choose the type of music they will listen to, but due to these findings, heavy metal music could be related to headaches and increased stress levels in certain individuals. Since the previous article studied heavy metal music as a whole, the following article focuses on Heavy Metal lyrics and how they affect male aggression.
"Violent lyrics in Heavy Metal Music Can Increase Aggression in Males" a study conducted by Knox College professors for the North American Journal of Psychology where thirty- five college students were asked to put as much hot sauce in a cup of water as they want while listening to heavy metal music. These college males assumed that another subject would drink it, therefore adding more hot sauce when feeling more agitated. It is known that when handling a gun, males tend to feel more aggression due to the amount of increased testosterone and in this study, Mast and McAndrew, the conductors of the study, wanted to determine if there is an increase in anger while listening to heavy metal. The thirty- five students were split up into three different rooms; one room listened to heavy metal music with violent lyrics ("Bloodmeat" and "Limb from Limb"), the second room listened to heavy metal music without the violent lyrics ("Old School Hollywood" and "Bounce") and the last group sat in silence and didn't listen to any music at all. Since the subjects were told that this was an experiment on "auditory stimulation and taste sensitivity", they were given a fake taste test but due to refrigeration issues, the saliva samples were unable to be used for testosterone data. Although they cannot draw conclusions from the results of testosterone and heavy metal lyrics, they can confirm that violent lyrics do have a direct link to aggressive behavior in males since males listening to the violent lyrics added more hot sauce into the cup they thought another subject would drink.
Physical effects on the body from Heavy Metal Music range from increasing body temperature to higher aggression and even though the effects differ between people, it is certain that all who listen to heavy metal music physically react to the beat, the instruments and lyrics.
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Video Credit: Youtube
"Effects of Listening to Heavy Metal Music on College Women" a pilot study done by professors from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio to prove how they physically reacted to music. The study included 18 female college students from a midwestern university in two different rooms, one in baseline silence and another with heavy metal playing. The professors studied heart rate, body temperature, signs of sweat, and facial tension. Heavy Metal, as quoted in the article, has "strong sound, beat and personal style" (Morss) so they used Extol's Call to the Martyrs album. While the college students sat in a comfortable chair with a headrest, while the experimenter examined and asked questions. The experiment concluded that Heavy Metal did in fact did cause changes in facial expressions and reactivity where the heart and facial reactions were much stronger in the room with heavy metal than the silent room and could cause unhealthy harm to some listeners. This study confirmed that college students are surrounded with music, whether it would be at a restaurant or in a dormitory, sometimes they are not able to choose the type of music they will listen to, but due to these findings, heavy metal music could be related to headaches and increased stress levels in certain individuals. Since the previous article studied heavy metal music as a whole, the following article focuses on Heavy Metal lyrics and how they affect male aggression.
"Violent lyrics in Heavy Metal Music Can Increase Aggression in Males" a study conducted by Knox College professors for the North American Journal of Psychology where thirty- five college students were asked to put as much hot sauce in a cup of water as they want while listening to heavy metal music. These college males assumed that another subject would drink it, therefore adding more hot sauce when feeling more agitated. It is known that when handling a gun, males tend to feel more aggression due to the amount of increased testosterone and in this study, Mast and McAndrew, the conductors of the study, wanted to determine if there is an increase in anger while listening to heavy metal. The thirty- five students were split up into three different rooms; one room listened to heavy metal music with violent lyrics ("Bloodmeat" and "Limb from Limb"), the second room listened to heavy metal music without the violent lyrics ("Old School Hollywood" and "Bounce") and the last group sat in silence and didn't listen to any music at all. Since the subjects were told that this was an experiment on "auditory stimulation and taste sensitivity", they were given a fake taste test but due to refrigeration issues, the saliva samples were unable to be used for testosterone data. Although they cannot draw conclusions from the results of testosterone and heavy metal lyrics, they can confirm that violent lyrics do have a direct link to aggressive behavior in males since males listening to the violent lyrics added more hot sauce into the cup they thought another subject would drink.
Physical effects on the body from Heavy Metal Music range from increasing body temperature to higher aggression and even though the effects differ between people, it is certain that all who listen to heavy metal music physically react to the beat, the instruments and lyrics.
Photo Credit: Google
Video Credit: Youtube