Stress, Personality, and Emotional Responses to Music

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how specific personality traits (Sensation Seeking and Neuroticism) affect emotional responses to music after exposure to a stressor, and preference and judgment of music. In a pilot study, 8 pieces of sample classical music were classified by 204 participants with reference to 2 affective dimensions of Pleasantness and Arousal. A separate group of 43 participants were exposed to a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before they participated in either one of two conditions: listening to one of sample music which was rated as highest in Pleasantness and lowest in Arousal by participants in the pilot study or reading an academic article. Results indicated that the mood-modulating effect of music was not significant after a stressful exposure. In addition, personality factors did not influence emotional responses to music. Only one piece of music showed a tendency that is consistent with the assumption that high sensation seekers prefer music with high degree of Arousal. Moreover, responses to two other pieces of music showed a significant difference between high and low sensation seekers. However, it was inconsistent with the related theory of sensation seeking. Present findings indicated that the type of music used in the study may be an important factor that affects emotional responses to music.