How heavy metal music can lighten an emotional load
A study intended to find out if listening to heavy metal music compounds hostility in listeners found instead that the catharsis created appears to do just the opposite 鈥� soothing the savage beast within.
The study on 鈥�,鈥� by the School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia shows that heavy metal can actually have a counter-intuitive, calming influence on those experiencing anxiety.
Researchers selected a small sampling of 39 "extreme music listeners" between the ages of 18 and 34 who were "subjected to an anger induction, followed by random assignment" to hear either 10 minutes of heavy metal from their own playlist or 10 minutes of silence.
Essentially, the researchers made the test subjects angry and then added extreme music to the emotional mix. Measures of emotion included heart rate and subjective ratings on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS).
Their findings may surprise those who associate "extreme music" with anger and violence: "Extreme music did not make angry participants angrier; rather, it appeared to match their physiological arousal and result in an increase in positive emotions,鈥� according to the study. 鈥淟istening to extreme music may represent a healthy way of processing anger for these listeners."
Ultimately, it's all a matter of taste, say experts.
As Barbara Else of the told the Monitor, 鈥淭he evidence from research in music therapy 鈥撀燼nd the base of evidence is pretty solid on this point 鈥撀爄s personal preference is important in the therapeutic relationship.鈥�
鈥淪o if heavy metal is a personal preference, we would pay attention to that,鈥� says Dr. Else, who was not involved with the study. 鈥淚f it were classical music, we would pay attention to that.鈥�
Simply put, we love what we love. Death metal music could have the same cathartic effect as聽tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing "" from Pucchini's "Turandot," depending on the listener鈥檚 emotional connection.
Else also points out that the study was of young adults, and the same result may be possible with a population who prefers and listens to classical music or modern music, etc.
A found that 鈥渨hen listening to preferred music聽鈥撀爎egardless of the type聽鈥撀爌eople report they often experience personal thoughts and memories.鈥�
It is the personal connection between a particular piece of music and an experience which may in fact trigger the catharsis needed to reduce anxiety, according to Else.
鈥淭he authors [of the study] posit that perhaps the listening experience among the subjects who recalled traumatic memories that aggravated or angered them results in the music matching their frame of mind," Else explains. "This implies a cathartic effect that may, in fact, be very helpful for the subjects.鈥�
