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eavy Metal Music4 5ffects on Mood, &ggression, Suicid"""

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Psychology of Heavy Metal Music

Effects on Mood, Aggression, Suicide, Drug Use and Intelligence

Iron Maiden - Darz Mol, Wikipedia, Creative Commons ShareAlike 2 Studies indicate that rock, grunge and heavy metal music, hile they are often preferred !y trou!led teens, are not the cause of their pro!lems" Much of the research into the emotional and !ehavioral effects of popular music has focused on heavy metal, though a fe studies have also included rock and grunge music" #verall, the popular !elief that listening to certain musical styles causes a variety of !ehavioral pro!lems is not supported"

Emotional Response
$hile a num!er of researchers have associated heavy metal music ith depression or anger, these effects do not usually occur hen heavy metal is the listener%s musical preference" & study of more than ',000 gifted students aged ''-'8 found that heavy metal music is used for cathartic release and to dissipate negative emotions, particularly among those ith lo self-esteem (Science)aily, 22 March 200*+"

runge Music Effects

& study of the effects of different types of music found that after listening to grunge music, su!,ects reported increases in fatigue, tension, sadness and hostility, as ell as decreased mental clarity, vigor, rela-ation and compassion" .o ever, grunge as likely not the musical preference of these su!,ects/a study of grunge fans might have produced different results (0emper 1 )anhauer, 2002+"

Aggression
Some studies have found that individuals !ecome more hostile, aggressive or angry after listening to heavy metal music, hereas others have found no aggressive response" Some researchers have even found that su!,ects ho ere angry to !egin ith !ecome happier, calmer and more rela-ed after listening to heavy metal hen it is their preferred musical genre"

Suicide

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3sychology of .eavy Metal Music4 5ffects on Mood, &ggression, Suicid"""

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&lthough the suicide rate is higher than average among rock and heavy metal fans (particularly the latter+, a study of students ith psychiatric disorders ho ere also heavy metal fans actually sho ed improved mood after listening to their music of choice ($ooten, '992+" #ther studies of depressed young people have found similar results, suggesting that some people may prefer heavy metal music !ecause they are depressed or even use it to treat their depression in certain cases, rather than !ecoming depressed as a result of listening to it"

Academic Performance
Some studies have found that adolescents of !oth genders ho listen to heavy metal tend to have lo er grades in school" .o ever, this is likely due to aspects of personality or environment (such as high stress+ rather than any direct effects of the music itself, given that most lo -performing heavy metal fans e-perienced academic pro!lems !efore they !egan listening to heavy metal music (:ook 1 $eiss, '997+"

Intelligence
College students hose musical preferences are alternative, rock or heavy metal actually o!tain higher I; test scores on average, particularly on <uestions here a!straction is re<uired ($alker 1 0reiner, 200=+"

Popular topics
5ffects of Music on Children and &dolescents )oes Music &ffect :eens>

Ris! "a!ing
&ccording to ?ecknell et al" (2008+, those ho prefer rock or heavy metal music are more inclined to !e reckless sensation seekers ho take risks" :his is a personality type rather than a direct effect of the music/sensation seekers have less reactive nervous systems and so it takes more intense stimuli to generate a sensation of happiness or e-citement" @isk takers are more likely to commit crimes !ecause they are not as an-ious a!out the conse<uences" :his is not caused !y the music ho everA the risk taker prefers more energetic music and more dangerous pastimes as a result of innate personality and physiology (McBamara 1 ?allard, '999+" It is also orth noting that the ma,ority of heavy metal fans are adolescent males, a demographic ith the highest prevalence of criminal activity and antisocial !ehaviour, regardless of musical preference" :herefore, higher rates of pro!lem !ehaviour are pro!a!ly attri!uta!le to gender and age rather than musical influence (:oook 1 $eiss, '997+"

Drug Use
Studies regarding a link !et een heavy metal music and drug use have generated mi-ed results" #ne study found that teenagers ho listened to heavy metal ere more inclined to use drugs, though they ere not more likely to use them e-cessively or !ecome addicted (&rnett, '99'+" #ther researchers have found no link !et een music preference and drug use or drug-related values (McBamara 1 ?allard, '999+" #verall, use of alcohol and6or drugs !y parents has the greatest influence on adolescent drug use (Carrell 1 Strang, '99'+"

Attitudes "o#ard $omen

& study of undergraduate men found that e-posure to heavy metal music (!oth se-ually violent heavy

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3sychology of .eavy Metal Music4 5ffects on Mood, &ggression, Suicid"""

http466,ennifercopley"suite'0'"com6psychology-of-heavy-metal-music-a"""

metal and Christian heavy metal+ increased the tendency to stereotype se- roles and hold more negative perceptions of omen (Da rence 1 Joyner, '99'+"

Effect on Animals
& student named )avid Merrill su!,ected mice to the music of a heavy metal !and called &nthra27-hours a day to discover ho it ould affect their a!ility to learn ne things, !ut instead of completing Merrill%s maEe, the heavy metal mice all killed one another" In a su!se<uent e-periment in hich the mice listened to heavy metal music for '0 hours each day, they did not !ecome homicidal, !ut they did gro orse at solving the maEe than they had !een hen they first encountered it (Schiller Institute, '* Ce!ruary '998+" ?ut research indicates that reactions to music are shaped !y hether or not it is the genre of choice, and itFs highly unlikely that if the mice had a musical preference at all, it ould have !een &nthra-"

Effect on Plants
)orothy @etallack tested the effects of various types of music on plants" She found that playing classic rock artists such as Ded Geppelin, Jimi .endri- and Hanilla Cudge caused the plants to gro in an unhealthy ay, !end a ay from the speakers and die young" .o ever, if e assume that plants can have musical preferences, itFs possi!le that classic rock as not their music of choice (@o!ertson, 2000+"

%urther Information
Cor more information on music psychology, please see :he 3sychology of Classical Music, :he 3sychology of Music and @ap MusicFs 3sychological 5ffects" @eferences4 &rnett, J" ('99'+" I.eavy metal music and reckless !ehavior among adolescents"I Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 2*8-292" ?ecknell, M"5"A Cirmin, M"$"A . ang, C"A Cleet ood, )"M"A :ate, 0"D"A 1 Sch a!, J")" (2008+" I5ffects of listening to heavy metal music on college omen4 & pilot study"I Colle e Student Journal, !2"#$, 27-82" Carrell, M", 1 Strang, J" ('99'+" ISu!stance use and misuse in childhood and adolescence"I Journal of Child %s&cholo &, '2, '09-'28" 0emper, 0" J", 1 )anhauer, S" C" (2002+" KMusic as therapy"L Southern Medical Journal , ()"'$, 282-288" Da rence, J"S", 1 Joyner, )"J" ('99'+" K:he effects of se-ually violent rock music on malesF acceptance of violence against omen"L %s&cholo & of Women *uarterl&, #+"#$, 79-=8" McBamara, D", 1 ?allard, M"5" ('999+" K@esting arousal, sensation seeking, and music preferenceL M.:MD HersionN" ,enetic, Social - ,eneral %s&cholo & Mono raphs, #2+"'$. @o!ertson, )" (2000+" K&!out 3ositive Music"L )ovesong"com" Scheel, 0"@", 1 $estefeld, J"S" ('999+" K.eavy metal music and adolescent suicidality4 &n empirical investigation M.:MD HersionN" Adolescence, '!"#'!$. Schiller Institute" ('* Ce!ruary '998+" I:o ards a ne renaissance in classical education"I Science)aily"com" (22 March 200*+" KJifted students !eat the !lues ith heavy metal"L :ook, 0" J", 1 $eiss, )" S" ('997+" I:he relationship !et een heavy metal and rap music and adolescent turmoil4 @eal or artifact>4 Adolescence, 2(, ='8-=28" $alker, 0", 1 0reiner, )"S" (200=+" I@elationships of music preferences ith perceived intelligence, measured intelligence, and mood state"I #)th Annual Conference of the Association for %s&cholo ical Science" Be Oork, Be Oork" $anamaker, C"5", 1 @eEnikoff, M" ('989+" I5ffects of aggressive and nonaggressive rock songs on pro,ective and structured tests"I Journal of %s&cholo &, #2'"/$, 2='" $ooten, M" &" ('992+" I:he effects of heavy metal music on affect shifts of adolescents in an
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3sychology of .eavy Metal Music4 5ffects on Mood, &ggression, Suicid"""

http466,ennifercopley"suite'0'"com6psychology-of-heavy-metal-music-a"""

inpatient psychiatric setting"I Music 0herap& %erspectives, #0, 98-98" Copyright Jennifer Copley" Contact the author to o!tain permission for repu!lication"

Jennifer Copley - Jennifer Copley, ?C&, ?5d, has a diverse !ase of e-pertise that includes research, riting, education, pet care, and various other """

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