1. 1
Research Project
Effects of Classical Music on Stress and Anxiety in Students
Submitted to:
Dr. Naumana Amjad
Submitted by:
Asad Abbas
Roll No. 15
MS.c morning 2nd semester
Institute of Applied Psychology
University of the Punjab
Lahore

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Abstract
The present study intended to explore the effects of classical music on stress and
anxiety in students. The DAAS scale (Lovibond and Lovibond1995) was used to measure
stress and anxiety. The sample of 20 male participants (M age= 22.22, SD= 1.47) was
selected from various departments of University of the Punjab Lahore. It was
hypothesized that classical music will decrease the stress and anxiety level in students.
Results from paired sample t-test demonstrated that the effect of classical music on stress
and anxiety was not significant. Music has little effect as before music (M= 38.10, SD=
9.78) and after music (M= 34.95, SD= 8.98) but this was statistically not significant.

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Contents
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of contents
CHAPTER I
Introduction
1.1 Historical Background of Music…………………………………..
1.1.1 Definition of Music………………………………..…………..
1.1.2 What is music? .............................................................................
1.1.3 Types of music…………………………………….……………..
1.2 What is stress? .............................................................................
1.2.1 Definition of stress………………………………………………
1.2.2 Physiological and Psychological stress………………………….
1.3: Effects of music on stress and anxiety……………………………..
1.4: Literature Review…………………………………………………………
1.5: Rationale of the study ……………..……………………………………..
1.6: Hypothesis………………………………………………………………..

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CHAPTER 11
Methodology
2.1: Research Design …………………………………………………………
2.2: Sample…………………………………………………………………..
2.3: Inclusion Criteria….……………………………………………………
2.4: Exclusion criteria………………………………………………………..
2.5: Operational Definitions of the Variables………………………………
2.6: Assessment Measures……………………………………………………
2.7: Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………...
2.8: Procedure………………………………………………………………….
CHAPTER 111
3: Results…………………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER 1V
4: Discussion…………………………………………………………………….
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Table I:Descriptives of demographics and study variables…………………………….
Table II: Results of t-test and descriptive statistics…………………………………….

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Introduction
Music is an art of combining and arranging sounds able to be produced by
humane voice or instruments. It is a source of pleasure and relaxation throughout history
for all age groups. The world is becoming a global village and music also has global
impacts on humane emotions like stress and anxiety. Prior researches on music are
mostly in China and Western countries. According to these researches music can
decrease stress and anxiety level of individuals. This study is design to explore the effects
of classical music on stress and anxiety in students. The experimental within group
design was used in this study.
Since early times, music has played an essential part in human life. It was
appreciated by ancient, primitive and advanced civilizations that realized its power.
Music is universal as language, but it ‘‘speaks’’ louder than words. Since sounds never
lie, music has a truthful authority. Music has intrigued philosophers and writers who tried
to understand its effect on the human body and on human emotions (William
Styron,1990).
The roots of music can be traced to early infancy. ‘‘I believe we see in infants
innate psychological foundations of both musical behavior and musical awareness that
are unique to human beings’’. In his view, music has strong roots in human nature
(Trevarten 2002), (pp. 21).
Three therapeutic functions attributed to music by the Greeks and expressed in
their myths: (1) restoring both the soul and or the body to a state of equilibrium, arousing
or soothing as needed, to temper excess or deficient emotion; (2) creating the sensation of

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pleasure through movement; (3) inducing catharsis that purges the soul of emotional
conflict. The Greeks thought that music penetrates the body, the mind and the soul. Its
healing effect was well recognized throughout the many productions of human behavior
(Rowell, 1984) posits.2
1.1.1: What is Music?
Stern (1985) uses musical concepts to describe the very first communication of
the baby with his mother and thinks that the intonation we use when we speak expresses
our authentic emotions. The musical happening is a manifestation of emotional
communication (Gilboa et al. 2006).
1.1.2: Definition
“The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and
evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre”.
“Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm”.
“Music is an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant
forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and dynamics”.
On the psychological and scientific sides the latest and the most authoritative
definition of music is given by the eminent American scholar, Dr. Seashore. Using the
term "feeling" in a specialized sense, he says: "Music is essentially a play of feeling upon
feeling. It is appreciated only insofar as it arouses feeling and can be expressed by active
feeling. We are, of course, not thinking here about this mysterious something which is
spoken of as feeling. In modern psychology to feel is always to do, to express something

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- action of the organism. There are two aspects of feeling in music. One is the nature of
aesthetic experience and the other is what we may call the 'creative feeling' as it operates
in the composer. Thus, "music is in the first and the last instances, in the mind of the
composer and in the mind of the listener, not actual sounds but images, ideas, ideals,
thoughts, emotions" (Khalfa et al, 2003).
1.1.3: Types of music
There are different types of music, some commonly known types are following.
Classical music
The kind of music that most of us have forgotten, yet listen to everyday. Because
most of what we hear now is derived from what the great classical composers created
decades and centuries ago. We may think of classical music as what orchestras play in a
giant auditorium, wearing black clothes, with a conductor frantically waving his staff
about. That's a very base description of something that the composers dedicated their
lives to. The main categories in classical music go a little like this.
Rock Music
The origins of rock 'n' roll are as foggy as the genre is popular. What I can offer
you is this: the term was coined in 1955 by Alan Freed, a disc jockey from Ohio. The
oldest form of rock 'n' roll (1950s) was a mixture of R&B, country and rockabilly (it was
just called hillbilly music back then), only it was faster, louder and 'dangerous'. The man
at the forefront of this genre was (and still is) Elvis Presley, followed by personalities like
Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The rock scene in the 50s was more about shock value,

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which included fashion statements, sexually-oriented lyrics and dance moves catering to
a young audience in particular.
Blues Music
The reason why blues became so popular can only be understood when you look at
its time of creation. The origin of blues is too unclear to pinpoint to one artist or one year;
for the sake of historic importance, it's believed that the blues music was created in the
late 19th century, by the black slaves that were forced to work in the cotton fields. Blues
has firm roots in African traditional music. But above all else, the purpose of making the
blues is always the same: the expression of intense emotions. It is the one reason why this
genre had such a profound effect on America, and eventually the world.
Jazz
Jazz is the second genre born from African traditional music. It is considered to be
America's first indigenous form of music. It is believed to have started after the Civil War, when
the black people were free to travel and seek employment. Similar to the blues, the jazz styles are
also classified according to time and location.
Electronic
Electronic music is much older than you think. The first in the history of electronic music
was Thaddeus Cahill and his telharmonium in 1897. Since then, composers started using the
concept of electronically generated music to produce scores that were impossible to replicate by
man through existing mechanical instruments.

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Folk
Folk music can be broadly classified into two groups, traditional folk and folk revival. Not
styles, like other genres. There is only one type - folk. The actual folk songs are something that
are indigenous to a culture, popularized at events and passed down mostly orally. It is often the
case that a folk song does not have a singular credible artist (or cannot be found). The songs are
sourced as anonymous and are therefore, not owned by anyone.
Country
Country music originated around the 1920s, part in Southern U.S. and part in the
Appalachian mountains. It comes from a combination of southern folk songs, gospel and blues
music. It all started with 'Sallie Gooden' by Eck Robertson. His style was similar to what we can
call country music. The genre was made famous by Jimmie Rodgers, who is also known as the
Father of Country Music.
Ska and Reggae
To be precise, reggae can be called an offshoot of ska, because ska came before reggae. To
know how reggae started, you'll have to take a look at ska and rocksteady.
Ska is roughly a mixture of calypso and jazz. It is more percussive than melodic and very upbeat.
You can divide the styles of ska into three generations or 'waves'.
Hip Hop
The music of hip hop is just a part of the whole culture, a very big part. The music is
marked by a significant importance to the bass and the beats, with rapping as the predominant
vocal art form. Which is why rap is a part of hip hop culture and therefore, its styles is also a part
of hip hop music.

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1.2: What is stress?
Stress is part of everyday life (at home, in work, in personal relations), as well as
a psychological condition that is part of a crisis (trauma, wartime, illness, etc.). Outside
the laboratory, stress is accepted as an unavoidable by-product of living and is an
especially complex phenomenon in the modern technological society (Lazarus 1999).
1.2.1: Definition
As an emotional state caused by various emotional or circumstantial factors, stress
can cause a multitude of physical manifestations.
The ability to manage stress has figured prominently in anxiety and
psychosomatic research and in discussions of health psychology or behavioral medicine.
Reports of a statistical
link between coronary heart disease and individuals with a particular personality
profile that is characterized by a behavioral pattern manifesting a life style of impatience,
a sense of time urgency, hard-driving competitiveness and a preoccupation with
vocational and related deadlines (‘‘Type A personality’’) have been reported numerous
times. Similar correlations with other behavior profiles have suggested potential links to
cancer, diabetes and other chronic medical conditions (Lazarus 1999).
1.2.2: Physiological and Psychological Stress
The physiological response to stress includes an increase in heart rate and blood
pressure, an endocrinological response that includes activation and release of ‘stress
hormones’ (mainly ACTH and cortisol) which activate the sympathetic nervous system

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(‘‘fight or flight’’). Psychological strategies are enhanced in order to manage tension and
minimize distress (Thompson, 2009)
In psychology and biology, the term ‘‘stress’’ is applied to describe a response or
reaction to an external event or interference that disturbs and jeopardizes the functioning
of an organism. Organisms, both animals and humans, respond to physical and
psychological stress with behavioral and physiological defenses. If the stress is too
powerful, too prolonged, or is perceived as too threatening, or if the defenses are
inadequate, then a somatic or psychological dysfunction may be expressed: chronic pain
and illness (Sloboda, 1996).
1.3: Effects of Music on Stress and Anxiety
Those positive emotions such as happiness, pride, love, gratitude are also
frequently associated with stress. He distinguishes between social stress, physiological
stress and psychological stress and integrates both stress and emotion into one theoretical
framework, with appraisal and coping as its basis. Emotions have practical importance in
our physiological and psychological well-being and in social functioning (Lazarus, 1999).
One example, of many, that demonstrates how music can influence neurological
functions is given in a report that the amplitude of a startle eye blink reflex was larger and
its latency shorter during unpleasant music compared with pleasant music, suggesting
that the defensive emotional system is modulated by music. More profound effects are
given in reports that demonstrate that musical training enhances activation and
development of certain neuronal structures including cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and
hypothalamus and improves plasticity and neurogenesis (Roy et al. 2009).

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1.4: Literature Review
Many researchers have tried to understand the sources of emotions we experience
in response to music. Thompson (2009), points out to the different possible sources of
emotional responses to music that can either reflect direct sources such as psychophysical
cues or expectancy mechanisms or indirect sources such as personal memories or cultural
significance. Psychophysical cues (such as a sudden loud or soft sound) are grasped as
‘‘emotional’’ since they may signal a forthcoming event that may have a biological
significance; it may put us on alert and challenge us. Expectancy mechanisms involve
emotions, since being able to predict forthcoming events is a biological advantage. These
direct sources are powerful, immediate and personal. When both sources are activated,
the experience can be rich and intense (Thompson, 2009).
Expectancy mechanisms also exist among music listeners in a different sense:
people expect music to be a change agent in the sense that it will alter their psycho-
logical state and relax them when they are anxious or stressed (Sloboda 1996).
(Juslin and Sloboda, 2001) have reviewed many studies that deal with music and
emotions, but the overall picture is sometimes quite confusing, and research findings can
be contradictory. Understanding the psychological mechanism that underlies the
listener’s emotional response to music might help us in understanding this issue. A
relevant question that is commonly asked is whether music can induce genuine emotions
(the emotive position) or if listeners just perceive emotions expressed by music (the
cognitivist position) and how it can give rise to the listener’s responses (Juslin and
Sloboda, 2001).

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How music affects the responses that were observed in their research: brain stem
responses, evaluate conditioning, emotional contagion, mental imagery, episodic memory
and musical expectancy. Using neuroimaging, researchers were able to reveal brain
activity while responding emotionally to music. Several areas of the brain are activated
while performing or listening to music, and the researchers examined possible
neurological and physiological mechanisms of stress and how music can mediate the
calming of stressful situations (Lundqvist, 2009).542 randomized control studies
reviewed on the stress and anxiety and their reduction by the music intervention in a
preoperative setting. In more than half of the reviewed studies, a beneficial effect of
music was found (Nilsson, 2008).
Approaches for alleviating workplace stress include altering actual demands,
increasing individuals’ abilities to cope by altering cognitive appraisals, behavioral
responses and physiological responses and supporting existing abilities to cope. The use
of music to reduce stress is considered a palliative coping approach in that individuals’
internal psychological strategies are enhanced in order to manage tension and minimize
distress (Sutton and De Baker 2009).
A survey of information offered to parents about benefits of music in parenting
magazines showed that the role of music in reducing stress or changing mood was the
most frequently mentioned. A long list of researchers and authors in education
psychology and therapy who published their studies on music as a stress reducer for
children between 1999 and 2005.(Sims and Udtaisuk, 2008)

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Music may act as an anxiolytic treatment, so that experiences of anxiety is
prevented or reduced. The study explored the effect of experimenter- determined sedative
music on participants’ subjective and physiological stress levels following a cognitive
stressor involving 12 min of preparation of an oral presentation. A control condition, that
of sitting in silence during preparation for the oral presentation, revealed increases in
subjective anxiety, systolic blood pressure and heart rate. The treatment condition that of
presence of the music revealed a significant decrease in subjective anxiety, systolic blood
pressure and heart rate. The findings of the study are promising when one considers
stressors in the air traffic control occupation, whether the stressors are perceived as
mildly or strongly adversary (Chikahisa et al. 2006).
Music, which has been used across the ages to soothe and relax, has been
proposed as a means of decreasing test anxiety among college students (Lai et al, 2008;
Stanton, 1975).
Finally, it is an oversimplified view to assume that people respond similarly to
sedative music. Responses to music are based on factors such as familiarity, preference,
current mood and music training. Recently, neuropsychological research is contributing
evidence of neuroanatomical parallels between processing of daily emotions and
processing of emotional responses to music Such parallels will lead to a more thorough
understanding of the influence of music on brain-emotion structure) (Knight and Rickard
2001).
Listening to self- selected music while being in curative radiation therapy lowers
anxiety and treatment-related distress. However, physical symptoms were not affected by

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the use of music. Higher doses of music produced greater declines in distress (Clark et al,
2006).
Affective response to music depends more on cultural tradition than on inherent
qualities of the music (Gregory and Varney 1996).
The study (Salamon et al, 2003) revealed following a comparison of five different
types of music to a no-music condition that one of the types of music (i.e. atonal music),
was significantly less relaxing. They concluded that preferred music was an important
factor in determining music that is considered relaxing (Fukui and Yamashita, 2003).
1.5: Rationale of the study
The current study investigated how classical music affects stress and
anxiety in students. The focus on music important as music can be both relaxing, but it
can also serve as a safe place through which one can acquire self-knowledge through
sound, observe his own life work at deeper levels and release stress patterns that have
built up through the years (Holland, 1995).
Music has its significance for all age groups of all societies. A recent meta-analysis of
the effectiveness of music use for stress reduction revealed that selections of music based
on research and, as well, preferred music decreased arousal due to stress (Pelletier 2004).
In a study measuring physiological and psychological responses to preferred and relaxing
music, varied types of music chosen by the participants significantly reduced anxiety. The
researchers concluded that preference, familiarity or past experiences with the music may
have an overriding effect on positive behavior change than the type of music (Bernardi et
al. 2006).

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1.9: Hypothesis
Classical music will decrease stress and anxiety in students
Chapter II
Methodology
2.1: Research Design
The experimental within group designed used in this study.
2.2: Sample
The purposive sampling technique used to select sample for this study. The 20
male students were selected from various departments of University of the Punjab
Lahore.
2.3: Inclusion criteria
 Students from age 20 to 30 years were included
 Those students who have interest in music were selected
 The students who listened music at least 30 to 90 minutes in a day
 Graduate and master level students were included
2.4: Exclusion criteria
 M.Phil and PHD students were not included
 Singers were also not selected for this study

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 Those students who play some musical instruments were excluded from
the experiment
2.5: Operational definitions of variables
Music
In this study the music mean an instrumental classical relaxing track having
duration of 10 minutes which is used in experiment.
Anxiety
Score of participants on DAAS scale, which is used to measure anxiety.
Stress
Score of participants on DAAS scale which is also used to measure stress.
2.6: Assessment Measure
The DASS is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the symptoms
of depression, anxiety and stress (Psychology Foundation of Australia, 2002). Each of the
three DASS scales contains 14 items. None of the items on the DASS refer to suicidal
tendencies.
Individuals are asked to rate the extent to which they have experienced symptoms
of depression, anxiety and stress over the past week using a 4-point severity/frequency
scale (Psychology Foundation of Australia, 2002). In addition to the 42-item DASS, a
short version, the DASS21 is available. The DASS21 has 7 items per scale.

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2.4: Ethical Considerations
 Permission will be sorted by all the research participants.
 Care will be given to the research participants about sensitive questions. Option
will be given to them, either they answered the sensitive questions, or they can
skip them.
 Psychological counselling will be offered in case of distress or emergency.
Procedure
For this research an authority letter was attained from the institute of applied
psychology university of the Punjab Lahore. The letter authenticated the researcher’s
identity and topic of the research. This authority letter was presented to participants of
this research. The researcher identified the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The
researcher met participants personally. The researcher assured the participants about
the full confidentiality of all the information obtained from them. The participants
assured to have no physical or psychological harm. The purpose of the research was
explained to them. Their consent was taken. After 30 minutes when participants
started to show symptoms of stress and anxiety a DAAS scale questionnaire was
given to the participants to measure their stress and anxiety level. Then an
instrumental relaxing classical track of 10 minutes was played before participants.
After listening the track the participants were given ten minutes to take rest. Then the
same questionnaire was given and the stress and anxiety of the participants were
measured again.

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Chapter III
Results
The results of the current research are presented for effects of classical
music on anxiety and stress in male students. Reverse coding of the relevant items
on DAAS scale was done to attain homogeneity among obtained scores.
The data was analyzed in three steps. In the first phase missing values
were replaced by mean for each of the variables.
In the second step frequency distribution of demographic data and
descriptive statistics were computed for music, anxiety and stress. Paired sample
t-test was generated to assess the effects of music on stress and anxiety.
Reliability Analysis
The reliability analysis for assessment measure was calculated. The internal
consistency for DAAS was measured by Cronbach’s alpha as .67 was found to be
acceptable.

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Table I
Descriptives of demographics and study variables (N=20)
Variables Mean SD
Age 22.22 1.47
Education (%)
14 years (graduation) 14 70
16 years (master) 06 30
Anxiety 15.57 7.99
Before music 16.85 8.34
After music 14.30 7.61
Stress 20.94 3.74
Before music 21.25 3.87
After music 20.65 3.67
Note: Education (14 years=1; 16 years=2); Anxiety (before=1; after=2); Stress (before=1;
after=2)

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Table II
Results of t-test and descriptive statistics for effects of classical music on stress and
anxiety.
Note: Education (14 years=1; 16 years=2); Anxiety (before=1; after=2); Stress (before=1;
after=2)
The paired sample t-test analysis in table II revealed that mean anxiety and stress
differs before music (M=38.10, SD= 9.78) and after music (M=34.95, SD=8.98) but this
difference was statistically non-significant at the .05 level of significance (t= 1.66, df=
19, p .05, mean difference= 3.15).
The upper results showed that the mean difference of anxiety and stress before
music and after music was not significant but it was due to chance.
Before Music After Music
95% CI for Mean
Difference
Outcome M SD M SD n t df Sig
38.10 9.78 34.95 8.98 20 3.15 1.66 19 .113

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Chapter IV
Discussion
The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of classical music on stress
and anxiety in students. This was an experimental study in which pre-post within group
design was used. The DAAS (Lovibond and Lovibond1995) scale was used to measure
study variables. It was hypothesized that classical music would decrease stress and
anxiety level in students. The Paired sample t-test results shown that classical music did
not decrease stress and anxiety level in students significantly. There was a mean
difference between before and after music but this was not significant. So it was
concluded that mean difference was due to chance. It was not the effect of music.
The paired sample t-test was also generated to examine stress and anxiety
separately. The results were also non-significant for stress and also for anxiety. The mean
difference for anxiety was larger than stress but this was also statistically non-significant.
On the basis of previous literature it was hypothesized that classical music would
decrease the stress and anxiety in students. In contrast to previous literature presented by
(Sloboda, 1996) that people expect classical music to be change agent in the sense that it
will alter their psychological state and relax them when they are anxious and stressed, the
upper results shown that classical music did not change psychological state of students
and did not make them relax when they were anxious and stressed.
Similarly another explanation was given by Sutton and De Baker, 2009 that
classical music reduces stress in individuals and enhance their psychological strategies to

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manage tension and minimize distress. But this finding suggested that classical music did
not reduce stress level of students.
In addition to this a survey of information offered t parents about benefits of
music in parenting magazines showed that the role of classical music in reducing stress or
changing mood was most frequently mentioned. A long list of researchers and authors in
education psychology and therapy who published their studies on music as a stress
reducer for children between 1999 and 2005. (Sims and Udtaisuk, 2008). But findings
from present study also opposed above mentioned statement.
Similarly the theory given by Chikahisa, 2006 that classical music act as an
anxiolytic treatment, so that experience of anxiety is prevented or reduced. The present
study also violated the Chikahisa’s theory that classical music act as a reducer of anxiety.
In this study the results were opposite to this theory.
The current findings are consistent with previous literature presented by Knight
and Rickard, 2001 that it is an oversimplified view to assume that people respond
similarly to music. Responses to music are based on factors such as familiarity,
preference, current mood, music training and some sociocultural factors also contribute to
this.
The results from this study did not support previous literature because the music
played to the participants was not of their choice, it was chosen by the researcher. The
responses to music based on many factors. The most important factor could be the choice
of music. The other important factor behind this could be the familiarity of the music.

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Another research finding which justifies the assumption was presented by Clark, 2006
that listening to self-selected music lowers anxiety and treatment related stress.
Similarly the theory of Gregory and Varney, 1996 that affective response to music
depends on cultural tradition than on inherent qualities of the music also justified the non-
significant results of the current study to the previous literature.
Fukui and Yamashita, 2003 stated that preferred music was an important factor in
determining music that is considered relaxing. This theory was another justification of the
findings of current study that opposed to the previous literature.
Results of current study found that all type of music or all type of classical music
without the choice of people did not alter the psychological state of people when they
were in anxious or in stressful situations. On the basis of literature and results from this
study it is concluded that the classical music has its effects on stress and anxiety but it
depends on the choice of music by the people. It also depends on cultural traditions,
current mood of the people and also the familiarity of that music.

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Acknowledgement
I at first bow my head before Allah Almighty who bestowed his countless
blessings upon me, guided me towards the way of success, and blessed me with courage
of facing problems, and obstacles that enable me to accomplish this research.
I am extremely thankful and grateful to Dr. Naumana Amjad who helped me in all
stages of completion of this research in true sense. This research would not have been
possible without her encouragement and help.
I would also like to thank Ms Mahwish Idrees who helped me a lot in data entry
of this research and guided me in all problems regarding SPSS.
Last but not least I am very thankful to library and computer lab staff and all
existing staff of this department.