The Analysis of the Relationship Between University Stu- Dents' Attitude to Listening to Music and Their Level of Optimism

Vol.9(18), pp. 719-723, 23 September, 2014 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2014.1906 Article Number: 230C64347272 Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 1990-3839 Copyright © 2014 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR

Full Length Research Paper

The analysis of the relationship between university students’ attitude to listening to music and their level of optimism

Aksoy, Nil

University of Aksaray, Faculty of Education, Department of Fine Arts Education, Aksaray, Turkey.

Received 12 August, 2014; Accepted 27 August, 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between university students’ attitude to listening to music and their level of optimism. The study group for the research consists of 508 students who studied at Aksaray University in the 2012-13 academic year. Simple random sampling is used. In this study, the “Attitude Scale for Listening to Music” and the “Optimism Scale”, which were developed by the researcher, are used for measurement. According to the findings of the research study, there is a significant correlation at the level of .430 between students’ attitudes to listening to music and their level of optimism. The level of optimism has a positive impact on the attitude to listening to music at the level of .184.

Key words: Attitude, Listening to music, Optimism

INTRODUCTION

Music has been defined in many ways up till date. birth existence of an individual, evolves into a “direct According to an approach connecting the fundamental relationship” following birth, and continues to be a part of similarities among these definitions, music is an aesthetic human life by gradually diversifying, enriching, growing whole which narrates emotions, thoughts, designs and stronger and developing. It is a known fact that a baby, impressions through processing them, by adopting a even in its mother’s womb, is impressed by the certain aim and method, with sounds which are combined heartbeats of the mother and that rediscovering this according to a certain concept of beauty (Uçan, 2005, p. familiar sound and rhythm after birth has a relaxing effect 10). on the baby. One of the meanings of music, in ancient Greece, was As a matter of fact, experiments show that new-borns that it is a human activity which impresses emotions and lying in a room listening to pre-recorded heartbeats fall prompts good or bad aspirations (Şenel, 2013, p. 8, from asleep faster compared to those in a silent room. This is Cross and Tolbert). considered as an indicator that a baby begins to gain a Music is an inalienable phenomenon which occurs at certain amount of sensitivity towards music, and particu- every phase of human life. The human-music relationship, lar musical elements, even before birth (Uçan, 2005, p. which begins to be established indirectly during the pre- 12).

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The fact that music has a psychological effect on human In a study where patients listened to soft and sedative beings is constantly emphasized; besides this, various music for 30 min for a period of two weeks, a significant scientific studies show that such an effect does not only improvement was observed in their global depressive occur in people, but in other species as well. This feature scores. As many studies show, music has a cumulative of music has sometimes resulted in the use of music in effect over time. In another study, depression patients the treatment of psychiatric illness in people by medical were observed to express their condition better when professionals, or its use in learning efficiency from other they listened to melancholic music compared to listening species (especially animals) at other times (Sezer, 2011, to cheerful, fierce or gruesome music, or no music at all. p. 1474). The authors claim that this sort of treatment lifts the Data indicate that in ancient Greece, music was used in patients’ verbal barriers to the expression of their feel- the treatment of epilepsy, depression, homesickness, ings, thus enabling therapists to offer counselling more melancholy, mania, insanity, somnambulism, lethargy, comfortably (Birkan, 2014, p. 47). catatonia, hysteria, paralysis, aphasia, tarantism, chorea, In a study of the relationship between music and states gout, inflammatory diseases, rheumatism, aches, plague, of emotion and aggression by Krahe and Bieneck (2012), measles, rabies, and so on. An ancient Greek proverb both the participants’ states of emotion and their reactions declares: “Use songs efficiently, you may thus possibly to negative feedback were measured under three relieve pain” (Birkan, 2014, pp. 37-38). different conditions, namely listening to appealing music, In “The Sole Method for a Better Understanding of the unappealing music and no music at all. Partici-pants who Pulse”, Marguet (1769) argues that in the treatment of were listening to appealing music were observed to show melancholy, one must use a piece of music that is simple, less aggression towards feedback with more positive comes in assorted tones and is appealing to the soul. states of emotion, compared to participants in the other According to Marguet, music awakens the slumbering two conditions. Moreover, the findings showed that soul by stimulating hearing and other sensory nerves. In appealing music increased the amount of positive the treatment of chronic melancholy, music must be soft emotions, which then reduced the feeling and demon- and at a gentle pitch, while in acute cases it should be stration of aggression. Meanwhile, under the condition of merry, vivacious and intense (Birkan, 2014, p. 39; unappealing music, a lesser number of positive emotions Marguet, 1769). were reported, which resulted in a higher tendency According to Ibn-i Sina (Avicenna), the changes in towards aggressive behaviour through an increased one’s voice reveals one’s mood; what makes musical feeling of aggression. compositions appealing to us is not our sense of hearing, According to the results of another study conducted to but our cognitive skills which gain various inspirations evaluate the effect of music on increasing both the from that melody (Somakçı, 2003, p. 132). positive emotions and the work performance of computer Listening to music is one of the musical behaviours of software developers, who are pressured for constant an individual, an interaction with music in his or her productivity and creativity in their job, the positive environment (Uçan, 2005, p. 13). emotional state of the software developers increased Listening to music is not only an auditory event but is during the week they listened to music and decreased in also an event of a visual, tactile nature and is accom- the week they did not (Lesiuk, 2005). panied by emotional experiences. All of these functions Optimism was defined by Scheier and Carver (1985) as occur in different cerebral areas. Audio stimulation even one’s expectation of positive results in the future and faith at a low level arouses the fundamental emotional circuits. in good outcomes. For example, the inferior colliculus, rich in opioid According to Goleman (2012), optimism and hope are receptors, is one of the stopovers of the auditory pathway learnable concepts; likewise despair and hopelessness. in the peduncle. The mother’s voice will be registered At the core of both concepts is self-sufficiency, meaning here first and the periaqueductal grey matter next to the the faith that one has in one’s ability to cope and handle inferior colliculus is where affective awareness occurs difficulties in one’s life. (Birkan, 2014, p. 44). Optimism, one of the favourite concepts of positive According to Meyer’s melodic expectation theory, which psychology, has become a popular area of study among Kaemmer referred to in relation to the meaning music contemporary psychologists in the past 25 years. creates for people via its tones, such meaning concerns Psychologists have evaluated optimism under the the reaction to the nature of musical resonance. concepts of situation-based, case-specific and hope- According to this theory, music, when it contravenes the related optimism, and often associated optimism with routine musical templates that a person is accustomed to, desirable results, without considering how optimism was causes uncertainty in the listener, thus resulting in a measured. Studies on this subject on wide samples show certain reaction. What makes a piece of music appealing that optimism has a positive effect on people’s health and is that it can bring this sort of uncertainty under control welfare. These studies manifest longitudinal and cross- (Şenel, 2013, p. 9; Kaemmer, 1993). sectional relations between optimism and personal Musical therapy has various uses in major depression. wellbeing, self-esteem, low-level depression, low-level

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negative emotions and life satisfaction (Öztürk, 2013; comprised 15 questions of a Likert-style attitudinal scale with five Peterson and Park, 2004). choices. The replies were sorted from positive to negative in the Lyubomirsky (2011) stated that individuals with an following order: “strongly agree (5)”, “considerably agree (4)”, “partially agree (3)”, “slightly agree (2)”, “do not agree at all (1)”. optimistic point of view had a high level of happiness and Reverse scoring was used in negatively-keyed items. The life satisfaction. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was measured to determine Research shows that, if the individual is expecting the reliability of the scale; the results were .857 for dimension 1 and optimistic results, they make a constant effort to resolve .829 for dimension 2. the issues and expect good outcomes even under difficult The “Optimism Scale” developed by the researcher through 17 questions was pre-implemented on 200 participants, and those with circumstances (Güleri, 1994; Aydın and Tezer, 1991). a correlation value below 30 were excluded from further analysis. The literature review found no study on the relationship As a result of factor analysis, the scale was found to be single- between attitude to listening to music and the perception dimensional and the scale clarified 44% of the total variation. Factor of optimism. Therefore, this study is aimed at making a load values were between .350 and .878. The scale comprised 15 contribution to address this deficiency in this field. The questions of a Likert-style attitudinal scale with five choices. The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship replies were sorted from positive to negative in the following order: “strongly agree (5)”, “considerably agree (4)”, “partially agree (3)”, between university students’ attitudes to listening to “slightly agree (2)”, “do not agree at all (1)”. Reverse scoring was music and the perception of optimism. The corresponding used in negatively-keyed items. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability results will be given below. coefficient was measured to determine the reliability of the scale, For this purpose, the following research questions will and the result was .911. be addressed:

Data analysis 1. What is the attitude of university students towards listening to music? For the statistical analysis of the data obtained from the imple- 2. What is the level of optimism by university students? mentation of the scales, SPSS 12.0 (Statistical Packet for the 3. Is there a meaningful correlation between the attitude Social Sciences) software was used. A significance level of 0.005 of university students towards listening to music and their was chosen for statistical significance. In order to detect the relationship between the students’ attitude towards listening to level of optimism? music and their level of optimism, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used.

METHODOLOGY

Research design FINDINGS AND REVIEWS

Descriptive design, which is a quantitative research method, is Findings on the attitudinal scores of the university adopted in this research in order to determine the relationship students towards listening to music between the attitude of university students towards listening to music and their level of optimism. As Table 1 shows, the average attitudinal score of university students towards listening to music was found to be 3.30. Therefore, we may assert that the university Participants students’ attitude towards listening to music is at a The study group of the research consists of 508 students aged 19- medium level. 25 who studied at Aksaray University in the 2012-13 academic year. Simple random sampling is used. Findings on university students’ level of optimism

Data collection and analysis As Table 2 shows, the average score of university students’ perception of optimism was found to be 3.71. In this piece of study, the “Attitude Scale for Listening to Music” and the “Optimism Scale”, which were developed by the researcher, are Therefore, we may assert that university students’ level of used for measurement. optimism is at medium rate.

Research instruments Findings on the relationship between university students’ attitude to listening to music and level of The “Attitude Scale for Listening to Music” developed by the resear- optimism cher as an assessment tool in 21 questions was pre-implemented on 200 participants, and those with a correlation value below 30 Upon assessment of the correlation between the univer- were excluded. As a result of factor analysis, the scale was found to sity students’ attitude towards listening to music and their be two-dimensional in the psychological (eight items) and cognitive (seven items) dimensions, and the scale clarified 51% of the total level of optimism, significant correlation was found variation. Factor load values were found to range from .558 to .799 between the dimension 1 of attitude towards listening to for dimension 1 and .408 to .751 for dimension 2. The scale music and the optimism total at a level of .459, and also

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Table 1. Attitudinal scores of the university students towards listening to music.

Mean Std. Deviation N MD1 3.55 6.49104 507 MD2 2.85 5.52301 508 MD 3.30 10.72055 507

(MD1: attitude towards listening to music, dimension 1; MD2: attitude towards listening to music, dimension 2).

Table 2. Scores of university students’ level of optimism.

Ave. Std. Deviation N Optimism 3.71 11.44565 508

Table 3. Relationship between attitude to listening to music and level of optimism.

MD1 Total MD2 Total MD Total Optimism Total MD1 Total Pearson Correlation 1 .589** .909** .459** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 N 507 507 507 507

MD2 Total Pearson Correlation .589** 1 .872** .294** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 N 507 508 507 508

MD Total Pearson Correlation .909** .872** 1 .430** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 N 507 507 507 507

Optimism Total Pearson Correlation .459** .294** .430** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 N 507 508 507 508

(MD1: attitude towards listening to music, dimension 1; MD2: attitude towards listening to music, dimension 2).

at a level of .294 between dimension 2 and the level of students’ attitude towards listening to music and their optimism. A medium positive significant correlation at the level of optimism. The university students’ attitude level of .430 was observed between the general attitude towards listening to music and their level of optimism towards listening to music and the level of optimism. were found to be at medium rate. Therefore, we may assert that the level of optimism has a A significant correlation between the university positive impact on the university students’ attitude students’ attitude towards listening to music and their towards listening to music at the level of .184; and, level of optimism at the rate of .430 was observed. likewise, their attitude towards listening to music has a Consequently, it was concluded that the level of optimism positive impact on their level of optimism ( Table 3). has a positive impact on the university students’ attitude towards listening to music at the rate of .184; and, likewise, their attitude positively impacts on their level of Conclusion optimism. Although the literature review found no study directly on This research was conducted on 508 students aged 19- the relationship between the attitude to listening to music 25 who studied at Aksaray University in the 2012-13 and the level of optimism, a significant amount of academic year in order to determine the university research has been conducted on music and its relation to

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psychology and emotions. For instance, Lemont and Kaemmer JE (1993). Music in Human Life: Anthropological Eerola (2011) reviewed the relationship between music Perspectives on Music.University of Texas Press, 245p. and emotions. Getz et al. (2014) conducted research on http://books.google.com.ng/books/about/Music_in_human_life.html?i d=fqAwAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y the effects of stress, optimism and music training on Lemont A, Eerola T (2011). Music and Emotion: Themes and listening to music and preferences. The results showed Development. Musicae Scientiae. 15(2):139icae Sdoi: that a high level of stress predicted the tendency for 10.1177/1029864911403366 listening to music, while optimistic individuals were Lesiuk T (2005). The effect of music listening on work performance, Psychol. Music 33(2):173-191. emotionally more inclined to listen to music. This http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/LESIUKarticle20 suggested that stress and optimism affect listening to 05.pdf music, even if in a negative manner. The research Lyubomirsky S (2001). Why Are Some People Happier Than Others? indicated that people with a music training background The Role of Cognitive and Motivational Process in Well-Being. Am. Psychol. 56(3):239-249. doi: 10.1037//0003-066X.56.3.239 had a tendency to listen to music for cognitive reasons Krahe B, ve Bieneck S (2012). The Effect Of Music-İnduced Mood On rather than emotional reasons, although their levels of Aggressive Affect, Cognition, And Behavior. Journal Of Applied Social optimism were lower and their stress levels higher. Psychology, 42(2):271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00887.x Miranda and Claes (2009) conducted a study on 418 Marguet (1769) 'Nabzı İyi Anlamak İçin Tek Yöntem' adlı eserinde melankoliyi tedavi etmek için basit, çeşit çeşit inleyen, ruhu okşayan French-Canadian teenagers in order to find experimental bir müziğe başvurulması. evidence for how the music preferences of teenagers are Miranda D, Claes M (2009). Music listening, coping, peer affiliation and correlated with their relationship with adults. They depression in Adolescence. Music Society for Education, Music Psy- observed whether the level of depression in adolescent chol. Res. 37(2):215–233. doi: 10.1177/0305735608097245 Sezer F (2011). Öfke ve Psikolojik Belirtiler Üzerine Müziğin Etkisi. girls and their coping through listening to music is Uluslararası İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, 8 (1). 1472-1493 Retrived June, 2, correlated with their level of depression, and whether or 2014 from http://www.j- not they prefer metal music. They also addressed whether humansciences.com/ojs/index.php/IJHS/article/viewFile/1732/732. there is a correlation between the level of depression and Scheier MF, ve Carver CS (1985). Optimism, Coping And Health: As- sessment And İmplications Of Generalized Outcome Expectancies. coping with emotional adaptation by means of listening to Health Psychol. 4(3):219-247. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219 music in teenage boys. They concluded that there is a Somakçı P (2003). Türklerde Müzikle Tedavi. Erciyes Üniversitesi correlation between high levels of depression among Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 15(2):131–140. teenagers who listen to metal music and the fact that they Şenel O (2013). Müzik Algısı, Müzik Tercihi ve Sosyal Kimlik Bağlamın- da Müzikte Önyargı ve Kalıp Yargı. (Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi). choose to associate only with peers who are more Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi/ Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü, İzmir. depressed than them. Uçan A (2005). Müzik Eğitimi. Temel Kavramlar, İlkeler, Yaklaşımlar ve Consequently, although it is evident that there is a Türkiye’deki Durum (3. Basım). Ankara: Evrensel Müzik Evi. relationship between music and people’s state of

emotions and psychological mood, the perceptions of people from different environments, age, economic or social status may vary. Therefore, it is worth noting that the findings of this study are limited to the students who

studied at Aksaray University in the 2012-13 academic year, and that a study conducted on a different sample could result in considerably different outcomes.

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