IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i2p994-d725992.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Exploratory Study on the Acoustic Musical Properties to Decrease Self-Perceived Anxiety

Author

Listed:
  • Emilia Parada-Cabaleiro

    (Multimedia Mining and Search Group, Institute of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), 4040 Linz, Austria
    Human-Centered AI Group, AI Laboratory, Linz Institute of Technology (LIT), 4040 Linz, Austria)

  • Anton Batliner

    (Embedded Intelligence for Health Care and Wellbeing, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Markus Schedl

    (Multimedia Mining and Search Group, Institute of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), 4040 Linz, Austria
    Human-Centered AI Group, AI Laboratory, Linz Institute of Technology (LIT), 4040 Linz, Austria)

Abstract

Musical listening is broadly used as an inexpensive and safe method to reduce self-perceived anxiety. This strategy is based on the emotivist assumption claiming that emotions are not only recognised in music but induced by it. Yet, the acoustic properties of musical work capable of reducing anxiety are still under-researched. To fill this gap, we explore whether the acoustic parameters relevant in music emotion recognition are also suitable to identify music with relaxing properties. As an anxiety indicator, the positive statements from the six-item Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , a self-reported score from 3 to 12, are taken. A user-study with 50 participants assessing the relaxing potential of four musical pieces was conducted; subsequently, the acoustic parameters were evaluated. Our study shows that when using classical Western music to reduce self-perceived anxiety, tonal music should be considered. In addition, it also indicates that harmonicity is a suitable indicator of relaxing music, while the role of scoring and dynamics in reducing non-pathological listener distress should be further investigated.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilia Parada-Cabaleiro & Anton Batliner & Markus Schedl, 2022. "An Exploratory Study on the Acoustic Musical Properties to Decrease Self-Perceived Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:994-:d:725992
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/994/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/994/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin Han & Ji P Li & Janet W H Sit & Loretta Chung & Zuo Y Jiao & Wei G Ma, 2010. "Effects of music intervention on physiological stress response and anxiety level of mechanically ventilated patients in China: a randomised controlled trial," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(7‐8), pages 978-987, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Usha Pant & Michael Frishkopf & Tanya Park & Colleen M. Norris & Elizabeth Papathanassoglou, 2022. "A Neurobiological Framework for the Therapeutic Potential of Music and Sound Interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Critical Illness Survivors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-19, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu-Fen Chen & Mei-Yu Chang & Lok-Hi Chow & Wei-Fen Ma, 2021. "Effectiveness of Music-Based Intervention in Improving Uncomfortable Symptoms in ICU Patients: An Umbrella Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-21, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:994-:d:725992. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.