"Music can change our moods based on our intent for listening "

Question

Music can affect our mood but only when we intend for it to have an impact on our mood, otherwise it would be ineffective.

Comments

This article doesn't necessarily prove this claim to be true, it rather so plays with the idea that intent is present for music affecting our mood. However, that is not always the case. One does not need to be sad to feel some sort of emotional response to a song, it can happen naturally, subconsciously. Crying during a movie with music in the background can be a powerful force and is a prominent example for this, in my personal experience.

Answer 1

I believe that music does has effect on our mood but not only when we intend for it to. There is research stating that one can choose the certain type of music to help validate the emotion that they are feeling but in an article written by Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, they state that, some react to music differently than others. Music isn't limited to only influencing mood, but memory and behavioral actions as well. One does not have to be in a certain headspace to feel the change of emotion depending on the song, one might also. correlate a certain song to an event, which can subconsciously resurface any emotion felt at the time.

https://www.tmh.org/healthy-living/blogs/healthy-living/how-music-affects-your-mind-mood-and-body

Comments

Though the article that you cited backs up your initial claim, your reasoning on this factcheck is somewhat shaky. The article from Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare that you cited recommends that a person listen to a playlist that transitions from uncomfortable emotions to more comfortable ones in order to self regulate. This is different than what you implied the article intended, saying that people listen to music in different ways instead of validating their emotions. Though 'some people listen to music differently then others' is a almost a direct quote from the article, in the article it comes right after the very paragraph that mentions a fact you are trying to discredit, namely that people like to listen to music to validate and work through their emotions. Overall, your factcheck could have been strengthened by more clear reasoning and possibly, a more credible source like a peer reviewed research article.

Answer 2

I do believe that music can affect our mood, however, I do not believe that it is only for when we intend for it to have an impact on our mood. There is research showing that music can affect our mood even when we’re not trying to change it. Our brains respond to music automatically, so it doesn’t always depend on our intention for it to have an impact. A recent study by Pfizer states that Interestingly, "music can affect our mood even if we can’t recognize or replicate the notes and rhythm. Science has documented numerous instances of people who suffered brain injuries and lost their ability to distinguish melodies but retained the ability to recognize the emotion conveyed by music."

https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us

Comments

Quoting sources in your fact check is very strong and you clearly get to the point that the article is flawed and you  can prove it using a source of your own.

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I like your fact check because it provides a credible source, and you can tell the author is credible because they too cited their sources. This article is also very relevant on the topic and proves your understanding.

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I really admire how you agreed with what you personally thought but then backed it up with credible information. Plugging in your resource made this fact check more legit. I also like how you added the quote which further makes this fact check more reliable knowing you plugged in actual words from the article that you linked.

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I agree with this fact check. The sources the original poster used are trustworthy and credible specifically through the use of Pfizer. I think it is super interesting that subconsciously our brains react to music regardless of if we chose to or not. I think this claim is representative of making a fair argument while still agreeing with someone else’s claim.

Answer 3

No, that idea is false. I found this by researching and Music can change your mood even if you don’t mean for it to. It’s like when you hear a sad song in a movie and start feeling emotional without even paying attention. Studies show music hits parts of the brain that handle emotions, like the reward system, even when you're not trying to let it affect you​. This sources from an article i read fromhttps://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/11/news-music-power

Comments

While I agree with your answer, simply stating that "studies show" without providing any specific studies or metrics is insufficient. Instead, you could have quoted the Global Council on Brain Health or Sound Health/Nation Institute for Health which provided the actual evidence from the article you mentioned. This could strengthen your response and make you more credible.

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Although I think the sources that this individual used is credible, they did not base their argument in seeing all perspectives. I think that it is true that the brain does it regardless of our choice, however, the idea that “what we intentionally listen to affects us” is false, I disagree with.

Answer 4

The claim that music can affect our mood only when we intend for it to have an impact is not entirely accurate. Research in psychology and neuroscience has shown that music can influence our emotions and mood even without conscious intention. For example, music can evoke emotional responses through its melody, rhythm, and harmony .This can happen automatically without the listener intending for it to affect their mood.

https://www.tmh.org/healthy-living/blogs/healthy-living/how-music-affects-your-mind-mood-and-body

Comments

While I don't disagree with your findings, you cite the same source as another answerer, julie gomez. In a way, this makes your answer slightly ineffective, as the information your putting forth has already been shared with the original poster. It would have been helpful to include other sources as well as the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare article, particularly one from a more reputable, peer reviewed source. Since you state that research in psychology/neuroscience shows music has unintentional effects on our bodies/minds, including more that one source from those medical professionals would have been helpful.

Answer 5

While music can influence the way someone feels when listening to a given song, there is no actual proof that will always music effects our moods based on the intent for listening. The article used as a reference point for this claim explains how different genres of music can affect your mood, but not based on the intent for listening. Yes, if you are listening to a sad song, you can have an emotional response to that specific song. However, just because that song makes you sad, you do not always need to be in a sad mood to feel connected to the song. This claim is definitely going in the right direction, I just think it is a little exaggerated and misleading, which means it cannot be true.

Comments

This is a good answer as it reflects on how the claim isn't exactly true or false but more of an opinion piece or an exaggeration. However, I think you also need to include more sources or reference the original article linked more in order to add more credibility to your factcheck!

Answer 6

After reading this article, I would say that this claim is not necessarily true. I think that music can impact our moods and plays a big role on how we feel. What does not seem completely factual is the statement that it can change our moods based on the intent for listening. The article is mainly mentioning how it can affect our mood and steers away from their claim. I agree that it can affect our moods but not our intent for listening. From the site Healthline, it mentions that sad music brings most listeners pleasure and comfort. This research combats that stereotypical statement "listening to sad music makes you more sad". According the Pfizer, "listening to music increases blood flow to brain regions that generate control emotions". What this means is it can cause you to have specific memories based on specific songs you hear. The article by Connolly Music does not prove their claim to be true because there can be times where we are unaware that music can alter our moods. We do not have to listen to music to purposefully have our mood be altered.

https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-listening-to-music-lifts-or-reinforces-mood-051713#Music-as-therapy

Comments

You did a good job at pointing out that the claim about music affecting mood based on intent isn't fully supported. One thing I might add is that intent could matter for some people but not others. It seems very subjective

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This is a thoughtful and well-reasoned response — you clearly explain why you believe the article’s claim isn’t entirely true and support your point with credible sources. You do a great job referencing Healthline and Pfizer to show that music can influence emotions in complex ways, not just based on listening intent. To make your analysis even stronger, you could briefly mention how the Connolly Music article fails to connect intent and mood (for example, by lacking evidence or relying on opinion). Overall, your paragraph shows good critical thinking and effective use of evidence to challenge the claim.

Answer 7

This is more of a conceptual idea but for the most part this claim is true. According to the Jed foundation music can help  your mental health, by being distracting and lowering your stress, helping you find who you are and allowing one to build a community around them by the music one listens to. Music can most commonly be used as a quick mood booster, such as listening to an upbeat song with the intention of getting yourself into the same mood as the song. According to Psychology today music offers a reoccurs for emotion regulation. "Listing to happy music can influence the way one perceives the world in a stressful situation." Music serves as a comfort for ones self, more likely than not putting the listen in a better mood than they were in before. 

https://jedfoundation.org/resource/how-music-can-improve-your-mental-health/#:~:text=improve%20mental%20health.-,Music%20Can%20Be%20a%20Quick%20Mood%20Booster,might%20already%20experience%20this%20yourself.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-of-choice/202211/how-listening-to-music-affects-your-mood#:~:text=Music%20offers%20a%20resource%20for,and%20make%20you%20feel%20better.

Answer 8

This claim is false. It is proven music can change our moods, but not based on our intent for listening. Everyone interprets music differently as well, this article says
“Music and emotions are personal, cultural and associated with prior experiences. A song will not give everybody the same feeling”(https://www.tmh.org/healthy-living/blogs/healthy-living/how-music-affects-your-mind-mood-and-body) 

This shows that one could listen to an upbeat song with the intent of feeling happy, and because music is subjective, end up having a different feeling then the intended one. Music can affect mood when not intended to. An article by Pfizer says “Interestingly, music can affect our mood even if we can’t recognize or replicate the notes and rhythm.”(https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us) 

Answer 9

1. The article the user provided did not necessarily prove that humans need to have intent for music to affect our moods; that is not always true.

2. I could not find any primary sources relating to the topic.

3. https://carruth.wvu.edu/carruth-blog/2019/03/05/how-music-affects-your-mood

This secondary source pulls from scientific studies and discusses how humans use music to accentuate our moods (listening to sad music when sad), but also use music to challenge our moods (listening to upbeat music to get out of a slump).

4. I think that my secondary source carries little bias since the author is a 4th year doctoal candiate in Counseling Psychology at WVU.

5. Evidence from my secondary source could slightly support the claim; however, the claim itself is misleading without the full picture. Music does have proof of changing our moods; however, it can happen subconsciously or with intent.

6. Evidence from the secondary source undermines the claim that we must have intent for music to have an impact on our moods. We can find ourselves listening to sadder songs in the morning, which could then possibly bring our mood down, but just because it wasn't intentional does not mean that music still has no impact.

7. When trying to reach out, I did not gain any responses