Music affects how you continue with your day

Question

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3741536/

Listening to music influences your day. Walking around listening to sad music causes people to view the word in a more negative light, especially if a day is more gloomy. For example, those with depression who listen to sad music can feel worse while those without those symptoms have reported feeling better after listening to sad music as it helps them cope with their feelings.

The power of music impacts how we perceive life and our emotions.

Comments

I agree with this claim. I believe that your mood plays a big part in how you go about your day. If you happen to be listening to somber music you are bound to feel that type of way and vice versa.

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The study highlights an interesting interaction between music, mood, and perception., however, it’s always good to contextualize the data and findings further. The study suggests that sad music intensifies negative feelings in those prone to depression, it doesn’t really explore causation versus correlation. Additionally, I am curious to see more on whether the study considered cultural differences in terms of music. Sad or melancholic music can serve as a communal experience that fosters healing rather than sadness.

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The article explains that music has a powerful influence on emotions and perceptions. For individuals with depression, listening to sad music can worsen negative emotions, while those without depression may find solace in it, using it as a way to cope with feelings. Music can act as both a reflection of our current emotional state and a tool for emotional regulation, depending on how we engage with it. This highlights how music's impact is individualized and suggests the potential for using music in therapeutic contexts tailored to a person’s emotional needs.

Answer 1

According to the CNN article, there is a correlation between music and the mood of individuals. Nina Avramova, the author of this article links to this study to explain how music has been proven to affect individuals with depression. This quote from a study by Western Syndey University backs up the claim "A person with a tendency to depression, however, might listen to the same song but focus on thoughts of how love never works out for them, or how they will never be able to fall in love with anyone else. Thus, instead of feeling better, their negative thought patterns are only deepened by listening to such a song.". There is no doubt that music has an effect on the emotions of individuals but there is a lack of quantitative data to measure how much of an effect there is. For that reason, this claim can't be true or false. 

Sources: 
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2016/sad_music_and_depression_does_it_help

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305735616659552?journalCode=poma

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-845960.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/music-brain-behavior-intl/index.html

Comments

This fact check is very solid as you discuss the articles claim, the study the article got its info from and then discuss that study and what it's actual claim is. You use multiple sources and prove why this claim is neither true or false.

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Really good fact check and analysis of the sources. I like the multiple sources you provide that can back or challenge the claim.

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I particularly like this factcheck because it is a personal question I have wondered for a while. I had prior belief that listening to music affects mood but the user can also simply choose to play disheartening music. I linked an article below which I found to be relevant.

https://aimm.edu/blog/how-does-music-affect-your-mood

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This is an interesting and detailed fact-check. It does a great job at providing research from credible sources, and I appreciate that you marked the claim as "can't be true or false" instead of just marking it as false, because it is a concept that might affect some differently than others. Great job!

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I think this is a great factcheck, I like how you included several sources but I especially appreciate how you said it cannot be true or false instead of just false, because it actually does differ between individuals.

Answer 2

    this article published by author Nina Avramova a CNN international writer, makes the claim that music has a major effect on how you feel and the way you act. The major emphasis of this article is that music is more likely to affect you if you are already in a particular mood to begin with. She uses the example of "drill" music pointing to a U.K. study that says that highlights that drill music contains threatening lyrics often about gang rivalry, and that drill music could be linked to attention seeking crime. As an explanation as to why this might be, she mentions an interview of Criminologist Craig Pinkney where he discusses the recent rise in violence likely due to the absence of youth engagement and investment services in current times compared to the past, the rise in poor mental health in young people, poor housing conditions. Along with fear due to the abundance of violent cases in the U.K. 

    The author of this article highlights something said by Daniel Levitin, a professor of psychology and music at McGill University in Canada, where he says that it is difficult to pinpoint whether music actually causes violence or not. But in the beginning of this article the author point out 5 articles that claim that music can potentially have an impact on illness, depression, spending, productivity, and perception. So, overall the article doesn't conclude that you can be 100% that music will have an impact on you while you listen to it, but to be aware of the content of the music you listen to, and also to be aware of the potential affects that music might have on your physical and mental health.
 

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/music-brain-behavior-intl/index.html

https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/CICrimJust/2015/21.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4pycujd-I

Answer 3

After looking at an article by National Library of Medicine, I can pretty confidently say that this claim is not true or false. In their article they stated: "People listen to music to regulate arousal and mood, to achieve self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness."(National Library of Medicine). This claim states that people are using it to try to "fix" emotions that they may not want and need to get into line. The self-awareness part of the statement is in tune with when people listen to music that they can relate to. Having this sense of relatability so close to people allows people to decompress and possibly grieve with lyrics that explain other people going through similar struggles as themselves. All of this being said it is very hard to determine if music has a real impact on an individual. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3741536/#sec2

Answer 4

1. Write a brief overall summary of your findings.

The claim that “music affects how you continue with your day” is true. Research in psychology and neuroscience shows that music can influence mood, attention, and emotional processing throughout the day. Listening to upbeat or calming music can improve focus and motivation, while sad or dissonant music may lower mood or increase emotional reflection.

2. What primary sources did you find (e.g., transcripts, videos of politician speeches, tweets from public figures, scientific studies)? For each source, write at least one or two sentences explaining what you learned. Include all links.

• National Library of Medicine (NIH)
  • This peer-reviewed study explores how music affects brain regions related to emotion and cognition. It found that listening to different types of music alters brain activity and mood regulation, confirming that music influences how people perceive and respond to their environment.
• Cleveland Clinic 
  • This article from Cleveland Clinic explains how music activates dopamine release in the brain, influencing motivation and mood throughout the day.

3. What secondary sources did you find (e.g., newspapers, magazines)? Only use secondary sources if sufficient primary sources are not available. For each source, write at least one or two sentences explaining what you learned. Include all links.

• CNN Health - How music can change the way you feel and act
  • This article summarizes multiple studies on how music affects the brain. It concludes that listening to music can improve emotional regulation, reduce stress, and can help people feel more positive and productive.

4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have?

• NIH study: only minimal bias because it is a peer reviewed scientific research
• CNN Health: It is a secondary interpretation; which may simplify complex scientific findings for a general audience.
• Cleveland Clinic: It is a medical institution promoting health awareness, which might not has bias.

5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?

All sources agree that music influences mood and behavior. Studies show measurable brain changes when listening to music, and health experts note that music affects motivation, relaxation, and emotional well-being throughout the day.

Answer 5

Music is a powerful tool but it may not work for everyone. Harvard Health explains “This recent systematic review and meta-analysis (a study of studies) showed that the use of music interventions (listening to music, singing, and music therapy) can create significant improvements in mental health, and smaller improvements in physical health–related quality of life.” Music is a great resource that makes you appreciate the things that are happening in your life. Music is complicated, and the relationship that you have with music impacts how it works with your life. Music is an established therapy that is used in healthcare settings, and is proven to do wonders on people who are struggling with depression, or other mental illnesses.  Music doesn't just impact our mental health but has proven to be beneficial in pregnancies, learning, and medical treatments. In our brains listening to music releases dopamine which is the “feel good” chemical released when we listen to music, eat, exercise, etc. There is a proven study that music a great for studying and increased memory, but not all music does the same. Listening to music with words in it is distracting and i'll cause you to lose motivation, but music like classical music, is a very useful tool while studying or learning. Many people may think that music is a distraction and that it is something that is good at taking your mind off things, which then doesn't keep you motivated. Too much cognitive space being used could limit someone's ability to do something, which could make the person frustrated and not want to continue. Music is a tool, used to create motivation and encourage people to keep going, but does not work with some music or with different people.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10162369/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-music-improve-our-health-and-quality-of-life-202207252786

Answer 6

The claim that music affects your day is true and false in many ways. In ways that it is true is that someone can listen to music that they have many memories either happy or sad that can change their mood or add on to the mood someone is already feeling before they listen to the song. as well as it could be the  emotion someone is feeling previously prior to listening to that song that can change their mood or keep it the same. “I also discussed the effects of the listening context on our emotional response – in particular, our mood at the time of listening (e.g. Hunter et al., 2011)” (British Psychological Society). After reading this passage it could really go either way with if music affects your day or it doesn't, this is  evident because of how long music has been studied in the brain as well as theories about both. “Meyer proposed that we feel emotions in response to the harmonic progressions of the music, and to the extent each note or chord fulfils our expectations”( British Psychological Society). This ties well into it because it could be a biological response with how our brain processes and cycles through emotions and what we listen to as a whole. “When happy music was played participants spotted more happy faces and the opposite was true for sad music” (CNN). In addition, from this it can be seen that in a way it can change your emotions  with the music that is played and displayed. When looking through this, it can really go either way with so many factors  that play a role into your mood and it can vary person to person. 

Answer 7

This claim is true. Researchers have found that listening to different types of music can not only affect your emotions but also enhance productivity and creativity, and help make connections with others. For example, listening to happy, upbeat music while you're in a bad mood can help alter the emotions that you're feeling. This is a tactic that some people employ when they're having trouble changing their emotional state. Certain music can also calm your mind and help you focus on tasks or make important decisions (AMRIT, 2024). Music is also directly linked to memories, and listening to certain songs can trigger different memories and cause a plethora of emotions (Durham University, 2023). This phenomenon is called music-evoked autobiographical memory, and it is very common. An example of this would be hearing a song that you haven't heard since you were very young, and being hit with a wave of nostalgia and reminiscence.

Answer 8

The CNN article claims that the music we listen to can impact illness, productivity, perception of the world, and more. They state that there are suggestions that some genres can increase aggression and encourage crime. There is evidence that helps prove that music makes you perceive and experience emotions in response to music. While the response to listening to sad music may not be as strong as witnessing a sad image or autobiographical memory, there is still high reports of self-reported sadness. However, sad music may have the opposite effect on some people, depending on personality, mood and previously learned associations (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4513245/). A study done in 1995 was done where they showed 11-16 year old children violent and non-violent music and found that those shown the violent music were more accepting of violence happening. In 2006, another study done by Fischer and Greitemeyer showed participants either misogynistic or neutral rap music. The results of this study were that the most aggressive groups were men who listened to the misogynistic music and could aggress against a woman, and women who listened to man-hating music and could aggress against a man. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ab.22148). Listening to certain music genres and lyrics can have an effect on how we see different parts of the world and how we choose to interact with it.