Abstract
Popular music with prosocial lyrics affects listeners’ thoughts, emotions and behavior, yet little is known about the role played by the actual music in this process. This study focused on the interaction between the prosocial lyrics and the musical production elements, examining whether certain versions of a song can enhance the effect of prosocial lyrics on thoughts, emotions and behavior. Based on the general learning model and the reciprocal-feedback model of music perception, a laboratory experiment ( N = 136) was conducted to test how listeners are affected by music with prosocial or neutral lyrics and by an electronic or an unplugged version of the music. For this purpose, an original song was composed and produced, using the same melodies and harmonies with varied lyrics and instrumentation. In a pilot study ( n = 36), a version with acoustic instrumentation was rated as the most emotional and fitting, whereas an electronic dance version was rated as the least emotional and fitting. There was a significant interaction effect between the lyrics and the musical production elements: Those listening to the unplugged version with prosocial lyrics showed the most empathetic emotions. Prosocial lyrics also had an effect on prosocial thoughts but not on behavior.
Highlights
Popular music with prosocial lyrics affects listeners’ thoughts, emotions and behavior, yet little is known about the role played by the actual music in this process
These results show that those who listened to a song with prosocial lyrics had more prosocial thoughts, but whether the music was unplugged or electronic had no effect on their thoughts
Three two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test Hypothesis 2, which states that the content of the lyrics significantly interacts with the musical production elements for the listener’s emotions
Summary
Popular music with prosocial lyrics affects listeners’ thoughts, emotions and behavior, yet little is known about the role played by the actual music in this process. Based on the general learning model and the reciprocal-feedback model of music perception, a laboratory experiment (N = 136) was conducted to test how listeners are affected by music with prosocial or neutral lyrics and by an electronic or an unplugged version of the music For this purpose, an original song was composed and produced, using the same melodies and harmonies with varied lyrics and instrumentation. A few dozen studies have shown the short-term effects of these types of songs (e.g., Greitemeyer, 2009a; Ruth, 2018a), especially on cognition (e.g., prosocial thoughts and associations) and affect (e.g., empathetic and caring feelings) Most of these studies have focused on conative effects, and only a few have been able to measure actual behavior, with most laboratory and online studies examining behavioral intentions instead. Manipulating the musical parameters of a song, or even substantially altering the emotional quality, would require the permission and most likely the assistance of the music producer
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