THE INTERSECTION OF GOOD MUSIC AND PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

When a person listens to a new song, there are varying variables that garner a positive or negative response. This study measures a combination of these variables and how they relate to what is perceived by the sample to be classified as good music. 100 University of Arizona students from ages 18 to 24 took a Qualtrics survey anonymously with the central question asking about emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to novel music. Each participant input information on who they are and their background, as well as answer on a numbered scale to what degree they thought each quality listed is what makes up high quality music. 57% were male, 36% were female, and the other 5% are non-binary or preferred not to disclose that information. There were 23 Roman Catholics and 12 Jews, and 12 Atheists. We did not put Non Denom Christian so there were about 10 of those. 73 participants were white, 6 black, 6 asian, and 11 were other. The participants were from all over the country, as well as some outliers in London and the Netherlands. The expected result was that the most consistent answer and to the highest degree will be how the song made the participant feel and the overall catchiness of the song. The results show that 56% of the participants chose the main quality of good music to be how it makes you feel. In second place, it was not the catchiness but the musicality (instrumental) that had 15% of participants. There was a high level of variance between genres of songs when participants thought about the first good song that comes to mind. This research can provide findings on what society perceives to be good music and how to use that information to create better music.