Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992, 75, 334
@ I'erceptual and Motor Skills 1992
INFLUENCE OF MUSIC AND SOCIALIZING ON PERCEIVED STRESS WHILE WAITING ' VALERIE N. STRATTON Penn State AItoona Campus Summary.-42 women and 48 men from an introductory course in psychology served in 6 conditions (ns = 12 to 20). Music was helpful in alleviating the stress produced by having to wait for 1 0 min. with a small group of strangers who did not interact socially. Those college students in small groups who interacted and those who waited alone did not find the 10-min. wait to be stressful, with or without music. Despite the general belief that music is an aid for relaxation, findings on this issue are mixed. O n e important difference between laboratory studies and anecdotal reports may be the premusic condition of the individual. Everyday use of music for relaxation occurs presumably when one is experiencing stress, while for research subjects, stress prior to the introduction of music is neicher assessed nor induced. I n this study, therefore, the effect of music on reports of relaxation was examined in the context of a mildly stressful situation, namely, being made to wait. Ninety undergraduate students rated their level of relaxation on a 10-point scale before and after 10 min. of waiting for an hypothetical music-listening experiment to begin. T h e subjecrs waited d o n e or in small groups of two to five and in silence or with easy-listening instrumental music. Because some groups talked during the wait and others did not, six conditions resulted: alone, no music (12 subjects); alone, music (14 subjects); talking groups, no music (17 subjects); talking groups, music (12 subjects); silent groups, no music (15 subjects); silent groups, music (20 subjects). At the end of the session, subjects were also asked to estimate how long they had been waiting. All groups had similar relaxation ratings before waiting (M= 6.8, SD = .4). After the waiting period, the relaxation ratings increased in all conditions except the silent groups without music; these subjects reported a small decrease in relaxation, suggesting that only this condition was perceived as somewhat stressful. Mann-Whitney U tests compared the change in relaxation ratings in the music and no music conditions for each of the three social contexts. The only s i g nificanr difference was between the silent groups with music and the silent groups without music (U= 92.5, p < 0 . 0 5 , one-tailed cest). The music did help to relieve the stress of waiting in silence with strangers. The other two conditions without music were not experienced as stressful and the addition of music to those conditions was superfluous. The time estimates also reflected this finding, with the silent, no music groups giving a significantly higher mean estimate of 16.33 rnin. than [he other five groups for whom values ranged from 9.36 to 11.76 min. (F5,,4 = 4.93, p
@ I'erceptual and Motor Skills 1992
INFLUENCE OF MUSIC AND SOCIALIZING ON PERCEIVED STRESS WHILE WAITING ' VALERIE N. STRATTON Penn State AItoona Campus Summary.-42 women and 48 men from an introductory course in psychology served in 6 conditions (ns = 12 to 20). Music was helpful in alleviating the stress produced by having to wait for 1 0 min. with a small group of strangers who did not interact socially. Those college students in small groups who interacted and those who waited alone did not find the 10-min. wait to be stressful, with or without music. Despite the general belief that music is an aid for relaxation, findings on this issue are mixed. O n e important difference between laboratory studies and anecdotal reports may be the premusic condition of the individual. Everyday use of music for relaxation occurs presumably when one is experiencing stress, while for research subjects, stress prior to the introduction of music is neicher assessed nor induced. I n this study, therefore, the effect of music on reports of relaxation was examined in the context of a mildly stressful situation, namely, being made to wait. Ninety undergraduate students rated their level of relaxation on a 10-point scale before and after 10 min. of waiting for an hypothetical music-listening experiment to begin. T h e subjecrs waited d o n e or in small groups of two to five and in silence or with easy-listening instrumental music. Because some groups talked during the wait and others did not, six conditions resulted: alone, no music (12 subjects); alone, music (14 subjects); talking groups, no music (17 subjects); talking groups, music (12 subjects); silent groups, no music (15 subjects); silent groups, music (20 subjects). At the end of the session, subjects were also asked to estimate how long they had been waiting. All groups had similar relaxation ratings before waiting (M= 6.8, SD = .4). After the waiting period, the relaxation ratings increased in all conditions except the silent groups without music; these subjects reported a small decrease in relaxation, suggesting that only this condition was perceived as somewhat stressful. Mann-Whitney U tests compared the change in relaxation ratings in the music and no music conditions for each of the three social contexts. The only s i g nificanr difference was between the silent groups with music and the silent groups without music (U= 92.5, p < 0 . 0 5 , one-tailed cest). The music did help to relieve the stress of waiting in silence with strangers. The other two conditions without music were not experienced as stressful and the addition of music to those conditions was superfluous. The time estimates also reflected this finding, with the silent, no music groups giving a significantly higher mean estimate of 16.33 rnin. than [he other five groups for whom values ranged from 9.36 to 11.76 min. (F5,,4 = 4.93, p
