Heavy metal and aggressiveness: Does extreme music make us violent?

Music and violence: do they have a scientifically proven relationship?

Punk, metal, hard rock... these are genres that we associate almost automatically with aggressiveness and tension.

However, an article recently published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience suggests that, far from transforming all its listeners into raging beasts, these musical genres could help them regulate their emotions and favor the emergence of positive emotions and moods.

Carrying violence on guitars

Extreme rock-derived music meets all the requirements for bad press: a young and bizarrely aesthetic audience, often politically incorrect lyrics and cultural references that seem to be straight out of Game of Thrones. But it is possible that what characterizes this type of music the most is its energetic spiritThe bursts of aggressiveness that are embodied both in the instruments and in the voice of the vocalists and, many times, also in the lyrics of the songs.

In previous articles we already talked about the relationship between musical tastes and intelligence. In addition, we also echoed a study that related musical preferences with personality.

As has happened with video gamesMuch of public opinion and media opinion leaders have tended to condemn and stigmatize extreme music because of the representations of violence with which it is often associated. It seems almost self-evident that listening to aggressive music inoculates people with aggression, and yet there is almost no scientific evidence in this regard.

On the other hand, there are studies that point in the opposite direction.. According to some research, music does not serve to induce extreme emotional states, but is often used to regulate emotions and restore a certain emotional balance to the body.

The article published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reinforces the latter hypothesis. The research team that wrote it had set out to find out whether these regulatory effects of music were also applicable to extreme genres such as metal, characterized by frenetic drum rhythms and a style of singing that often turns into heart-rending screams.

How was the experiment conducted?

The researchers used a sample composed of 39 people, men and women between 18 and 34 years old, who were fans of some extreme music genre (metal in all its variants, punk, hardcore punk, screamo, etc.). Specifically, participants had to be in the habit of listening to one or more of these genres for at least 50% of the time they spent listening to music on a daily basis.

All participants in the experiment underwent a so-called anger interview, a 16-minute interview that was intended to induce a state of anger in the experimental subject by recalling in the experimental subject by recalling specific situations capable of arousing feelings of anger or indignation. Right after this experience, some of these people spent 10 minutes listening to music of their choice (they brought their music playing devices with them). In this way, the researchers ensured that the people in the group of volunteers who had to listen to music would choose pieces of music that they would normally listen to when they were angry. On the other hand, those who did not have to listen to anything remained waiting for 10 minutes.

The researchers focused on testing the effects that this short musical session had on the volunteers' emotions. To do this, before, during and after the 10 minutes of music, these people were subjected to various mood-measuring instruments.. Specifically, they used Heart rate readings and the application of several questionnaires on subjective psychological states.

Results

The results show how levels of hostility and anger decreased during extreme music listening to the same degree that these emotions decreased in people who waited in silence, away from their audio devices. This could be explained by the regulating effect of the music or also by the passage of the 10 minutes. In addition, the group of people who went through the 10 minutes of extreme music tended to feel greater relaxation and well-being..

This means that not only did the extreme music not produce any feelings of anger, but it did not accentuate the slight anger people felt at the moment they turned on their audio playback devices.

Overall, this research shows how fans of metal and similar genres listen to this type of music during episodes of anger, perhaps to regulate themselves emotionally, and that this type of music does not result in a maintenance of these negative moods.

Bibliographical references:

• Saarikallio, S. and Eerkkilä (2007). The role of music in adolescents' mood regulation. Psychology of Music, 35(1), pp. 88 - 109.

• Sharman, L. and Dingle, G. A. (2015). Extreme metal music and anger processing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, accessed at http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00272/full#B2.