Effects of music on aggressive behavior.
Comprehensive music lessons have been proposed to reduce stress reactions and to increase the well-being of primary school children. We investigated this assumption regarding the provoking of aggressive behavior in primary school children (7-8 years).
Stimulated aggression by virtual opponent
A computerized, modified version of the point-subtraction aggression game (“Stimulated Aggression by Virtual Opponent”; SAVO) was used in this example. Self-reporting (positive and negative affect regimen, PANAS) and physiological measures including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR) and salivary cortisol concentrations were recorded before, during and after SAVO.
Music and Behavior
Over the next 18 months, a group of children received weekly sessions of extensive instrumental music classes, while a control group received a natural science training. A series of repeated measurements of variance analyses (ANOVAs) showed no differences in physiological measurements between groups. In addition, only children in the control group, but not music children, showed a significant increase in reactive aggressive behavior after the servo task. These results suggest that music training modulates positive reactive aggressive behavior in primary school children.
Summary
