Effects of Different Auditory Stimulation on Physiological Stress Response

Abstract

Stress, such as that elicited by test anxiety, can be caused by many factors. Because the body reacts to stress in a variety of ways, several measurements can be obtained to quantify the stress response. Listening to music is one coping mechanism that has become popular among young adults. Music has been seen as a cost-effective stress management tool and has successfully lowered serum cortisol levels when used before a stressful stimulus (Thoma et al. 2013). However, a less explored topic is how different genres of music can affect stress levels. This experiment explores how four different genres of music alter stress levels while subjects take a stress inducing high level math test. The four genres used were electronic dance music, hard rock, classical, and reggae. Stress levels were measured using heart rate, blood pressure, and electrodermal activity. No statistical difference was found among the musical genres in their ability to impact stress levels through these three variables