| dc.description.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 | en_US |
