Gender Differences in Psychophysiological Responses to Music Listening

Link: http://mmd.iammonline.com.libproxy.wlu.ca/index.php/musmed/article/view/471

Citation: Gupta, U., & Gupta, B. S. (2016). Gender Differences in Psychophysiological Responses to Music Listening. Music and Medicine, 8(1), 53-64.

Affiliation: Banaras Hindu University

Abstract: This study presents a comparative account of psychophysiological responses to music listening in healthy males and
females. The stimulus material was a slow-paced taped rāga Desi-Todi on a flute. The participants listened to music for
30 minutes a day, for 20 days. Pre- and post-treatment procedure was adopted for assessments on psychophysiological
measures. The study supports the following conclusions: (1) music listening produced significant decreases in the
blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and heart rate of females, but had no significant effect in males; (2) music
listening reduced stress, anxiety and depression, enhanced life satisfaction, optimism and hope, and was perceived as
making life more meaningful in males and females; (3) the effects of music listening, that is, reduction in negative
affect, enhancement of positive affect (except the ‘hope’ scores), and decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, were
more intense in females than males.

Keywords: music listening, gender differences, psychophysiological responses, negative affect, positive affect, blood pressure, heart rate