Hypothesis #1 – Music Genres and Emotional Responses I hypothesize that Country will be the most disgusted because young kids aren’t really interested in it. Pop and EDM will get the most happiness because it has been more popular in the recent years. Rock will probably get a group of mixed emotions mostly happiness because this song is an upbeat and original song. Hip Hop will also get a mixed group of emotions, but more disgust because it is probably the second least favourite of these five genres.

Hypothesis #2 – Effects of Music on kids and adults Kids: Kids have less of an opinion on music genres than adults. They probably, when they hear music, are just thinking happy, happy, happy. Adults: They have more of an opinion than kids because they have been listening to music longer, so they know what type of music they like. I predict fewer changes will happen to the kids than the Adults who probably have more stress and negativity surrounding them, making more changes in emotions.   The most major hypothesis is that music has positive (happy) affects on all people’s emotions

The most important research on people and emotions that I found on the web is based on Dr. Ekman’s research. He has learned about emotions for over 40 years as a professor. He talks about 5 core emotions which I chose to include. Dr. Ekman has long descriptions for each emotion but I decided to tweak it a little bit so younger kids could understand it better.   Anger This feeling happens when you feel mad or upset, like when your older sibling is being bossy.

Fear This feeling is when you’re scared or afraid, like watching a horror movie.   Happiness This is the feeling you get when good things happen, like playing with your friend.

Disgust This feeling comes when you feel a hatred for something you don’t like, for example drinking old, rotten milk.

Sadness This is the feeling when something bad or disappointing happens, like missing someone you love. Music and Emotions Research

There is a lot of background research on the positive effect that music has on emotions.

• Music is a tool that can ease negative emotions and enhance positive emotions.
• Music can help people cope with stress or distract them from a bad mood.
• Emotional Resonance: Music profoundly impacts emotional states, offering therapeutic benefits in alleviating stress, anxiety, and depression.

Song Research and Selection I use Spotify and have my own account. I chose the 5 songs because I like them, and I tried not to do any stereotype music genres, for example a country song being sad. I kept the songs around 3 minutes, no swear words, and spent about 90 minutes listening and picking songs. I made a Science Fair playlist with the 5 songs.   “Emotions determine the quality of our lives. They occur in every relationship we care about—in the workplace, in our friendships, in dealings with family members, and in our most intimate relationships. They can save our lives, but they can also cause real damage. They may lead us to act in ways that we think are realistic and appropriate, but our emotions can also lead us to act in ways we regret terribly afterward”. -Dr Paul Ekman    References Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life. Times Books / Henry Holt and Company. Heshmat, S. (2022, November 8). How listening to music affects your mood. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/science-of-choice/202211/how-listening-to-music-affects-your-mood McDonagh, T. (2024, August 24). Understanding the five primary emotions. Good Therapy SF. https://goodtherapysf.com/understanding-the-five-primary-emotions Zaatar, M. T., Alhakim, K., Enayeh, M., & Tamer, R. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health, 35, 100716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100716

My manipulated variable is: The genre/type of music played to the people responding to the survey My responding variable is: The change of human emotions at each step of the experiments (disgust, fear, joy, sadness, anger) My controlled variables are: Play the same songs from the selected genres to people for the same amount of time. Ask the same questions about how they feel when listening to the songs. There were fourteen kids and fourteen adults participating.

Method and Procedure Grade 5 Classroom Experiment

1. Design the survey using the background research I found on music and emotions
2. Completed and handed out permission forms to class
3. Got 16 forms back, 14 fully completed
4. The survey was done on the 13th of January. The place the survey was taken was the classroom
5. I played 5 songs of different genres of music, and the objective for the people who filled out the form was to list and circle the emotion they felt the most out of the 5
6. Collected the forms and then looked at the results

Adult Experiment – Done at home

1. On February 21 and 22, I sent out emails and text messages to 17 adults (friends and family) asking for their help in completing my survey
2. Included the survey as an attachment, background information, and instructions
3. Asked the adults to listen to the Science Fair playlist and follow the same steps as the kids did
4. Got 14 responses back. Stopped there as I had 14 kids' responses to keep the number the same
5. Collected the responses from my parents' phones and copied the results onto 1 survey page

Results - Kids

The country song got 12 happy and 2 disgusted. Changes: (-1 happy) (+1 disgusted) The EDM song got 13 happy and 1 disgusted. Changes: (-1 disgust) (+1 happy) The Pop song got 12 happy and 2 disgusted. Changes: (-1 happy) (+1 disgust) The Hip Hop song got 11 happy, 2 disgusted, and 1 sad. Changes: (-1 happy) (+1 sad)  The Rock song got 11 happy, 2 disgusted, and 1 sad. Changes: None

Results - Adults

The country song got 10 happy, 3 disgusted and 1 angry. Changes: (-1 angry, -3 sad) (+2 disgusted,+2 happy) The EDM song got 9 happy, 1 fear, 1 angry, and 3 disgusted. Changes: (-1 happy) (+1 fear) The Pop song got 11 happy, 1 fear and 2 disgusted. Changes: (-1 disgust, -1 angry) (+1 disgust, +1 happy) The Hip Hop song got 14 happy Changes: (-1 fear, -2 disgust) (+3 happy)  The Rock song got 13 happy, 1 disgusted. (-1 happy) (+1 disgust)

Analysis & Conclusions - Kids   My hypothesis was that country would be the most disgusted is false, as it had the same disgust as Pop. My theory that EDM and Pop will be the most loved was wrong, and right EDM did, in fact, have the most happiness. Pop, on the other hand, did not. I was right about Rock it got a mixed group of emotions, but mostly happiness as predicted. Hip Hop was partly wrong, partly right it got the same results as Rock it did not get as much disgust as I thought.   Analysis & Conclusions - Adults For Country, I was correct, because the emotions I hypothesized were exactly as predicted. For EDM, I was super wrong! The EDM song had less happiness than Country! Pop got less happiness than predicted, but then again, people have their own opinions. Hip Hop got only happiness, so I was correct! As predicted, nobody felt any other emotions. I was correct for Rock that nobody chose fear or anger, but there was some disgust.

Final Conclusion The different genres of music did not significantly affect changes in kids emotions. However, adults did experience more emotional responses based on the song playing. I was right. Adults feelings changed easier based on the genre/song.   Overall, after listening to all the genres people mostly felt happiness. This is important knowledge for everyday life because if you, your friend, or family is feeling some negative emotions, you know that music helps people be happier.  Feeling sad, angry, or disgusted? Try listening to your favourite genre of music and avoid music types that make you feel bad.

Application and Future Research Recommendations Expand on the 28 people and 5 songs. More:

1. People (adults, teens, kids)
2. Genres
3. Songs

Gather groups of people experiencing negative emotions and make them listen to music. Maybe they’ll end up happy! Do different types of research to learn more about how music makes people feel emotions (in-person interviews)

Sources of error: Respondent bias: kids (maybe adults too) may not respond truthfully because they are bored or don’t like the experiment Environmental: A busy, loud class may distract kids from feeling their true emotions. Adults experimented at home, work, etc., on their own time, which may have different results than all being together at once.

References Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life. Times Books / Henry Holt and Company. Heshmat, S. (2022, November 8). How listening to music affects your mood. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/science-of-choice/202211/how-listening-to-music-affects-your-mood McDonagh, T. (2024, August 24). Understanding the five primary emotions. Good Therapy SF. https://goodtherapysf.com/understanding-the-five-primary-emotions Zaatar, M. T., Alhakim, K., Enayeh, M., & Tamer, R. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health, 35, 100716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100716

Thank you to the students and adults who participated in my survey. Special thanks to my teachers and parents for supporting me.