Role of Music Training in Aggression and Anxiety of Adults

Abstract

Mental health problems like uncontrollable anxiety and abusive aggression of young adults create a serious concern for all in society. The present study examined the role of music and art training in aggression and anxiety of young adults. For this study a sample of 361 adults (consisting 187 males and 174 females) between 19 to 28 years of age was selected following stratified random sampling procedure. The male and female sample was divided into eight subgroups on the basis of the form of received training. They were as followed: 1) Trained in vocal music, 2) Trained in instrumental music, 3) Trained in other forms of art, and 4) Untrained Males and Females in each category with the lowest N being 40 in each group. Information schedule was administered as a screening device.  The Aggression-Orientation Scale by Basu (2006) and   State–Trait Anxiety Inventory by Chattopadhyay, Mallick and Speilberger (1986) were used for assessing aggression and anxiety of the participants respectively. The difference in aggression and anxiety among the eight subgroups was found out. The collected data was analysed using statistical techniques like Mean, S.D., Analysis of Variance and Post Hoc Analysis. The results revealed externalizing and internalizing tendency, verbal and indirect behavior of Aggression-Orientation dimension and Trait-anxiety of the participants varied significantly in terms of forms of training. Male and female participants varied significantly on the basis of scores of all the domains of Aggression-Orientation dimension and Trait-Anxiety. Finally, it could be elicited that the training in music (vocal and instrumental) and other forms of art helped the participants to channelize aggression and the participants with instrumental music training and other forms of art helped in alleviating anxiety.