Changing the track in music and misogyny: Listening to music with pro-equality lyrics improves attitudes and behavior toward women.

Abstract

Past research has provided evidence for the notion that media exposure may increase negative attitudes and behavior toward women. In contrast, little is known whether media exposure may also improve people's images of women. In fact, four studies tested and found support for the hypothesis that listening to music with proequality lyrics is causally associated with positive attitudes and behavior toward women. These effects appeared to be unaffected by arousal and mood properties of the songs used and were not due to differences in liking. Thus, the current set of studies successfully extends the media exposure literature into the domain of positive attitudes and behavior toward women.

The role of moral reasoning & personality in explaining lyrical preferences

“…For instance, it has been claimed that prosocial lyrics can lead to prosocial behaviour [30,31,32], although that finding cannot always be replicated [33]. The effect of lyrics on behaviour is not unique to prosocial lyrics, as studies have found that aggressive lyrics can lead to more aggression, romantic lyrics can lead to increased compliance in a courtship request [34] and misogyny can be decreased using pro-equality lyrics [35]. However, all of these studies use experimental settings with predetermined music with lyrics as stimuli, which is far different from the experience of listening to music in real life.…”

Effects of prosocial lyrics and musical production elements on emotions, thoughts and behavior

“…Most previous investigations on the effects of songs with prosocial lyrics aimed to determine whether this kind of music can ultimately influence prosocial behaviour. Greitemeyer, Hollingdale and Traut-Mattausch (2015) showed that listeners' attitudes and behaviours towards women were positively enhanced after the reception of songs with lyrics that advocate gender equality. Other studies reported that listening to music with prosocial lyrics is associated with less prejudice and discrimination (Greitemeyer & Schwab, 2014), less risky driving behaviour (Greitemeyer, 2013) and less antisocial behaviour (Greitemeyer, 2011).…”

Rhythm and Lyrics of Rap Music Do Not Change Narcissistic Personality State

“…Each song played twice, lasting three minutes total. This was determined by the researcher, so that the experiment would reflect the length of a typical song, which has been shown to induce some changes in previous studies [10].…”

“…It is well known that music can change an individual's mood, implying that there is a reciprocal relationship between songs and their listeners [8,9]. For example, Greitemeyer et al [10] found that a song's lyrical content changed participant's attitudes and behaviors towards women. Ballard et al [11] showed that the lyrical content of certain genres can influence whether or not listeners engage in prosocial or antisocial behavior.…”