The Impact of Playing Music While Studying on the Overall Academic Performance of Second-Year Students at Kean University
Madison Gesualdo
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Liberal Arts
Major: Psychology
Faculty Research Mentor: Joshua Burnett
Abstract:
The present study attempted to investigate how listening to instrumental music while studying impacted the academic performance of college students. It was hypothesized that students who listened to instrumental music while studying would observe positive outcomes in their academic performance, and that students who listened to lyrical music would experience distractions in their work and observe negative outcomes. In a mixed methods research design, the study administered an online survey to 25 participants, all second-year undergraduate students at Kean University. The participants answered questions regarding the type of study music they listened to, as well as any observed changes in their academic performance after studying with instrumental music versus lyrical music. Over half of participants experienced disruptions after studying with lyrical music; additionally, over half of participants reported feeling more focused when studying with instrumental music. Majority of participants reported that they felt they performed better academically after studying with instrumental music versus studying with lyrical music. Further research on this topic is necessary to be able to generalize these findings to a more universal population.