The Effects of Music on Physical Productivity

Different features of music have been shown to have large effects on human behavior from mood to endurance. What is yet to be determined is how music similarly affects movement speed by keeping time, or synchronizing, with the beat. To examine this concept, the present study used 70 college students completing two tasks while listening to fast music, slow music, or white noise to determine if tempo changes movement speed while walking up stairs. Additionally, I examined whether differences in music tempo would affect how many times subjects would squeeze a hand gripper. Although no effects were found for the hand gripper task, results showed that those in the fast paced condition walked up the stairs significantly faster than those in the slow condition. There was also a correlation between the amount that subjects reported that music affects their lives and how fast they walked in the fast music condition. These findings have implications for the workforce, athletic training, sports training, and rehabilitation for physically debilitating diseases.No embarg