Psychology Module: Article Analysis on Musical Identities

This essay, titled "Article Analysis," delves into the profound influence of music on individual and social identities. The paper begins with an introduction emphasizing music's role in communication and expression, highlighting its accessibility through various media. It then explores key concepts and issues within cognitive, social, and developmental psychology, examining how these disciplines intersect with musical behavior and preferences. The essay discusses cognitive psychology's focus on musical structures and their emotional impact, social psychology's examination of music's effect on mood and social environment, and developmental psychology's insights into music's role from infancy. Furthermore, the paper examines the concepts of self-esteem, self-concept, and self-identity in relation to musical preferences and taste. The essay also explores the theories of self and identity, particularly those of William James, and how music can be used to construct or deconstruct identities. Finally, the author reflects on their personal connection to the topic as a music teacher, emphasizing the importance of music in daily life and its impact on emotions, behavior, and self-confidence.

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RUNNING HEAD: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Title: Article Analysis
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Word Count: 1000 words
Referencing Style: APA
Date: 26.03.2019

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RUNNING HEAD: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Concepts and Issues.........................................................................................................................3
Cognitive psychology..................................................................................................................3
Social psychology........................................................................................................................4
Developmental Psychology..........................................................................................................4
Self-esteem, self-concept and self-identity..................................................................................5
Theories of Self and Identity........................................................................................................5
Musical Identities: Concept.........................................................................................................5
Identities in Music........................................................................................................................6
Music in Identities........................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Music is a wonderful mode of communication which enables us to convey a message in an easy
and expressive manner. In our everyday lives music binds listeners to composers, fans to
performers. The various means like internet, Walkman, video recorder, etc. makes diversified
music easily available to us. The individual identity of a person can be expressed through music.
Music impacts a person’s attitude and behavior at a point of time. The choice of the genres or
styles of music defines a person’s personality (Schäfer & Mehlhorn, 2017). Individual to cultural
identities are created through the taste and preference for music. In this paper, the musical
identities and its significance will be further analyzed with a close reference to how I personally
related to the context.
Concepts and Issues
Musical behavior and thinking has a strong psychological significance. Over the last few decades
music has been related closely to health studies, education, medicines, marketing,
communication and many other disciplines.
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology, acoustics and psychometrics did not emphasize much on the musical
behavior. The literary works are a clear reflection of the same. There are strategies and
operations which are applied to musical behavior and are dealt in the subject matter of cognitive
psychology. The tone of music has an impact on the listener which was analyzed later. Musical
structures have been greatly influenced by the internal harmony in music (Trainor, 2015). Music
also enhances the memory through melody. From compositional creativity to the emotional

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RUNNING HEAD: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
impact of music, performance to expressiveness, all are now included as a subject matter of
cognitive psychology.
Social psychology
The subject matter in this discipline deals with the level and type of engagement with music.
This comprises the creation, listening, and performance and appraising of music. The behavior,
mood and social environment of a person affects and is affected by music (Odell-Miller, 2018).
The social psychologists need to work more on exploring how complex human emotions, their
social environment and culture are being altered by musical influence. Musicologists have found
out that the education, age, sex, gender, social class, culture, etc. have a strong impact on the
type of music one prefers. Music mainly has its effect on three segments in a person’s everyday
life. First of all, music helps in enhancing the quality of interpersonal relationship that a person
has with others. Moreover, mood of a person is changed by listening to music (Sachs, Damasio
& Habibi, 2015). The environment in which a person listens to music also acts as a catalyst in
impacting the mood. Finally, musical identity and self-identity are interlinked. Who a person is
and what musical taste the person has are quite interrelated. A good taste for music also defines a
better and polished personality.
Developmental Psychology
Music is an integral part of everyone’s life since their birth. Parents entertain their infants singing
songs to them, they sing lullabies to put their infants off to sleep, they play nice music to uplift
the mood of their child, etc. A person’s sense of creativity and art is also developed through his/
her musical motivation. With the passage of time, the interaction of a person with others and
behavioral development is shaped by the elements of communicative musicality (Tafuri, 2017).

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Self-esteem, self-concept and self-identity
The way a person thinks about himself shapes up or creates the self-image and self-concept. This
might be based on context or domain. The integration of various self-concepts forms a person’s
self-identity. Self-esteem is differentiated from self-identity as it is mainly the value which one
gives to own self (Bennett, 2017). The self-esteem of a musical identity like a music teacher or a
saxophonist, and others is quite high and their self-image is based on their ability to understand
and relate to musical theory. The self-esteem of a person is also evaluated through comparison
with ability of other similar individuals.
Theories of Self and Identity
The identity based on I and me has been discussed in the theories of William James. In this
theory it is highlighted that the ‘I’ is the real self while the ‘me’ is the self-concept which one
gets to know through observation or from the surroundings. In the later theories it was found that
there was a new term coined known as the ego identity. This is something which defines the ‘I’
in a new way. The self-identity of a person is affected and also changes with the changes in the
person’s social surroundings. Through the language of music one can create a new identity and at
the same time remove an old or existing identity (Anholt, 2016)
Musical Identities: Concept
In case of musical identities some people are ‘tone deaf’. This implies that there are some people
who are quite rigid about their musical preferences. They have a particular taste for music which
they do not change under any circumstances. The taste cultures or the taste publics are the newly
coined terms which show the musical preference across different groups in the society.

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RUNNING HEAD: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Identities in Music
Within the preference of music there are various cultural roles or social roles. These are known
as the identities within music. There are distinct musical identities within the musicians as well.
The musical identity of a music teacher is different from a saxophonist and from a vocalist. Thus
identities are varied within the discipline of music.
Music in Identities
There are some attributes of music which helps one to develop their individual identities. The
gender identity, disabilities or other identities can be developed with the help of music as a
resource or a means. The psychological characteristics of a person can be enhanced using the
music. The creation of self-image and the building of self-esteem as the child grows up can be
improved through music.
Conclusion
As a music teacher, I have been greatly influenced by this article on musical identities. I
personally relate and understand the importance of music in my daily life. Music has a personal
touch when I sing a lullaby to my child while in case of music lessons it becomes a professional
aspect. Sadness and depression can be overcome by listening to good music. Melody always has
a soothing effect on every individual. A better society can be created through the spread of
music. Music composed and performed by my students gives them self-confidence, enhances
their self-esteem while making them happy. Mood, emotions, behavior and much more is
influenced by music and this happens every day around us.

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Reference
Anholt, S. (2016). Places: Identity, image and reputation. London: Springer.
Bennett, A. (2017). Music, space and place: popular music and cultural identity. Abingdon:
Routledge.
Odell-Miller, H. (2018). Music therapy and its relationship to psychoanalysis. In Where analysis
meets the arts (pp. 127-152). Abingdon: Routledge.
Sachs, M. E., Damasio, A., & Habibi, A. (2015). The pleasures of sad music: a systematic
review. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 404.
Schäfer, T., & Mehlhorn, C. (2017). Can personality traits predict musical style preferences? A
meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 116, 265-273.
Tafuri, J. (2017). Infant musicality: New research for educators and parents. Abingdon:
Routledge.
Trainor, L. J. (2015). The origins of music in auditory scene analysis and the roles of evolution
and culture in musical creation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:
Biological Sciences, 370(1664), 20140089.