Articles

Reasons for Singing

   By Brad Bell

Many people may enjoy singing.   Why do people like to sing?   There could be a number of reasons for singing.   In this article, I suggest that there are three basic reasons for singing.   These include happiness, self-expression, and a sense of community.

Happiness

 It seems obvious that singing may foster happiness.   Singing can be a form of positive emotional expression.  Moreover, for some people, it may convey a sense of achievement, and this feeling may increase happiness.

Self-expression

Chong (2010) asked participants whether they enjoyed singing, and the reasons why they did or did not enjoy singing.   One of the categories in the study for reasons for singing was self-expression.

 Self-expression can be viewed as partly involving expressing some aspects of one’s personality.   Singing may be one way of expressing some aspects of one’s personality.   For example, one can select a type of music that reflects one’s personality.

A Sense of Community

 Singing can take place in a group.   For example, a group of friends could go to a restaurant or bar for karaoke.  Karaoke may foster conversations, and the group may be supportive of each person’s singing.  This could increase a sense of community.   This sense of community may reflect the feeling that one belongs to a group in which there is mutual support and similar interests.

 One of the categories for reasons for singing in Chong’s (2010) study was interpersonal relationships, which Chong indicated as involving assembling with others.

References

Chong, H. J. (2010). Do we all enjoy singing? A content analysis of nonvocalists’ attitudes toward singing. The Arts in Psychotheraphy, 37, 120-124.

The Psychology of Poetry

By Brad Bell

Poetry is an artistic form of communication that may be appreciated by a significant number of people.   It may be easier to address questions concerning the psychology of poetry than the question concerning what is poetry.

The psychology of poetry has two perspectives:  the writer perspective and the reader perspective.  The writer perspective concerns why we like to write poetry.  The reader perspective concerns why we may enjoy reading poetry. In this article, I will provide some ideas concerning why we may like to write poetry, and why we may enjoy reading poems.  These ideas may have implications for how to write a poem.  More research may be needed to address the validity of these ideas.

Why Do We Like to Write Poems?

1.  Self-expression

One of the basic reasons we may enjoy writing poems is that it may allow us to express our thoughts, feelings, interests, attitudes, and values in a brief form of communication. For example, writing poems about nature may reflect our interest in nature. This may help us find meaning in our lives.

2.  Creative Expression

Poetry may be a simple and easy way to express creativity.  Expressing creativity may be a way that helps to foster meaning in our lives.

3.  Inspiration and Motivation

Poetry may be a way to feel inspired and motivated.  We can write positive poems with a message.   It may make us feel more motivated.  Also, we may enjoy writing poetry because we wish to inspire or motivate others.  It may be very rewarding to know that our poetry can make a difference in the lives of others.  For example, we may write a poem to provide words of encouragement for a friend, or a poem about hope.  Because providing words of encouragement may be a defining attribute of close friendship, some inspirational poems can be viewed as friendship poems for best friends.

4.  Emotional Expression

Writing poems may be one way to express our emotions.  We can express both positive and negative emotions.   For example, we may write a poem to express happiness or sadness.  Also, writing poems may allow one to express how one feels about others.  For example, you could write short love poems for the one you love.   Short love poems for him or her should be specific and clearly state feelings.

5. Self-knowledge

It is possible that some poems we write may help us understand ourselves. We can reflect on the thoughts and feelings expressed in our poems and infer what these feelings and thoughts suggest about our motivations, beliefs, and values.

Why Do We Enjoy Reading Poems?

1.  Understanding a Person’s Feelings

Poetry appreciation may be linked to empathy.  Poetry may help us to imagine and understand how another person feels.   It may be important for us to understand how someone close to us feels.

2.  Artistic Appreciation

Reading poetry may be enjoyable because we appreciate the artistic expression of the writer.

3.  Inspiration and Motivation

Reading poetry may inspire and motivate us.  It may be uplifting.  Poetry may provide us with a sense of hope and meaning.   We may gain insight into how to cope with adversity.

4. Understanding of Ideas or Concepts

Some poems may express ideas or concepts. Poetry may be an alternative to prose to present ideas and concepts, and the poems may help to clarify the ideas or concepts. In my poetry book, To Look Beyond the Surface (Bell, 2025), I include a number of concepts, such as hope, empathy, and wisdom (this book is available from lulu.com).

References

Bell, B. (2025). To look beyond the surface. Portland, Oregon: Blue Fox Communications.

Does the Type of Bills You Have Influence Your Willingness to Buy a Product?

By Brad Bell

Imagine looking in your wallet to find five twenty dollars bills.  Would you be more likely to a product, such as a watch, than if you only had a hundred dollar bill in your wallet?

In Experiment 1, Mishra, Mishra, and Nayakankuppam (2006) randomly assigned each participant to one of three conditions.  In one condition, the partcipants were given a hundred dollar bill.  In a second condition, the participants were given five twenty dollar bills.  In a third condition, the participants were given a 50 dollar bill, two twenty dollar bills, and two five dollar bills.  All participants were asked how willing they would be to buy three products (e.g., a watch for $40) on a ten-point scale. They found that participants who were given five twenty dollar bills were more willing to buy products than participants who were given a hundred dollar bill.   Moreover, participants who were given one 50 dollar bill, twenty dollar bills, and 2 five dollar bills were more willing to buy products than participants who were given five twenty dollar bills. Several other experiments were conducted that helped to explain why there may be a bias for the type of bills that a person has.  These findings suggest that having smaller bills in one’s wallet could lead to a greater likelihood of buying a product.

References

Mishra, H., Mishra, A., & Nayakankuppan, D. (2006).  Money:  A bias for the whole.  Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 541-549.

How Are Music Preferences Related to Personality?

By Brad Bell

Imagine that you have a friend who is highly extraverted and imaginative.  Would these personality characteristics be related to your friend’s music preferences?

In two of their studies, Rentfrow and Gosling (2003) investigated relations between music preferences and personality.   There were four categories of music preferences.  These can be viewed as four types of music.  These were labeled Intense and Rebellious (e.g., rock), Reflective and Complex (e.g., jazz), Upbeat and Conventional (e.g., country), and Energetic and Rhythmic (e.g., electronica/dance).  Five of the personality dimensions included in their studies were extraversion (e.g., how sociable you are), conscientiousness, openness to experience (e.g., how imaginative you are), agreeableness (e.g., how cooperative you are), and emotional stability. (1) In both studies, a greater preference for Reflective and Complex music was associated with greater openness to experience.  Moreover, in both studies, a greater preference for Intense and Rebellious music and was associated with greater openness to experience.   Also, in both studies, a greater preference for Upbeat and Conventional music was associated with greater extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.   In contrast, in both studies, a greater preference for Upbeat and Conventional music was associated with less openness to experience.   In both studies, a greater preference for Energetic and Rhythmic music was associated with greater extraversion and agreeableness. (2)   

These findings suggest that we may be able to predict a person’s personality from their music preferences.  It is possible that a person’s personality may determine the type of music he or she listens to.  For example, a highly extraverted person may choose to listen to music that is energetic. Moreover, a person who is high in openness to experience may choose to listen to music that is complex.   However, because these findings are correlational, we cannot make causal conclusions.

Notes

1.   See their article for information about other measures in the studies.
2.   These are only some of the significant correlations found between music preferences and personality.  See their article for information on other findings.

References

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D.  (2003).  The do, re, mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preferences.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1236-1256.

Can Listening to Songs with Prosocial Lyrics Influence Donating Behavior?

By Brad Bell

Music is an important part of our lives.  Many people spend a considerable amount of time listening to music.  Listening to music may be beneficial in a number of ways.  One of the ways that it may be beneficial is by increasing helping behavior.  Could listening to songs with prosocial lyrics increase the number of people who make a charitable donation?  In Greitemeyer’s third study (2009), participants listened to songs with prosocial lyrics or songs with neutral lyrics.  Greitemeyer found that the percentage making a donation to a nonprofit was greater for people who listened to songs with prosocial lyrics than for people who listened to neutral lyrics. (1)  Greitemeyer’s finding concerning the influence of listening to songs with prosocial lyrics can be considered one of the possible positive effects of music, and may have important practical implications.  To increase donations, music with prosocial lyrics could be played at fundraising events.  This could be considered a creative fundraising idea.

Notes

1.  See the article for other findings.

References

Greitemeyer, T.  (2009).  Effects of songs with prosocial lyrics on prosocial thoughts, affect, and behavior.  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 186-190.

False Consensus Effect

By Brad Bell

The false consensus effect is one concept in psychology.   What is the false consensus effect?   Below is one definition of the false consensus effect:

False Consensus Effect Definition:

The false consensus effect occurs when one overestimates the commonness of one’s attitudes.

False Consensus Effect Examples:

There may be a number of good examples of the false consensus effect.  Below are two false consensus examples:

1.  After seeing a film a person believes that the film is excellent.  The person overestimates the percentage of people who thought that the film was excellent.

2.   A person believes that a cat is a better pet than a dog.  The person overestimates the percentage of people who agree with this view.

Semantic Memory and Episodic Memory

By Brad Bell

Memory is an important concept in psychology.  Two types of memory are semantic memory and episodic memory.   It is important to make a distinction between these two types of memories.   What is semantic memory?   What is episodic memory?

Semantic Memory Definition:

Semantic memory reflects the general knowledge we have about the world (e.g., concepts).

Episodic Memory Definition:

Episodic memory is our memory for events that we have personally experienced.

Semantic Memory Examples:

There are many examples of semantic memory.  Our knowledge of historical events is one example of semantic memory.  Memories of laws and organizational rules are semantic memories.  Moreover, memories for many basic concepts such as intelligence, compassion, and humor are semantic memories.

Episodic Memory Examples:

There are many examples of episodic memory.  Episodic memories are personal memories.  They include all the memories for the events in our lives.  These may be minor events, or they may be major events.  The episodic memories may include memory what happened on our birthdays and holidays, memories from high school and college, and memories for funny and sad events in our lives.

The Interference Theory of Forgetting

By Brad Bell

Why do we forget something?  This is an important question in psychology.   It may reflect memory interference.  The interference theory of forgetting suggest that we would forget something because other information learned is interfering with our ability to recall it.  There are two types of interference.

Proactive Interference

Proactive interference occurs when something that we previously learned interferes with remembering newer information.

For example, imagine that you took one psychology course last term, and you are currently taking a psychology course that is very similar to the psychology course you took last term.  You are finding it difficult to learn and remember the information in the psychology course you are currently taking.  This may be due to the interference with similar information that you learned in the psychology course you took last term.

Retroactive Interference

Retroactive interference occurs when newer information learned interferes with remembering previously learned information.

For example, you may have difficulty remembering what happened at a business meeting over a month ago because of information learned at a more recent business meeting.

Personality and Food Choices

                                                             By Brad Bell

One’s personality traits may explain many behaviors.  These personality traits may be conceptualized as behavioral scripts that involve beliefs about how one should or wishes to behave in certain situations.  Thus, it stands to reason that personality traits may explain food choices.

 Keller and Siegrist (2015) addressed whether the Big Five traits were correlated with the consumption of certain foods.   The Big Five traits include extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness.  Keller and Siegrist (2015), for example, found that greater openness to experience was associated with a greater consumption of eating fruit and a vegetable salad.  People who are high in openness to experience may prefer a greater a variety of food, and this may explain greater consumption of fruit and a vegetable salad.  

 However, it should be kept in mind that one cannot make causal conclusions from correlational findings.  Two variables can be correlated without there being a causal relationship.   There could be third variables that explain any correlational finding.  Thus, for example, a correlation between a personality trait and consumption for a certain type of food may reflect some other personality trait or individual difference variable.

References

 Keller, C., & Siegrist, M. (2015).  Does personality influence eating styles and food choices?   Direct and indirect effects. Appetite, 84, 128-138.

College Students’ Beliefs about Dreams

                                                                          By Brad Bell

 Many people may interpret their dreams.  There are a number of beliefs or theories concerning the meaning of dreams.   Robbins and Tanck (1991) conducted research concerning college students’ beliefs or theories about dreams.  In their follow-up study involving 86 undergraduate students, the students were provided with eight statements reflecting beliefs about dreams.  The view of dreams that had the highest endorsement (91%) was the idea that dreams are linked to one’s anxieties and fears.  The view of dreams that had the second highest endorsement (88%) was the idea that dreams are related to events of the recent past or events of the previous day.  The view of dreams with the third highest endorsement (82%) was the theory that dreams reflect ideas that are brought forth from the unconscious.  These findings suggest that a large percentage of college students have some similar views concerning the nature or meaning of dreams.

 References

Robbins, P.R., & Tanck, R. H. (1991).  Theories of dreams held by American college students.  The Journal of Social Psychology, 131, 143-145.