If You're Angry, Turn the Music on: Music Can Mitigate Anger Effects on Driving Performance

ABSTRACT

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

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Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Law, social and behavioral sciences

    • Psychology

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)