The influence of music and cognitive appraisal on mood was examined by instructing 72 subjects to tell a story about a painting with or without background music. The three types of instructions were to tell a happy or sad story or whatever came to mind (neutral), and the music categories were pleasant, depressing and none. With neutral story instructions, the music determined mood change, but the happy and sad story instructions super- ceded any effect of the music. The sad story instructions were most effective, leading to increased depression and decreased positive affect in all three music conditions. The results indicate that mood responses to music are indeterminate and depend on cognitive processes.
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