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. 2008;12(2):161-9.
doi: 10.1080/13811110701857533.

The impact of suicidal rock music lyrics on youth: an investigation of individual differences

Rebecca J Peterson  1 , Martin A Safer, David A Jobes
Affiliations

The impact of suicidal rock music lyrics on youth: an investigation of individual differences

Rebecca J Peterson et al. Arch Suicide Res. 2008.

Abstract

This study attempted to predict reactions after listening to music with lyrics about suicide. One hundred and twenty-six volunteers completed self-reports of personality and mood, and then listened to the music. Afterwards, they completed projective stories, self-reports of moods and reactions, and a memory test for the lyrics. Low openness to experience, and to a lesser extent, high neuroticism and low self-esteem predicted higher levels of suicide-related content in projective story-writing, as did knowing a suicide victim. Both the personality measures and post-listening mood predicted remembering too many nihilistic lyrics. Surprisingly, 68% of participants wrote at least one projective story with altruistic content. Individual differences were modestly associated with suicidal thoughts after listening to the music.

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