Positive Urgency and Musical tempo:

Does Faster Music Make You Drink More?

Undergraduate Psychology 2nd Year

Goldsmiths University

Abstract

Cyders and Smith (2010) have found positive urgency to

predict a number of substance use disorders as well as

higher drinking levels in normal populations, while the

influences of tempo on alcohol consumption are not as

well researched in lab settings. This study aimed to test

whether participants consumed more alcohol when they were

listening to higher tempo music compared to controls. An

analysis of covariance found positive urgency to

significantly correlate with beer consumption, whilst the

higher tempo music condition significantly increased beer

consumption. This is in line with Cyders and Smith’s

research and extends previous research on the effects

musical tempo has on drinking behaviours.

Positive Urgency and Musical tempo:

Does Faster Music Make You Drink More?

Literature review

Students are known for having carefree attitudes

towards excessive drinking, and time in university often

involves late nights in the pub with peers. Understanding

what affects an individuals propensity towards the excess

is well understood in clinical samples but individual

differences in normal samples of adolescents is not as

well researched. Given students usually frequent

environments such as pubs and clubs, it seems pertinent

to research the effects certain aspects of music may have

on drinking behaviours. As well as providing further

research into drinking behaviours in an experimental

setting, this study will also expand previous research on

how aspects of music can influence drinking behaviours.

Impulsivity traits

Impulsivity is the tendency to “display behaviours

with little forethought or consideration of the

consequences” (VandenBos, 2007) and is a facet of normal

personalities as well as disorders such as substance use

disorders, bipolar disorder and ADHD. Whiteside and Lynam

first formulated urgency using a factor analysis to

simplify impulsivity into a number of concrete traits

using the big five as a framework (2000). Their analysis

found four personality facets associated with impulsive

like behaviour; urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of

perseverance, and sensation seeking. In their analysis,

urgency was only described in the context of a

distressing situation or negative emotion and not in a

positive framework.

Positive urgency (PU) is defined as “the tendency to

engage in rash action in response to extreme positive

affect” (Cyders & Smith, 2007; 2008, p.807). Cyders and

Smith introduced positive urgency as another factor of

the urgency trait to further clarify the multi-faceted

nature of impulsivity. It has been found to predict risky

sexual behaviour and illegal drug use in adolescents

(Zapolski, Cyders, Rainer & Smith, 2007), and also

predicts an individuals’ propensity to become a

pathological gambler (Cyders et al., 2007). Cyders and

colleagues (2010) conducted a pair of experimental

studies on the role of positive urgency as a component of

impulsive behaviours. They found positive urgency

predicted increased alcohol use as well as the negative

outcomes associated with it (p.374).

Neural Correlates of Addiction

Arousal has many links to the autonomic and

endocrine systems, responsible for changes in heart rate

and emotion. Low arousal theory posits that some

individuals (such as those with ADHD and some substance

disorders) have low resting levels of arousal, therefore

feeling the need to seek out further sensation and

stimulation from external sources (Hare, 1970).

Studies have found lower concentrations of γ-

aminobutyric acid (GABA receptor) in the dorsolateral

prefrontal cortex of impulsive men (Boy, Evans, Edden,

Lawrence, Singh, Husain et al., 2011). GABA receptors are

major neurotransmitters that inhibit dopaminergic

pathways (Robbins, Everitt, & Nutt, 2010, p.93).

Buckholtwz and colleagues (2010) used dual PET scans to

scan the brains of healthy individuals pre and post-

amphetamine administration, and found impulsivity to

positively correlate with striatal dopamine release

following amphetamine administration; this consequently

predicted stronger desire for more drug. Beck and

colleagues found significantly less activation in the

right ventral striatum of alcoholics when presented with

monetary gain or loss (2009). This also correlated with

their impulsivity again suggesting that their

dopaminergic reward systems are impaired. Such reduced

response may increase reward-seeking behaviour to

compensate.

Mood Induction Procedures

One aspect of Cyder and Smith’s study (2010) was the

use of mood induction techniques. A meta-analysis of

mood-induction procedures (MIP) validated a number of

methods such as the use of film and story or music, with

the use of multiple MIP’s having a stronger effect

(Westermann, Spies, Stahl & Hesse, 1996, p.561). The use

of only music to induce a positive mood was found to have

a medium effect size of .317 (Westerman, Spies, Stahl &

Hesse, 1996, p.570). The use of music to induce mood

opens up the possibility to manipulate melodic structure

to investigate secondary factors affecting urgency

related behaviours.

Cognitive Effects of Music

Music has been known to affect a number of

physiological and cognitive processes. Mere exposure to a

Mozart sonata improved spatial abilities in non-musicians

(Thompson, Schellenburg & Husain, 2001, p.250).

Heightened levels of self-reported arousal and mood were

found which ultimately explained the differences in

spatial ability (p.250). Dillman Carpentier and Potter

also found that increasing the tempo of the music

increased the listener’s physiological arousal (2007,

p.21).

The effect of music on consumer behaviour has been a

topic of interest for some time, since Kotler’s theory of

“atmospherics” or the store environment being able to

influence shopping behaviours (Kotler, 1973, p.48).

Atmospherics are defined as the “conscious designing of

space to create certain effects in buyers” (Kotler,

1973, p.50). Smith and Curnow (1966) found that louder

music increased the amount spent per minute, as

individuals shopped at a faster speed than normal,

indicating that magnitude of music affects the urgency of

actions. Background classical music has been found to

increase sales in a wine store compared to “chart music”,

suggesting that for music to have an effect on behaviour,

it may need to fit the context of the behaviour; in this

case classical music and wine drinking are synonymous

with sophistication (Areni & Kim, 1993, p.339). Another

field study found that people in a bar drank more beer in

less time when music volume was higher than normal

(Guéguen, Jacob, Guellec, Morineu & Lourel, 2008). A

Third study found an interaction between how busy the

restaurant was and the tempo of the music, with fast

music only increasing alcohol consumption when the

restaurant was busy (Akin, 2013).

This study will look to replicate previous positive

urgency research. The effects of musical tempo on alcohol

consumption will also be considered in an experimental

setting. The First prediction is that positive urgency

will significantly predict beer consumption regardless of

condition. The second prediction is that higher musical

tempo will increase beer consumption in an experimental

setting, taking into account positive urgency scores.

Method

Design

The study followed a between subjects design with

one dependent variable. Our manipulated IV was Tempo

(High, low), and our measured IV was positive urgency

(continuous variable). Our dependent variable was the

amount of beer consumed. Tempo would be used as a

grouping variable, whilst positive be used as a

covariate.

Participants

53 Participants recruited from an opportunistic

student sample took part in the study (19 Male, 44

Female) and ages ranged from 18 – 32 (M = 21.92, SD =

3.09). Participants were allocated to the high tempo (N =

27) or low tempo condition (N = 26).

Procedure

Due to the nature of the experiment, participants

who were pregnant, or taking medication preventing them

from drinking alcohol were asked to abstain from testing.

Similarly, those suffering from depression were also

asked to not participate, as a mood induction procedure

would be used. Participants were randomly allocated to

either the high or low tempo condition on and then given

a consent form. Participants were deceived as to what the

true purpose of the study was; they were told the study

was investigating relationships between musical

preference and taste perception of different beers.

Participants began by completing a shortened version of

the UPPS-P questionnaire, measuring only the positive

urgency traits. Participants were then asked to complete

a PANAS questionnaire to measure their baseline mood.

Participants then listened to a piece of music on

headphones, but were not told this was a mood induction

procedure. The piece of music used for the induction was

Tchaikovsky’s ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ and both tempo

conditions listened to the same 3-minute passage of the

piece. Afterwards, participants were required to rate the

song on three parameters; the pleasantness of the song,

their familiarity with it and their overall liking for

the song on a 5-point Likert scale (See Appendix A).

Participants then proceeded to fill out the same PANAS

questionnaire. Once completing this, participants were

presented with two 100ml cups of different beer labelled

“1” and “2” and were told this was the “beer tasting”

stage of the experiment. They were told to drink as

little or as much as they wished, and were asked to make

comparative judgements between the flavours of the two

beers. Consequently, participants were required to rate

each individual beer on sweetness, bitterness, and

overall flavour on a 5-point Likert scale (See Appendix

B). They were then debriefed on the true purpose of the

experiment and that the amount of beer they drank would

be measured.

Measures

The UPPS-P impulsivity questionnaire (Whiteside &

Lynam, 2001) was used and from this only the positive

urgency sub-scale was given to participants. The positive

urgency subscale of the UPPS-P had good internal

consistency (M = 1.88, SD = .56, α = 0.92). The PANASquestionnaire was also used (Watson, Clark & Tellegen,

1988) and only the positive affect scores were measured.

The positive affect subscale of the PANAS also had good

internal consistency (M = 2.80, SD = .52, α = 0.73). Thepiece used for the positive mood induction was

Tchaikovsky’s ‘Waltz of the Flowers’, a song that has

been used countless times in such procedures. The

original tempo of the song in the slow tempo condition

was 60bpm. This was sped up using a Macintosh program

Logic Pro 10, to 90bpm, an increase of 50%. As mentioned

previously, music-only mood inductions have moderate

effects of 0.317 (Westerman Spies, Stahl & Hesse, 1996).

The same pair of headphones (Sony MDR-7506) were used on

all participants and the volume was controlled. Fosters

and Carlsberg were used as beer 1 and 2 respectively.

Beer was measured using 100ml and 10ml measuring

cylinders.

Results

Raw data for the urgency scores, music ratings, beer

ratings and positive affect scores pre and post induction

were inputted into SPSS for analysis. Other relevant

demographic data such as age and gender were included and

tempo was coded as a grouping variable. One participant

was excluded from the analyses for filling out the

entirety of the PANAS questionnaire with 1’s. All the raw

scores from the positive urgency subscale of the UPPS-P

were reversed in SPSS, and the mean score for each

participant was calculated. Mean positive affect was

calculated for pre and post mood induction.

ANCOVA

A two-way ANCOVA was carried out to determine

whether the tempo manipulations had an effect on the

amount of beer consumed, entering positive urgency as a

covariate.

Positive urgency. The analysis found positive

urgency, (M = 1.8774, SD = 0.56) to predict the amount of

beer consumed (M = 87.65, SD = 58.67), F(1,50) = 7.70, p

= .005 Partial η2 = .13. This fulfils our first

prediction; positive urgency would predict beer

consumption.

Musical Tempo. The analysis also found a main effect

of musical tempo on beer consumption after controlling

for positive urgency, F(1,50) = 4.83, p = .032, partial η2

= .09. The high tempo condition drank significantly more

beer (M = 102.20, SD = 60.14) than the low tempo condition

(M = 72.54, SD = 54.14). The possibility of an interaction

was also investigated using a custom model ANCOVA, which

found no significant interactions, F(1,49) = 0.37, p

> .05. Figure 1 below summarises all of the above

findings.

Mood

A manipulation check

was carried out to ascertain whether the correlation

found could be attributed to the mood induction, as

positive urgency can only predict drinking behaviour in a

positive mind-state. A paired samples t-test carried out

on pre and post mood induction scores showed it to be

successful, with a highly significant difference (t(52) =

-4.31, p < .001) between baseline mood (M = 2.80, SD

= .52) and mood after the induction (M = 3.05, SD = .58).

Secondary Analyses

There were no effects of age, r(51) = -.153 p > .05,

or gender, t(51) = 0.646, p < .001, on beer consumption.

There were also no significant correlations between any

Figure 1: Scatter Graph of Positive urgency against Beer Consumption for Both Conditions

of the beer or music ratings and alcohol consumption (See

Appendix C).

Discussion

The analysis found tempo to significantly affect the

amount of beer consumed once taking into account positive

urgency scores and urgency scores significantly predicted

the amount of beer participants in both conditions. There

were no significant effects from demographics and other

variables. These are in line with both our predictions;

that positive urgency would predict alcohol consumption

and higher tempo music would increase the amount

consumed. Mean consumption scores were significantly

higher in the high tempo condition compared to the low

tempo condition and urgency scores moderated it. There

are a number of implications these results have for

previous theories, which in turn suggest possible avenues

for future research.

Our results follow previous findings made by Cyders

and colleagues (2010), as well as furthering the field-

research carried out by Guéguen and colleagues (2008) and

Akin (2013) on tempo effects. Cyders and colleagues

similarly found strong correlations between positive

urgency and alcohol consumption when participants engaged

in a 90-minute beer tasting test (2010, p.373). This

study has shown positive urgency to have an effect on a

much shorter timescale and further validates the trait as

a strong predictor of alcohol consumption in normal

populations.

Tempo manipulations successfully increased alcohol

consumption across all positive urgency scores. This is

in line with previous research showing the effects of

higher tempo on alcohol consumption in busy and quiet

restaurant settings (Akin, 2013). An interesting finding

from the data was that those who score lower on positive

urgency could be more affected by the increase in tempo

than those who score higher (See figure 1). The lines of

best fit seem to indicate greater differences of mean

beer consumed between conditions on the lower end of the

positive urgency scale, with this difference diminishing

on the higher end. There are a number of explanations for

this; firstly those who score higher on positive urgency

could become more aroused by the same stimulus, but could

in effect reach an arousal “ceiling” limiting the tempo

effect. Secondly differences in dopamine reward systems

between impulsive and non-impulsive individuals may also

regulate the effect that tempo would have on their

drinking behaviour, as arousal is regulated by these

systems. In turn, these individuals could perceive

aspects of music in different ways to normal individuals.

The current study seems to contradict aspects of the

literature regarding tempo effects. Akin (2013) found

that individuals would drink more when listening to fast

paced music, only when the occupancy of the bar or

restaurant was high (p.23). This study, however, showed

tempo could have an effect regardless of the setting.

Areni and Kim suggested that for music to have a

behavioural effect, it must fit the context of the

behaviour in question (1993, p.339). This study found a

desired effect when the music used did not necessarily

fit the socio-behavioural context of drinking; Classical

music is not the genre of choice when students drink with

peers. The results show that the tempo manipulation had

the desired effect regardless of this and the effect

could be stronger if genres more associated with these

drinking environments were used.

These findings have a number of implications for the

field of music psychology, but also addiction research.

If musical structures can influence people to drink more,

then some aspects of music could reduce an individual’s

drinking level or need for an alcoholic beverage. If

extended further to encompass more varied musical styles

and mood states, these findings could help improve

treatments such as musical therapy for those suffering

from substance use disorders. This

experiment could be expanded in a number of ways. The use

of multiple genres of music to test for context effects

of drinking in experimental conditions could be used, as

some genres could be more salient in certain social

contexts. The structure of music could also be analysed

to see whether aspects such as tempo, mode, repetition

and lyrics could effect alcohol consumption. Their

effects can also be measured in multiple mood states to

see whether different aspects of music influence drinking

behaviours in positive, negative, or neutral frames of

mind. The measurement of arousal differences in impulsive

individuals may also help us gain further insight into

how they affect both drinking behaviours and musical

perception in both normal and clinical populations.

In conclusion, our findings, coupled with previous

research on positive urgency, suggest it is likely that

higher tempo music induces higher levels of drinking in

lab conditions. Given the findings, further research

aimed at the effects of musical structure on taste

perception and consumption of other alcohols seems

warranted.

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Appendix A

Music Rating Section of Questionnaire

Please rate the song you heard on a scale of 1-5 (1 = Bad, 5 = Good)

Pleasantness:

Familiarity:

Overall liking for song:

Appendix B

Beer Rating questionnaire

Please rate the beers on a scale of 1-5 (1 = Bad, 5 = Good)

Beer 1 Beer 2

Sweetness:

Bitterness:

Overall Flavour:

Appendix DTable of Secondary analyses

Table 1Correlations between Music ratings, Beer Ratings, and Beer consumption

Measure Beer Consumption (Pearson’sr)

Song Pleasantness -.049

Song Familiarity -.128

Song Liking .189

Beer 1 Sweetness .024

Beer 2 Sweetness -.102

Beer 1 Bitterness .105

Beer 2 Bitterness .168

Beer 1 Overall Flavour .050

Beer 2 Overall Flavour .031

Note. All results non-significant p > .05.