Social representation of "music" in young adults: a cross-cultural study.
This study was aimed to explore perceptions of and reactions to music in young adults (18-25 years) using the theory of social representations (TSR).



The study used a cross-sectional survey design and included participants from India, Iran, Portugal, USA and UK. Data were analysed using various qualitative and quantitative methods.



The study sample included 534 young adults.



The Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the countries regarding the informants' perception of music. The most positive connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Iranian participants (82.2%), followed by Portuguese participants (80.6%), while the most negative connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Indian participants (18.2%), followed by Iranian participants (7.3%). The participants' responses fell into 19 main categories based on their meaning; however, not all categories were found in all five countries. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category "positive emotions or actions" was the most frequent category occurring in all five countries.



The results indicate that music is generally considered to bring positive emotions for people within these societies, although a small percentage of responses indicate some negative consequences of music.
a Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences , Lamar University , Beaumont , TX , USA.|b Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, The Swedish Institute for Disability Research , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.|c Audiology India , Mysore , Karnataka , India.
Vinaya
V
Manchaiah
d Centre for Speech Language Therapy and Hearing Science , Cardiff Metropolitan University , Cardiff , Wales , UK.|e Department of Hearing and Speech Science , Xinhua College, Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou , China.
Fei
F
Zhao
f The Swedish Institute for Disability Research , Örebro University , Örebro , Sweden.
Stephen
S
Widén
a Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences , Lamar University , Beaumont , TX , USA.
Jasmin
J
Auzenne
g Department of Vision and Hearing Sciences , Anglia Ruskin University , Cambridge , UK.
Eldré W
EW
Beukes
h Department of Audiology , University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences , Tehran , Iran.
Tayebeh
T
Ahmadi
i Department of Audiology, School of Allied Health Sciences , Polytechnic Institute of Porto , Vila Nova de Gaia , Portugal.
David
D
Tomé
j St. John's Medical College , Bangalore , Karnataka , India.
Deepthi
D
Mahadeva
c Audiology India , Mysore , Karnataka , India.|k All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, University of Mysore , Mysore , India , and.
Rajalakshmi
R
Krishna
l The Department of Health and Welfare Studies , Malmö University , Malmö , Sweden.
Per
P
Germundsson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001208:Asia; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Music listening; attitude; cross-culture; hearing loss; public health hazard; social representation; text mining