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Science Quickly

Pump Up the Bass—and Maybe Your Confidence

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.2639 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2014

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Study volunteers who had listened to bass-heavy music were more likely to act dominant or aggressive in games and debates. Erika Beras reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

0:05.8

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

0:11.0

Yacold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

0:19.6

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

0:22.7

.j.p. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

0:33.7

This is Scientific Americans' 60-second science. I'm Erica Barris. Got a minute?

0:40.5

We all have those confident surging songs we listen to before a big event.

0:45.4

Now, researchers say that the lyrics are not necessarily what make us feel dominant.

0:50.6

It's the booming bass.

0:59.0

That's according to a study in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science. Certain types of music such as heavy metal and hip-hop make people feel powerful and aggressive.

1:05.0

To find out why, researchers had people listen to dozens of songs.

1:09.0

Then they asked how powerful the participants

1:11.9

felt while listening, topping the list for imbueing a sense of strength, Queen's anthem.

1:16.9

We will, we will rock you. At the bottom, Baja Men's questioning,

1:23.5

Who let the dogs out? The researchers then had subjects listened to the songs and do some tests.

1:30.3

In one, the volunteers were told they could win money if they predicted the outcome of a die roll, either by a third party or themselves.

1:38.3

Even though the outcome would be random in either case, those who had listened to bass heavy music were more likely

1:45.0

to want to be the one to roll the die. In other tests, participants listening to bass

1:50.2

heavy music picked more powerful words when doing word exercises and were more likely to want

1:55.4

to go first in debates. So, if you want a power boost, try just pumping up the base.

2:08.3

Thanks for the minute.

0:00.0

For Scientific Americans' 60 Second Science, I'm Erica Barris. Thank you.

...

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