For years many anti-rock music books and booklets have quoted scientific research to demonstrate rock music endangers the health of those who listen to it. In an extract from his new book The Contemporary Christian Music Debate', American author Steve Miller shows that such so-called scientific research is wrong.

Their conclusion? "Individual preferences must be considered when using music to aid relaxation." Music that has been categorized by some people as soothing music may not be soothing to everyone.

More recent research has yielded the same conclusion. A 1988 study by Dr Suzanne B Hanser reviewed over 80 published articles and books on stress reduction through music. She concluded that no single style of music would reduce anxiety in everyone. Different people respond to music in different ways. She summarized her findings as follows: "The controversy surrounding the effectiveness of music in reducing stress becomes a question of selecting the most appropriate auditory stimulus for a given person in a particular setting."

According to Hanser, the claim that New Age composers' long themes and slow tempos best soothe and relax the listener is not supported by the evidence. Similarly, classical music may soothe some and irritate others. We would assume that rock would produce varied reactions as well. Individual taste must be taken into account when discussing the psychological effects of music. A style that bothers me could very well soothe someone else after a trying day at work.

MUSIC AND MOOD CHANGES
Some people claim that classical music produces good moods and that rock music produces bad moods. Yet psychological studies indicate that a single style of music can generate diverse moods in listeners. Indeed, what we today call "classical music" involves many different musical styles.

A study at the University of Sao Paulo in 1985 found that a piece by Brahms produced sleepiness and "diminished feelings of obligation and surprise" in a group of 80 people between the ages of 48 to 83. A Tchaikovsky piece "produced more activated states (for example, interest, desire, sexual attraction, anger, fright)" in the same group of subjects. Here we have two different styles of music, both called classical, generating very different responses.

A 1952 study found that classical and American folk music produced moods ranging from stimulated to reverent, from nostalgic to irritated, from eerie to upbeat, from depressed to happy. Nowhere have I found evidence that one style causes a universal mood response.

It would seem that similar results could be obtained with exposure to a wide range of rock songs. For those who appreciate the genre, some songs would produce nostalgia and others excitement. But these emotions are not in themselves right or wrong. In fact, excitement about what is good is encouraged in the Bible. The worship of the ancient Hebrews was often characterized by healthy exuberance. They danced, clapped, blew trumpets loudly and clashed cymbals as they rejoiced before the Lord (Ps 98:4; 149:3; 150; 1 Chron 15:16; 2 Chron 5:12). Let's take care not to equate spirituality with serenity.

Emotions are not wrong in and of themselves. Ethics come in when the performer or composer decides what subject matter to link with the emotions that is being generated.

CAUTIONS ON CITING PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES
Having scrutinized Dr Diamond's conclusions, we can identify with the reviewer in Publisher's Weekly who referred to Diamond's behavioural kinesiology as "a bizarre therapeutic system." According to John Ankerberg and John Weldon, "No basic teaching or practice of applied kinesiology" - of which Diamond's behavioural kinesiology is an extension - "can be scientifically established as true, and scientific testing of AK claims proves that they are false."

With all of this in mind, it is regrettable that trusted Christian leaders have uncritically accepted and taught Diamond's theories as established fact. We should learn an important lesson from this study: all too often we embrace psychological studies as if they are indisputable proof of some theory. However, in the field of psychology, later findings sometimes modify or even reverse the conclusions of earlier studies as more variables are controlled and new factors are considered.

For instance, prior to the North Carolina State experiment cited earlier, a similar study concluded that rock music hindered vigilant performance. However, in this earlier study the researchers failed to account for an important variable that significantly affected the results: familiarity. The early researchers concluded that the subject's performance was affected by the style. Actually, later research determined that familiar music was affecting the subjects differently from unfamiliar music, regardless of the style.

This refining process is typical of psychological studies. Researchers state their conclusions tentatively, knowing that later experiments will certainly refine, and possibly discount, their studies. Those of us who are nonspecialists would do well to resist the temptation to quote an isolated study to substantiate a controversial position.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE CHURCH
In sum, my research fails to yield solid evidence, based on psychological studies, that one style of music is in itself healthier than another style. Studies sensationalized by critics have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

However, in examining this literature we have uncovered two further insights that shed light on the present controversy. First, if people's response to music is highly individual and based upon their preference and familiarity, then we can better understand people's varied reactions to new musical forms. Those who are unaccustomed to popular music or who prefer other kinds of music may well be irritated and frustrated by it. Even so, it would be wrong for them to conclude that everyone is affected the same way. The psychological evidence simply does not support the idea that any one style produces a universal response.

Second, church leaders may be able to communicate more effectively with certain age and cultural groups by using musical styles that appeal to those particular groups. Some groups may well find that traditional church music hinders their worship if the style does not appeal to those who are listening. We must be sensitive to the tastes of the people we are targeting if we want our music ministries to be effective.

This article is an extract from the book 'The Contemporary Christian Music Debate' by Steve Miller and is reprinted with thanks to the author and publisher. Steve studied at Columbia Bible College (BA) and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M Div). He now works in Eastern Europe with Reach Out Ministries training Czechoslovakians in ministry skills. 'The Contemporary Christian Music Debate' is to be published in early 1995 in the UK by Scripture Press.