People often say that some types of music promote violence, because of the lyrics and song titles which can include aggressive word choices. I think that it depends on the type of music that people listen to. It also depends on the mentality of the person because a bad mentality along with listening to violent and aggressive music can cause violent behavior.

In a series of experiments involving over 500 college students, researchers from Iowa State University examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists. Results of the experiments show that violent songs led to more aggressive interpretations of words and increased the relative speed with which people read aggressive versus non-aggressive songs. The violent songs increased feelings of hostility “without provocation or threat,” according to the authors, and this effect was not the result of differences in musical style.

“Rap Music Linked to Alcohol, Violence,” a recent study by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, California, suggests young people who listen to rap and hip-hop are more likely to abuse alcohol and commit violent acts. Studies have shown that when people listen to music, their emotions fluctuate, and the effect is that it changes their behavior.

I think that music can influence violence. I think that specific music and the person that listens to the music plays a role in if the person will be more violent.  If someone is in a poor mental state it can influence worse behavior than someone with a better mindset when listening to violent music.