Does Listening to Mozart Improve Intelligence?

When you walk into a library, you can see that almost every single student is wearing earphones. While they may seem to be watching YouTube videos or playing video games, some students are actually listening to music and studying hard. Some people believe that listening to music while studying is beneficial, while others feel like it’s a distraction and find it hard to focus.

You may have heard of a theory called the “Mozart Effect”, however, there has been no evidence supporting it. The Mozart Effect is the theory that listening to classical music or music by Mozart enhances your intelligence (psychologytoday.com). Over the past few years, there have been a large number of follow-up studies which all found that there is no evidence that listening to classical music improves intelligence and cognitive abilities. While this theory is false, many students actually find listening to calm music quite helpful. Abby P., a junior, says, “I can’t do work when I’m stressed so I like to listen to classical music which calms me and clears my head.” This shows how listening to classical music may not improve intelligence, but can help with feelings of stress.

Music on the louder side, such as music with lyrics, often acts as a distraction. When I asked Abby how listening to music with lyrics effects her concentration, she said,  “I’m more focused on the lyrics than on my work.” This applies to many other students as well. Jennifer G. says that music makes her unable to focus on the task at hand and that she is completely unable to work when there is music in the background. That being said, she also mentioned that she is easily distracted. I, on the other hand, do not find music with lyrics distracting at all. I often find that my brain tunes out the music completely so most of the time I don’t even realize that I’m listening to music at all!

So, should you listen to music when you’re hard at work trying to finish that summative? It really depends! Every person is different; what may work for one person might be extremely distracting for another. Do what you feel is right and best for you. If you do feel like listening to calm music is helpful, feel free to check out Spotify for some good playlists. Make sure you follow the Beacon on Spotify for new music every month!