The Effects of Singing in Groups on Perceptions

Indianapolis, IN

Singing can affect the way people perceive others (Gick, 2011). This perception is often similar to the Halo Effect or perception evaluation that is applied to other attributes of a person (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). This present study is interested in the effect of singing on participants' perceptions of the orator. Participants are undergraduate students from a small liberal arts college; data collection happened at the end of a choir rehearsal or the end of an academic general education class. Participants listen to an audio recording of neutral speaker reciting a transcript of a famous speech by a positively perceived historical figure. Half of the students in the singing and non-singing groups are randomly assigned to either know the identity of the historical figure or not. After listening to the audio recording, participants are asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their perceptions towards the speaker including level of interest, likability and agreeability. Data will be analyzed using a 2x2 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). We expect to find a significant interaction such that singing and knowing the identity of the orator will have the highest rating for likeability and agreeableness.