EXPOSURE EFFECTS AND AFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO MUSIC

Radio programming appears to follow a theory of mere exposure, where repeated exposure to a stimulus results in enhanced positive affect toward that stimulus. Although mere exposure has received substantial empirical support, other studies of exposure to music suggest that an inverted-U better describes the exposure-affect relationship. This study manipulated exposure to rock and popular songs in a counterbalanced design. Subjects heard manipulated songs at frequencies of 1, 8, 16, and 24. An inverted-U relationship was found, with a small but significant effect size that held when controlling for a number of stimulus and subject variables. The collative variables of subjective complexity and subjective novelty were hypothesized to interact with exposure in determining affective evaluations; this was not supported.