Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Alessia Merkes 

BSc [Hons] Applied Psychology

My name is Alessia Merkes and I’m a final year student on the BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology in IADT.

Project Description

The present study experimentally investigated the effect of whether string music as opposed to piano music affected personal goal pursuit intentions, by the mechanism of nostalgic experience. Participants (N = 38) were randomly allocated to one of two groups; the string music intervention group or the piano music intervention group. Firstly, both groups were asked to complete the Batcho Nostalgia Inventory Scale, to measure their nostalgia trait score before the music intervention. Participants also completed the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) prior to the music intervention. Following music intervention, both groups rated how nostalgic the music made them feel, in order to measure their state nostalgia, and completed the PGIS for the second time. Using SPSS software, a 2 x 2 mixed ANCOVA was used to analyse the data. No significant relationships between the variables were identified. Further research, perhaps utilising a different methodology, is needed in order to understand whether these three variables can relate to each other.