Dedicated to Wazir Ahmad Rana, my father, who taught me the most important branch of ...

266 Pages·2013·6.68 MB·English

Dedicated to
Wazir Ahmad Rana, my father,
who taught me the most important branch of psychology, that of human relationships,
and
Rehmat Begum, my mother,
who taught me that humility and hard work pays.
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THE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
OF MUSIC
Thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Leicester
by
SHABBIR AHMAD RANA
Department of Psychology
University of Leicester
June, 2006
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UMI Number: U219871
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the debt I owe to others.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Adrian North, my supervisor.
He spent enormous amount of time with me and this research project would not have been
successfully completed without his incessant encouragement, admirable patience and
unwavering support.
I was very fortunate to receive invaluable advices and suggestions from Prof. Kausar Sohail,
Prof. Rukhsana Kausar, Prof. Ruhi Khalid, Dr Azhar Ali Rizvi, Prof. Saleem Sheikh,
Prof. K.W.M. Fulford, Dr Tim Thornton, Prof. Ian Coley, Dr Lorraine Sherridon and
Dr John Maltby. I thank them from the core of my heart.
I feel very grateful to Prof. I.A.K. Tareen, Prof. Khyzer Mehdi, Ch Ali Asghar, Dr. Maqsood
Ahmad, Mian Abbas Ali, Muhammad Tufail, Lala Rafiqque, Shehzad Rana, Amir Ghauri,
Shiekh Imtiaz Ahmad, Tahir Mansoor, Tony Andrew, Rob Hemmings and Denise McKnight.
They all supported me in various ways at different stages of my study.
On a more personal level, I would also like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of
various family members. My sisters, Baji Kaneez, Tazeem and Tasneem, my brothers, Munir
and Nasir, and their wives Nargis and Noureen. I am extremely thankful to them for looking
after my wife and three children in Pakistan. Their love and care for my wife and children
during my absence can never be repaid.
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Saima, my wife, deserves special thanks. Without her support and understanding it would
have been highly unlikely for me to blissfully pursue the tedious task of PhD research.
My children, Fahaddis, Farghab and Siemal, were a source of constant encouragement.
Whenever I rang them they invariably said, “Papa doesn’t worry about us, just study hard”.
I was deeply moved and heartened by Laraib’s, Arsal’s, and Anzal’s good wishes on the night
of my viva.
I would, finally, like to convey my feelings and gratefulness for my brother Tanvir (Tanwar)
and his wife (Bhabi Amera). They were not only very generous in sponsoring the huge
financial expenditure for my PhD studies but also looked after me like their own child.
The four years that I spent at their home at Sutton Coldfield is one of the most enjoyable and
memorable part of my life.
Dated: 06. 06. 06. Shabbir Ahmad Rana
“The truth is that all search for knowledge is a form of prayer”.
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal
(1877- 1938)
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
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ABSTRACT
This thesis concerns the importance, uses and effects of music in everyday life. The first study
investigated the importance of music for 1000 Pakistani students. Results indicated that the
great majority enjoyed listening to music, which was preferred to most of the other indoor and
outdoor activities considered, and listening to and playing music had different perceived
benefits. The second study used a variant of the experience sampling method to investigate
the uses and experiences of music in the course of everyday life among 200 Pakistanis.
Results indicate that the importance of several functions of music depend particularly upon
with whom the participant was with and the place where the music was heard. The third study
investigated the relationship between listening to music, health and happiness among 301
British and 594 Pakistani students. Results indicated that there were significant positive
relationships between time spent listening to music and each of health and happiness. The
fourth study investigated the effect of religious music on mental health among 175 Pakistanis
hospitalized with psychotic depression. The results indicated that, relative to other types of
psychosocial support materials, religious music led to the greatest decrease in depression
levels. A fifth study used qualitative methods to investigate the musical peak experiences of
six white British and six Pakistani participants. Several similarities were noted in the musical
peak experiences of these two groups, suggesting that musical peak experiences may be a
universal phenomenon. The sixth study investigated the relationship between musical peak
experiences and general health and level of happiness among 105 British and 115 Pakistani
students. Results indicate that peak experiences of music were related positively to health and
happiness and that these effects were not mediated by ethnicity. The thesis ends with a
conclusion summarizing the main findings and directions for future research.
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction. 08
Chapter 2: The importance of music. 19
Chapter 3: The uses of music in everyday life. 50
Chapter 4: The relationship between music, health and happiness. 89
Chapter 5: The effect of religious music on depression. 102
Chapter 6: Peak experiences of music: a qualitative approach. 116
Chapter 7: Peak experiences of music: a quantitative approach. 135
Chapter 8: Conclusion. 152
References 159
Appendices 195
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION