The Elephant in the Room: The Role of Songs in Developing Social Prejudice Attitudes Among University Students

Abstract

Adolescents and the youth experience major psychological changes related to the issues they face. In some countries, local songs broadcasted on YouTube and by local radio stations have been significantly correlated with adolescents’ prejudiced behaviors as songs occupy a central role in their life. This study investigates the effects of exposure to different kinds of songs (national and local) on developing prejudiced attitudes in university students. A Prejudice Attitudes Scale (PAS) was developed and used to evaluate the students’ prejudice levels. A total of 111 undergraduate students who participated in the current study were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: the national song group and the local song group. In both groups, participants were requested to listen to certain songs for one month. The findings of the current study indicate that listening to local songs increased students’ prejudicial attitudes. Further, males tended to produce higher levels of social prejudicial attitudes compared to females.