02231caa a2200241   4500008004100000022001400041100002200055245008100077260000900158300001000167490002300177520140700200653011701607700001801724700002201742700002301764700003001787700002001817700004201837700002001879773004001899856005001939210629s9999    xx            000 0 und d  a1708-8186  aVinaya Manchaiah  0aSocial representation of “music” in young adults: a cross-cultural study  c2017  a24-32  vVolume 56  Issue 1  aObjective: This study was aimed to explore perceptions of and reactions to music in young adults (18–25 years) using the theory of social representations (TSR). Design: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and included participants from India, Iran, Portugal, USA and UK. Data were analysed using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Study sample: The study sample included 534 young adults. Results: The Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the countries regarding the informants’ perception of music. The most positive connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Iranian participants (82.2%), followed by Portuguese participants (80.6%), while the most negative connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Indian participants (18.2%), followed by Iranian participants (7.3%). The participants’ responses fell into 19 main categories based on their meaning; however, not all categories were found in all five countries. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category “positive emotions or actions” was the most frequent category occurring in all five countries. Conclusions: The results indicate that music is generally considered to bring positive emotions for people within these societies, although a small percentage of responses indicate some negative consequences of music.  aMusic listening, hearing loss, public health hazard, attitude, social representation, text mining, cross-culture  aDavid Tomé   aDeepthi Mahadeva   aEldré W. Beukes   aFei Zhao Stephen Widén   aJasmin Auzenne   aRajalakshmi Krishna & Per Germundsson  aTayebeh Ahmadi   aInternational Journal of Audiology   uhttps://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2016.1227481