Listening to music to cope with everyday stressors

Abstract

Everyday stressors—the irritating and disturbing events that happen in the context of everyday life—are common. The present research examined the relationship between everyday stressors and the use of music listening as a coping mechanism. In particular, it examined the use of music listening to cope with different types of everyday stressor and examined the relationship between this usage and listener characteristics, including demographics and music engagement style. Participants in the USA, Australia, and Malaysia ( N =553) completed an online survey. A factor analysis was used to identify five types of everyday stressor: Social, Financial, Performance Responsibilities, Work-related, and Daily Displeasures. Individuals listened to music significantly more often to cope with social and work-related stressors than performance responsibilities and daily displeasures. Moreover, individuals who demonstrated a stronger affective listening style and those who reported listening to music for emotion/problem-orientated and avoidance/disengagement reasons were found to listen to music most often to cope with everyday stressors. These findings have implications, for both listeners and health professionals, when considering how music listening can be used as a self-administered tool for coping with everyday stressors.

Listen Up: A case study examination of focused listening

“…Moreover, people with a more strongly affective style of music engagement were more likely to report evocative and expressive and sad emotional experiences. This aligns with previous findings that emotion regulation is the primary reason for listening to music (Schäfer et al, 2013) and that an affective style is positively associated with listening to music to cope with everyday stressors (Krause et al, 2023). The affective style of music engagement is also characterized by “emotional processes involved with cathartic and expressive engagement” (Greenberg & Rentfrow, 2015, n.p.…”

“…Indeed, a growing body of research has evidenced the role of music and music listening in promoting health and well-being (Krause et al, 2018(Krause et al, , 2021McCrary et al, 2022;Raglio, 2021;Vidas et al, 2022), including both explicitly therapeutic and everyday engagement. Benefits arise, for example, through the association of listening with relaxation and enjoyment (e.g., Baylan et al, 2018;Diaz, 2013) and its use as a coping mechanism for dealing with stress (Adiasto et al, 2022;Krause et al, 2023;Vidas et al, 2021), pain (Howlin et al, 2022), and anxiety (Harney et al, 2023). Research has supported the use of everyday listening practices to cope with stress (e.g., Krause et al, 2023) manage one's moods and emotions (Randall et al, 2014;Saarikallio et al, 2013), and help with self-awareness (e.g., Elvers et al, 2018;Schäfer et al, 2013), although the extent to which music listening is effective (e.g., on reducing stress) depends on the individual (Galanakis et al, 2009) and their listening style (e.g., Miranda & Claes, 2009).…”

“…Benefits arise, for example, through the association of listening with relaxation and enjoyment (e.g., Baylan et al, 2018;Diaz, 2013) and its use as a coping mechanism for dealing with stress (Adiasto et al, 2022;Krause et al, 2023;Vidas et al, 2021), pain (Howlin et al, 2022), and anxiety (Harney et al, 2023). Research has supported the use of everyday listening practices to cope with stress (e.g., Krause et al, 2023) manage one's moods and emotions (Randall et al, 2014;Saarikallio et al, 2013), and help with self-awareness (e.g., Elvers et al, 2018;Schäfer et al, 2013), although the extent to which music listening is effective (e.g., on reducing stress) depends on the individual (Galanakis et al, 2009) and their listening style (e.g., Miranda & Claes, 2009). For instance, people with an affective listening style are more likely to use music to cope with everyday stressors (Krause et al, 2023).…”

“…Research has supported the use of everyday listening practices to cope with stress (e.g., Krause et al, 2023) manage one's moods and emotions (Randall et al, 2014;Saarikallio et al, 2013), and help with self-awareness (e.g., Elvers et al, 2018;Schäfer et al, 2013), although the extent to which music listening is effective (e.g., on reducing stress) depends on the individual (Galanakis et al, 2009) and their listening style (e.g., Miranda & Claes, 2009). For instance, people with an affective listening style are more likely to use music to cope with everyday stressors (Krause et al, 2023). It is also possible that these benefits may be related to the nature and level of the listener's attention; Shifriss et al (2014) report that individuals who indicated that they use music for mood regulation also reported focusing, or directing more attention, to their emotions.…”

Developing a Model to Predict Self-Reported Student Performance during Online Education Based on the Acoustic Environment

“…This pertains to the outcomes of various studies examining the effects of listening to music as ambient sound. In recent research conducted by Krause et al, participants reported listening to music for emotional support and disengagement from problems [64]. Additionally, the same research group suggests that during the COVID-19 lockdown, listening to music was correlated with increased life satisfaction [9].…”