Psychosocial risks and benefits of exposure to heavy metal music with aggressive themes: Current theory and evidence

Olsen, Kirk N.; Terry, Josephine; Thompson, William Forde

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03108-9

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 132 publications

(231 reference statements)

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“…Understanding the motivations that drive people to engage with violently themed music was a key motivator for the present research. Previous lines of research have largely neglected to understand the specific motivations that fans may have for wanting to continually engage with violently themed music, instead largely focusing on assessing preferences for these genres and potential correlations with problem behaviours (for reviews, see [ 60 , 61 ]). Qualitative reports suggest that fans listen to extreme metal music such as death metal to elucidate their current feelings and stresses, work through difficult emotions, and understand more about the difficult aspects of life, as well as for sonic motivations such as the virtuosic talents of the musical performers [ 26 , 55 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale

Powell

Olsen

Thompson

2023

IJERPH

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Many people listen to music that conveys challenging emotions such as sadness and anger, despite the commonly assumed purpose of media being to elicit pleasure. We propose that eudaimonic motivation, the desire to engage with aesthetic experiences to be challenged and facilitate meaningful experiences, can explain why people listen to music containing such emotions. However, it is unknown whether music containing violent themes can facilitate such meaningful experiences. In this investigation, three studies were conducted to determine the implications of eudaimonic and hedonic (pleasure-seeking) motivations for fans of music with violent themes. In Study 1, we developed and tested a new scale and showed that fans exhibit high levels of both types of motivation. Study 2 further validated the new scale and provided evidence that the two types of motivations are associated with different affective outcomes. Study 3 revealed that fans of violently themed music exhibited higher levels of eudaimonic motivation and lower levels of hedonic motivation than fans of non-violently themed music. Taken together, the findings support the notion that fans of music with violent themes are driven to engage with this music to be challenged and to pursue meaning, as well as to experience pleasure. Implications for fans’ well-being and future applications of the new measure are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale

Powell

Olsen

Thompson

2023

IJERPH

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“…A strength of the study is that participants reported enjoying listening to a wide range of genres, so the findings are highly generalizable across genres. Nevertheless, fans of specific genres should be recruited in future research to understand potentially unique benefits and risks associated with certain music genres and their subcultures (e.g., see Olsen, Terry, et al,2022). This could lead to a greater understanding of the features of specific types of music and the extent to which they influence different affective and well-being outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passion, music, and psychological well-being

2023

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Passionate music engagement is a defining feature of music fans worldwide. Although benefits to psychosocial well-being are often experienced by fans of music, some fans experience maladaptive outcomes from their music engagement. The Dualistic Model of Passion proposes that two types of passion—harmonious and obsessive—are associated with positive and negative outcomes of passionate engagement, respectively. This model has been employed in research on passion for a wide range of pursuits including music performers, but not for passionate listeners. The present study employed this model to investigate whether (1) harmonious passion for music is associated with positive music listening experiences and/or psychological well-being and (2) obsessive passion for music is associated with negative music listening experiences and/or psychological ill-being. Passionate fans ( n = 197) of 40 different musical genres were surveyed about their experiences when listening to their favorite music. Measures included the passion scale, affective experiences with music, and psychological well-being and ill-being. Results supported the Dualistic Model of Passion. Structural equation modeling revealed that harmonious passion for music predicted positive affective experiences which, in turn, predicted psychological well-being. Conversely, obsessive passion for music predicted negative affective experiences which, in turn, predicted psychological ill-being. The findings suggest that the nature of passionate engagement with music has an integral role in the psychological impact of music engagement and implications for the well-being of music fans.

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“…However, fans who are prone to depressive symptoms are susceptible to having predominantly negative emotional outcomes [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. While sad music has received considerable empirical attention, an emerging body of research on negatively valenced music has focused on the psychosocial risks and benefits of music with violent themes [ 9 ]. Themes of violence in music are primarily found within extreme metal and rap subgenres and are characterised by lyrics that explicitly depict horrific actions of violence that include murder, rape, and body mutilation, often perpetrated by men against women [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, research conducted on passionate fans of violently themed music has detailed a very different picture to these concerns. Fans of heavy metal music and rap music with overtly violent lyrics report overwhelmingly positive affective experiences including empowerment, joy, and peacefulness, along with other psychosocial benefits such as mood management, formation and affirmation of identity, and strengthening of social bonds [ 9 , 12 , 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research suggests that the valence or content of the music itself is not a good predictor of listeners’ experience. For example, negatively valenced violent music does not often elicit anger or fear in its fans, and sad music does not always result in sadness or despair [ 9 , 17 ]. Indeed, individual characteristics of music fans and the specific nature of their engagement with music may be more useful predictors of psychosocial outcomes than whether the music is deemed ‘aggressive’, ‘violent’, or ‘melancholic’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Passion for Violently Themed Music and Psychological Well-Being: A Survey Analysis

Powell

Olsen

Thompson

2022

Behavioral Sciences

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While the benefits to mood and well-being from passionate engagement with music are well-established, far less is known about the relationship between passion for explicitly violently themed music and psychological well-being. The present study employed the Dualistic Model of Passion to investigate whether harmonious passion (i.e., passionate engagement that is healthily balanced with other life activities) predicts positive music listening experiences and/or psychological well-being in fans of violently themed music. We also investigated whether obsessive passion (i.e., uncontrollable passionate engagement with an activity) predicts negative music listening experiences and/or psychological ill-being. Fans of violently themed music (N = 177) completed the passion scale, scale of positive and negative affective experiences, and various psychological well- and ill-being measures. As hypothesised, harmonious passion for violently themed music significantly predicted positive affective experiences which, in turn, predicted psychological well-being. Obsessive passion for violently themed music significantly predicted negative affective experiences which, in turn, predicted ill-being. Findings support the Dualistic Model of Passion, and suggest that even when music engagement includes violent content, adaptive outcomes are often experienced. We propose that the nature of one’s passion for music is more influential in predicting well-being than the content or valence of the lyrical themes.

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Psychosocial risks and benefits of exposure to heavy metal music with aggressive themes: Current theory and evidence

Cited by 13 publications

References 132 publications

Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale

Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale

Passion, music, and psychological well-being

Passion for Violently Themed Music and Psychological Well-Being: A Survey Analysis

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