Music Has Hidden Benefits In Listening Alone
When it comes to listening to music, usually it’s considered an activity you do socially or with others. You get a group of friends to listen to an album release or just have a good time with tunes in the background, but there are those times where listening to music alone could be beneficial to you. Researchers have published a study that suggests how listening to music by yourself can have meaningful social benefits.
“It’s a great way to give yourself a social boost and increase your well-being,” says Elaine Paravati, the study’s author. Paravati conceited the research while completing her doctorate at the University of Buffalo.
Both Paravati and coauthors Esha Naidu, a postdoctoral associate at Duke University, and Shira Gabriel, a UB professor of psychology, demonstrated how music functions as a social surrogate.
Humans have this strong sense of needing to belong, which strongly motivates our behavior. The lack of connection with others can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety. There are traditional ways to fill this need, which can include spending time with family and friends, but if that isn’t available to you at the time, there are non-traditional activities that may not be immediately recognized as social.
“You might think you’re motivated to listen to your favorite song because you think it has a catchy beat, but it’s likely that you’re drawn in because that music is filling your social fuel tank and helping you feel a sense of belonging.”
For the study’s first experiment, the researchers asked participants about their use of traditional social fillers , such as TV shows, as well as their use of listening to songs.
” We found that listening to one’s favorite music helped individuals feel less lonely, but someone’s favorite music was more effective at this than just listening to music in general. In other words, there is something special about putting on your favorite song and jamming out,” said Paravati.
For the second experiment, the researchers put together a test to measure the effective rare of the subjects’ favorite music as a response to a social threat. Participants play a virtual ball-toss game as the social threat.
“Again, those who listened to their favorite music felt more belonging than those in the control condition suggesting that listening to their favorite music buffered against the negative effects of a social threat.”