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. 2021 Apr 14:12:648013.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648013. eCollection 2021.

"Help! I Need Somebody": Music as a Global Resource for Obtaining Wellbeing Goals in Times of Crisis

Roni Granot  1 , Daniel H Spitz  2   3 , Boaz R Cherki  2   4 , Psyche Loui  5 , Renee Timmers  6 , Rebecca S Schaefer  7   8 , Jonna K Vuoskoski  9 , Ruth-Nayibe Cárdenas-Soler  10 , João F Soares-Quadros Jr  11 , Shen Li  12 , Carlotta Lega  13 , Stefania La Rocca  13 , Isabel Cecilia Martínez  14 , Matías Tanco  14 , María Marchiano  14 , Pastora Martínez-Castilla  15 , Gabriela Pérez-Acosta  16 , José Darío Martínez-Ezquerro  17 , Isabel M Gutiérrez-Blasco  18 , Lily Jiménez-Dabdoub  19 , Marijn Coers  7 , John Melvin Treider  9 , David M Greenberg  20   21 , Salomon Israel  2
Affiliations

"Help! I Need Somebody": Music as a Global Resource for Obtaining Wellbeing Goals in Times of Crisis

Roni Granot et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Music can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance positive mood, and facilitate social bonding. However, little is known about the role of music and related personal or cultural (individualistic vs. collectivistic) variables in maintaining wellbeing during times of stress and social isolation as imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. In an online questionnaire, administered in 11 countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, and USA, N = 5,619), participants rated the relevance of wellbeing goals during the pandemic, and the effectiveness of different activities in obtaining these goals. Music was found to be the most effective activity for three out of five wellbeing goals: enjoyment, venting negative emotions, and self-connection. For diversion, music was equally good as entertainment, while it was second best to create a sense of togetherness, after socialization. This result was evident across different countries and gender, with minor effects of age on specific goals, and a clear effect of the importance of music in people's lives. Cultural effects were generally small and surfaced mainly in the use of music to obtain a sense of togetherness. Interestingly, culture moderated the use of negatively valenced and nostalgic music for those higher in distress.

Keywords: COVID-19; age; gender; individualistic and collectivistic cultures; mood regulation; music; nostalgia; wellbeing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Importance of goals as a function of culture. Error bars represent 95% CI. Colored squares represent the 2nd and 3rd quartiles of responses. Black lines represent the median, and dots represent the mean.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Efficiency of music in obtaining wellbeing goals by culture. Error bars represent 95% CI. Colored squares represent the 2nd and 3rd quartiles of responses. Black lines represent the median, and dots represent the mean.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Efficiency of Activities in obtaining “Enjoyment and maintaining good mood” and “Reducing Loneliness and Creating a Sense of Togetherness” by culture. Colored squares represent the 2nd and 3rd quartiles of responses. Black lines represent the median, and “x” represents the mean.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Efficiency of music in obtaining Togetherness by age. Error bars represent 95% CI. Colored squares represent the 2nd and 3rd quartiles of responses. Black lines represent the median, and dots represent the mean.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Moderated-mediation model. X, distress; Y, music valence; Mediator, music nostalgia; Moderator, culture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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