McKenzie, Sabrina M., Krause, Amanda E., Glasser, Solange, and Osborne, Margaret S. (2025) Exploring the role of music listening in cultivating self-compassion. Psychology of Music. (In Press)

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Abstract

Music listening can impact emotional well-being. However, self-compassion, an aspect strongly related to emotional well-being, is rarely discussed in music listening literature. Therefore, this study explored self-compassionate and uncompassionate music listening experiences within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred and ninety-six Australian university students (Mage = 19.32) completed a mixed-methods music listening and self-compassion questionnaire. The questionnaire included the Self-Compassion Short Form Scale along with an author-adapted version exploring the influence of music listening. Additional, open-ended questions probed self-compassionate and uncompassionate music listening experiences. Most participants (81.76%) reported self-compassionate experiences through listening to music during the pandemic. Template analysis examining people’s self-compassionate and uncompassionate music listening experiences resulted in an overlap of themes including emotional experience, connection, and music styles. Distinct patterns were found, such as positive outcomes in self-compassionate responses and negative outcomes in uncompassionate experiences. The inclusion of emotional release within uncompassionate responses demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between music listening and self-compassion. These findings highlight the need for further exploration into music listening and self-compassion, particularly in an everyday context beyond the pandemic.

Item ID:	89603
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1741-3087
Keywords:	music listening, emotion regulation, self-compassion, emotional release, COVID-19, music psychology, social and applied psychology of music, psychology of music, listening, everyday listening, well-being
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s) 2025.Attribution 4.0 International CC BY 4.0 Deed
Date Deposited:	16 Nov 2025 22:14
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 50% 36 CREATIVE ARTS AND WRITING > 3603 Music > 360301 Music cognition @ 50%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1301 Arts > 130102 Music @ 50% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 50%
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