Nearly 90% of people experience a mix of positive and negative emotions when listening to music that is personally meaningful to them, according to a new study. Researchers found that the reason a person listens to music is a stronger predictor of this emotional complexity than their personality.
Study Details
The study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, involved 2,137 participants from 84 countries, aged 16 to 81. Each participant selected one piece of music that was personally meaningful to them. They rated the emotions the song brought up and reported how often they listened to music for seven different reasons: as background noise, to recall memories, for fun, to feel the emotions in the music, to change their mood, to express their identity, and to feel connected to others.
Researchers then examined how personality, age, cultural background, and listening purpose each shaped those emotional responses. The study is one of the first large-scale efforts to examine what drives emotional complexity in music across different cultures and individual differences.
Listening Purpose Over Personality
More than 30% of participants gave the highest rating to at least one positive and one negative emotion at the same time while listening to their chosen song. This rate is higher than what has been found in other emotional contexts. For comparison, roughly half of graduating students and 44% of viewers watching the film Life Is Beautiful reported the same mix of emotions.
The reason for listening mattered far more than personality. People who used music to recall memories, express their identity, or fully immerse themselves in the emotions the music conveys reported the richest, most layered experiences. People who listened mainly to distract themselves or shift their mood reported less emotional complexity. Personality traits like conscientiousness and emotional stability did predict slightly lower emotional complexity, but their influence was small compared to how people were engaging with the music.
Age also played a role. Older participants tended to experience less emotional complexity. Researchers suggest this may reflect a gradual shift toward seeking more positive, uncomplicated emotional experiences as people get older.
How Engagement Shapes Emotion
When a person uses music to distract themselves, boost their mood, or fill silence, the emotional path is straightforward. When a person listens to music tied to memories or their sense of self, the experience becomes more layered. A song from a meaningful relationship can carry both the warmth of the memory and the ache of its distance. A track that defined a particular era of a person’s life can bring up pride, nostalgia, longing, and grief at the same time.
The study also found that cultural background influenced emotional complexity, but only through how people listened. People with stronger individualistic tendencies, particularly those oriented toward personal achievement and standing out, were more likely to use music for self-expression and memory recall. This then led to richer emotional experiences. The effect ran entirely through how people engaged with music, not just who they are.
Practical Implications
The findings suggest that building a memory playlist intentionally, rather than letting an algorithm surface nostalgic songs at random, can be a form of reflection. Choosing reflection over distraction, by occasionally selecting music for its emotional resonance rather than its ability to shift a mood, can open up a deeper inner experience. Noticing what identity-linked music brings up, and asking what a song reflects about a person rather than just their mood, can also lead to more emotionally layered responses.
