Cultivating Self-Compassion through Music Listening

Music listening is known to profoundly influence human emotions and positively influence emotional well-being, but how might it promote self-compassion? Self-compassion, the ability to recognise and ease one's own suffering, plays a critical role in emotional well-being. Our study explored the role of music listening in cultivating self-compassion. Using an online survey, we asked 296 participants, aged 17-33 years (M = 19.32, SD = 2.37), open-ended questions about their self-compassionate and uncompassionate music listening experiences. Our findings suggest that while music listening can contribute to feeling self-compassion, it is also associated with uncompassionate outcomes. Thematic analysis revealed themes common to both experiences, including emotional experience, connection, and music styles, and distinct patterns whereby self-compassionate responses emphasised positive outcomes and uncompassionate responses highlighted negative aspects. Interestingly, uncompassionate responses often involved using music to process negative emotions and facilitate emotional release, suggesting potential pathways to self-compassion. This presentation will draw on specific examples of music-induced self-compassionate and uncompassionate outcomes to highlight the complexity of music use in positive psychology. As music listening is a popular leisure activity, understanding the relationship between music and self-compassion can assist in informing mental health strategies with implications for future work examining music listening for emotional well-being.

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IPPA 2025: World Congress on Positive Psychology

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