In a cross-sectional study associations of global affect with two ways of listening to music – attentive–analytical listening (AL) and emotional listening (EL) were examined. More specifically, the degrees to which AL and EL are differentially correlated with positive and negative affect were examined. In Study 1, a sample of 1,291 individuals responded to questionnaires on listening to music, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA). We used the PANAS that measures PA and NA as high arousal dimensions. AL was positively correlated with PA, EL with NA. Moderation analyses showed stronger associations between PA and AL when NA was low. Study 2 (499 participants) differentiated between three facets of affect and focused, in addition to PA and NA, on the role of relaxation. Similar to the findings of Study 1, AL was correlated with PA, EL with NA and PA. Moderation analyses indicated that the degree to which PA is associated with an individual´s tendency to listen to music attentively depends on their degree of relaxation. In addition, the correlation between pleasant activation and EL was stronger for individuals who were more relaxed; for individuals who were less relaxed the correlation between unpleasant activation and EL was stronger. In sum, the results demonstrate not only simple bivariate correlations, but also that the expected associations vary, depending on the different affective states. We argue that the results reflect a dual function of listening to music, which includes emotional regulation and information processing.

Dataset for: Leipold, B. & Loepthien, T. (2021). Attentive and emotional listening to music: The role of positive and negative affect. Jahrbuch Musikpsychologie, 30. https://doi.org/10.5964/jbdgm.78