Recent research has found that neuroticism (i.e., trait emotional instability) may dispose people to use music listening as a strategy to regulate their emotions. To estimate the magnitude of this relationship, we performed a meta-analysis (random effects model) of the extant 13 correlational studies (k = 13) for a total of 2641 participants. Results indicated a significant small-to-medium summary effect (r =.22, 95% CI [0.17, 0.27]) for the positive correlation between neuroticism and emotion regulation through music listening. Furthermore, there was no evidence of significant heterogeneity in effect sizes across studies. Overall, we conclude that the putative effect of neuroticism on musical emotion regulation is relatively moderate. Findings may suggest that people higher in neuroticism are more prone to use music listening as an accessible resource to regulate their negative emotions or manage whatever affects their mood in everyday life.
AldaoA.Nolen-HoeksemaS.SchweizerS. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 217–237.
2.
BaltazarM.SaarikallioS. (2016). Toward a better understanding and conceptualization of affect self-regulation through music: A critical, integrative literature review. Psychology of Music, 44, 1500–1521.
3.
*BarcewiczE. (2011). Adolescents’ use of music to achieve mood regulation goals (Order No. 3489586). Doctoral dissertation (psychology), Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Newton, MA. Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (915643849). Retrieved on 7May2018 from https://search-proquest-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/docview/915643849?accountid=14701.
4.
Bonneville-RoussyA.RentfrowP. J.XuM. K.PotterJ. (2013). Music through the ages: Trends in musical engagement and preferences from adolescence through middle adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 703–717.
5.
BorensteinM.HedgesL. V.HigginsJ. P. T.RothsteinH. R. (2009). Introduction to meta-analysis. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley.
6.
BorensteinM.HedgesL.HigginsJ.RothsteinH. (2013). Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Version 3. Englewood, NJ: Biostat.
7.
*CarlsonE.SaarikallioS.ToiviainenP.BogertB.KliuchkoM.BratticoE. (2015). Maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation through music: A behavioral and neuroimaging study of males and females. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9(466). doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00466
8.
CaspiA.RobertsB. W.ShinerR. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 453–484.
9.
*Chamorro-PremuzicT.FurnhamA. (2007). Personality and music: Can traits explain how people use music in everyday life?British Journal of Psychology, 98, 175–185.
10.
*Chamorro-PremuzicT.FaganP.FurnhamA. (2010). Personality and uses of music as predictors of preferences for music consensually classified as happy, sad, complex, and social. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 4, 205–213.
11.
*Chamorro-PremuzicT.Gomà-i-FreixanetM.FurnhamA.MuroA. (2009a). Personality, self-estimated intelligence, and uses of music: A Spanish replication and extension using structural equation modeling. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3, 149–155.
12.
*Chamorro-PremuzicT.SwamiV.CermakovaB. (2012). Individual differences in music consumption are predicted by uses of music and age rather than emotional intelligence, neuroticism, extraversion or openness. Psychology of Music, 40, 285–300.
13.
*Chamorro-PremuzicT.SwamiV.FurnhamA.MaakipI. (2009b). The big five personality traits and uses of music: A replication in Malaysia using structural equation modeling. Journal of Individual Differences, 30, 20–27.
14.
CompasB. E.JaserS. S.BettisA. H.WatsonK. H.GruhnM. A.DunbarJ. P.WilliamsEThigpenJ. C. (2017). Coping, emotion regulation, and psychopathology in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 143, 939–991.
15.
Connor-SmithJ. K.FlachsbartC. (2007). Relations between personality and coping: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 1080–1107.
16.
CostaP. T.JrTerraccianoA.McCraeR. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 322–331.
17.
DelsingM. J. M. H.ter BogtT. F. M.EngelsR. C. M. E.MeeusW. H. J. (2008). Adolescents’ music preferences and personality characteristics. European Journal of Personality, 22, 109–130.
18.
GarridoS.SchubertE. (2013). Adaptive and maladaptive attraction to negative emotions in music. Musicae Scientiae, 17, 147–166.
19.
*GetzL. M.Chamorro-PremuzicT.RoyM. M.DevroopK. (2012). The relationship between affect, uses of music, and music preferences in a sample of South African adolescents. Psychology of Music, 40, 164–178.
20.
GignacG. E.SzodoraiE. T. (2016). Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 74–78.
21.
GrossJ. J.JohnO. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348-362.
22.
GulloneE.TaffeJ. (2012). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ–CA): A psychometric evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 24, 409–417.
23.
HampsonS. E. (2012). Personality processes: Mechanisms by which personality traits “get outside the skin.”Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 315–339.
24.
HervasG.VazquezC. (2011). What else do you feel when you feel sad? Emotional overproduction, neuroticism and rumination. Emotion, 11, 881–895.
25.
HigginsJ.ThompsonS. G. (2002). Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Statistics in Medicine, 21, 1539–1558.
26.
HigginsJ. P.ThompsonS. G.DeeksJ. J.AltmanD. G. (2003). Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. British Medical Journal, 327, 557–560.
27.
HudsonN. W.FraleyR. C. (2016). Changing for the better? Longitudinal associations between volitional personality change and psychological well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42, 603–615.
28.
JohnO. P.GrossJ. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72, 1301–1334.
29.
JohnO. P.NaumannL. P.SotoC. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In JohnO. P.RobinsR. W.PervinL. A. (eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 3rd Ed. (pp. 114–158). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
30.
JosephD. L.NewmanD. A. (2010). Emotional intelligence: An integrative meta-analysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 54–78.
31.
JuslinP. N.LiljeströmS.LaukkaP.VästfjällD.LundqvistL. O. (2011). Emotional reactions to music in a nationally representative sample of Swedish adults: Prevalence and causal influences. Musicae Scientiae, 15, 174–207.
32.
JuslinP. N.LiljeströmS.VästfjällD.BarradasG.SilvaA. (2008). An experience sampling study of emotional reactions to music: Listener, music, and situation. Emotion, 8, 668–683.
33.
JuslinP. N.SlobodaJ. A. (2010). Handbook of music and emotion: Theory, research, applications. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
34.
KawaseS. (2016). Associations among music majors’ personality traits, empathy, and aptitude for ensemble performance. Psychology of Music, 44, 293–302.
35.
KotovR.GamezW.SchmidtF.WatsonD. (2010). Linking “big” personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 768–821.
36.
LaheyB. B. (2009). Public health significance of neuroticism. American Psychologist, 64, 241–256.
37.
*LaukkaP. (2007). Uses of music and psychological well-being among the elderly. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 215–241.
38.
LüdtkeO.RobertsB. W.TrautweinU.NagyG. (2011). A random walk down university avenue: life paths, life events, and personality trait change at the transition to university life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 620–637.
39.
McCraeR. R.CostaP. T.JrMartinT. A. (2005). The NEO–PI–3: A more readable revised NEO personality inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84, 261–270.
40.
MenonV.LevitinD. J. (2005). The rewards of music listening: Response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system. Neuroimage, 28, 175–184.
41.
MirandaD. (2013). The role of music in adolescent development: Much more than the same old song. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 18, 5–22.
42.
MirandaD.ClaesM. (2009). Music listening, coping, peer affiliation, and depression in adolescence. Psychology of Music, 37, 215–233.
43.
*MirandaD.GaudreauP.MorizotJ. (2010). Blue notes: Coping by music listening predicts neuroticism changes in adolescence. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 4, 247–253.
44.
MorrisA. S.SilkJ. S.SteinbergL.MyersS. S.RobinsonL. R. (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotion regulation. Social Development, 16, 361–388.
45.
OzerD. J.Benet-MartínezV. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential life outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 401–421.
46.
*PanayidesA. G. (2013). The role of personality and mood in music-use during a high-cognitive demand task. Thesis for the degree of Master of Music at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. Open Access Theses. 399. Retrieved on 7May2018 from http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_theses/399.
47.
PetersonR. A.BrownS. P. (2005). On the use of beta coefficients in meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 175–181.
48.
RentfrowP. J.GoslingS. D. (2003). The Do Re Mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1236–1256.
49.
RobertsB. W.WaltonK. E.ViechtbauerW. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25.
50.
RobinsonO. C.NoftleE. E.GuoJ.AsadiS.ZhangX. (2015). Goals and plans for Big Five personality trait change in young adults. Journal of Research in Personality, 59, 31–43.
51.
SaarikallioS. H. (2008). Music in mood regulation: Initial scale development. Musicae Scientiae, 12, 291–309.
52.
SaarikallioS. (2012). Development and validation of the brief music in mood regulation scale (B-MMR). Music Perception, 30, 97–105.
53.
SaarikallioS.GoldC.McFerranK. (2015). Development and validation of the Healthy-Unhealthy Music Scale. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20, 210–217.
54.
SchäferT.MehlhornC. (2017). Can personality traits predict musical style preferences? A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 116, 265–273.
55.
SibleyC. G.DuckittJ. (2008). Personality and prejudice: A meta-analysis and theoretical review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 248–279.
56.
SotoC. J.JohnO. P. (2009). Ten facet scales for the Big Five Inventory: Convergence with NEO PI-R facets, self-peer agreement, and discriminant validity. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 84–90.
57.
SteinbergL. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 69–74.
58.
SteinbergL. (2011). Adolescence (9th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
59.
*SurkovaM. (2012). The effects of personality and creativity on uses of music. Bachelors final year project for the Bachelor of Arts degree (Psychology specialization) at Dublin Business School, School of Arts, Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved on 7May2018 from http://hdl.handle.net/10788/455.
60.
ter BogtT. F.VienoA.DoornwaardS. M.PastoreM.van den EijndenR. J. (2017). “You’re not alone”: Music as a source of consolation among adolescents and young adults. Psychology of Music, 45, 155–171.
61.
ThomsonC. J.ReeceJ. E.Di BenedettoM. (2014). The relationship between music-related mood regulation and psychopathology in young people. Musicae Scientiae, 18, 150–165.
62.
*VellaE. J.MillsG. (2017). Personality, uses of music, and music preference: The influence of openness to experience and extraversion. Psychology of Music, 45, 338–354.
63.
WatsonD.TellegenA. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 219–235.
64.
WilsonK. E.DishmanR. K. (2015). Personality and physical activity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 230–242.
65.
YoonK. L.MaltbyJ.JoormannJ. (2013). A pathway from neuroticism to depression: Examining the role of emotion regulation. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 26, 558–572.
