Listening to one’s most disliked music evokes a stress response that makes the whole body revolt

Merrill, Julia, Taren-Ida Ackermann, and Anna Czepiel. 2023. “The Negative Power of Music: Effects of Disliked Music on Psychophysiology.” PsyArXiv. February 2. doi:10.31234/osf.io/6escn

Abstract: While previous research has shown the positive effects of music listening in response to one’s favorite music, the negative effects of one’s most disliked music have not gained much attention. Contra to studies on musical chills, in the current study, participants listened to three self-selected disliked musical pieces which evoked highly unpleasant feelings. As a contrast, three musical pieces were individually selected for each participant based on neutral liking ratings they provided on other participants’ music. During music listening, real-time ratings of subjective (dis)pleasure and simultaneous recordings of peripheral measures were obtained. Results show that compared to neutral music, listening to disliked music evokes physiological reactions reflecting higher arousal (heart rate, skin conductance response, body temperature), disgust (levator labii muscle), anger (corrugator supercilii muscle), distress and grimacing (zygomaticus major muscle). The differences between conditions were most prominent during “very unpleasant” real-time ratings, showing peak responses for the disliked music. Hence, disliked music leads to a strong response of physiological arousal and facial expression, reflecting the listener’s attitude toward the music and the physiologically strenuous effect of listening to one’s disliked music.