Reasons for music listening, preferred musical attributes, and choice of song lyrics vary by listener anxiety sensitivity levels

Abstract

Across three studies, this work charted how anxiety sensitivity (AS)—fear of arousal‐related sensations—relates to music engagement at motivational, perceptual, and semantic levels. Study 1 used exploratory factor analysis to identify core reasons for music listening among 788 undergraduates (77.7% women; Mage = 19.20, SDage = 2.46) and explored associations with AS via hierarchical regression. Higher AS predicted relief‐oriented Coping, Conformity, and Connection motives but did not influence reward‐focused Revitalization, Social Enhancement, and Sensory–Motor functions. Study 2 presented 1040 participants (75.3% women; Mage = 19.31, SDage = 3.27) with vignettes designed to prime AS physical, cognitive, or social concerns. Contextual listening endorsement rates were probed via logistic regression and preferred acoustic properties of participant‐nominated tracks were investigated using generalized linear models. Higher AS cognitive and social concerns were associated with greater endorsement of listening but only in a low‐mood context. Higher AS physical concerns were linked to quieter music choices across all scenarios, and higher AS cognitive concerns to faster tempos under low‐mood conditions. Musical mode (i.e., choice of major versus minor key) was not related to AS but the probability of choosing minor key music was lowest in a low-mood context, higher in a social context, and highest in context of physical exercise. Across all scenarios, males were more likely than females to select minor key music. Using LIWC-22 software, Study 3 (also N = 1040; 75.3% women; Mage = 19.31, SDage = 3.27) examined associations between AS and the lyrical content of participant-nominated songs. As predicted, negative binomial regression modeling showed higher AS concerns that matched those primed by a vignette were associated with lyrics containing fewer fear‐relevant words. In contexts incongruent with AS concerns, however, listeners appeared to sometimes avoid, but also (or alternatively) seemed to gravitate toward emotionally charged lyrics, possibly reflecting efforts at exposure or cognitive reappraisal. Together, these findings paint a nuanced portrait of connections between AS and why people listen to music, and which acoustic and lyrical features they choose. Music‐based interventions tailored to individual AS profiles may offer an accessible and effective means of preventing and treating AS‐related emotional disorders.