Learning About Your Mental Health From Your Playlist? Investigating the Correlation Between Music Preference and Mental Health of College Students

Abstract

The present study explored the correlation between music preference and mental health of college students to make an empirical contribution to research in this field. The self-reported music preference scale and positive mental health scale of college students were adopted to conduct a questionnaire survey in college students. Common method variance was conducted to test any serious common method bias problem. No serious common method bias problem was observed. The results showed that college students’ preference for pop music, Western classical music, and Chinese traditional music has a significant and positive correlation with their mental health. Furthermore, college students’ preference for heavy music has a significant and inverse correlation with their mental health. This research presents a correlational study; therefore, no causality can be inferred.