The Effects of Music Listening on Affect, Self-efficacy, Mental Exertion, and Task Performance of Online Learners

Abstract

Online education is becoming more common in higher education, and the number of students taking online courses is projected to increase dramatically. Despite the popularity of online education, there is scarce research on the psychological well-being for those online learners as they work toward their academic goals. To address this gap, the current study examined the effects of music listening on online learners’ mood, perceived self-efficacy, mental exertion, and task performance (N = 42). This study specifically focused on an online college education setting and examined the role of music listening and affect within this emotionally-dynamic context. Data analysis utilizing repeated measures ANOVA indicated that daily music listening has a significant influence on positive affect, negative affect, mental exertion, and task performance of the study participants, but not on self-efficacy. The implications of these findings and limitations of the study are discussed in the paper.