Music in the eye of the beholder: a pupillometric study on preferred background music, attentional state, and arousal

Abstract

Although background music listening during attention-demanding tasks is common, there is little research on how it affects fluctuations in attentional state and how these fluctuations are linked to physiological arousal. The present study built on Kiss and Linnell (2021) - showing a decrease in mind-wandering and increase in task-focus states with background music - to explore the link between attentional state and arousal with and without background music. 39 students between the ages of 19–32 completed a variation of the Psychomotor Vigilance Task in silence and with their self-selected background music (music they would normally listen to during attention-demanding tasks). Objective arousal measures (pretrial pupil diameter and task-evoked pupillary responses) and subjective attentional state measures (mind-wandering, task-focus, and external-distraction states) were collected throughout the task. Results showed a link between attentional state and arousal and indicated that background music increased arousal. Importantly, arousal mediated the effect of music to decrease mind-wandering and increase task-focus attentional states, suggesting that the arousal increase induced by music was behind the changes in attentional states. These findings show, for the first time in the context of background music listening, that there is a link between arousal and attentional state.