Effective stress recovery is crucial to prevent the long-term consequences of stress exposure. Studies have suggested that listening to music may be beneficial for stress reduction. Thus, music listening stands to be a promising method to promote effective recovery from exposure to daily stressors. Despite this, empirical support for this opinion has been largely equivocal. As such, to clarify the current literature, we conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized, controlled experimental studies investigating the effects of music listening on stress recovery in healthy individuals. In fourteen experimental studies, participants (N = 706) were first exposed to an acute laboratory stressor, following which they were either exposed to music or a control condition. A random-effects meta-regression with robust variance estimation demonstrated a non-significant cumulative effect of music listening on stress recovery g = 0.15, 95% CI [-0.21, 0.52], t(13) = 0.92, p = 0.374. In healthy individuals, the effects of music listening on stress recovery seemed to vary depending on musical genre, who selects the music, musical tempo, and type of stress recovery outcome. However, considering the significant heterogeneity between the modest number of included studies, no definite conclusions may currently be drawn about the effects of music listening on the short-term stress recovery process of healthy individuals. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Background Empirical support for the notion that music listening is beneficial for stress recovery is inconclusive, potentially due to the methodological diversity with which the effects of music on stress recovery have been investigated. Little is presently known about which recovery activities are chosen by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery, and whether audio feature commonalities exist between different songs that are selected by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery. The current pre-registered study investigated whether audio feature commonalities can be extracted from self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery. Furthermore, the present study exploratorily examined the relationship between audio features and participants’ desired recovery-related emotions while listening and after listening to self-selected music. Methods Participants (N = 470) completed an online survey in which they described what music they would listen to unwind from a hypothetical stressful event. Data analysis was conducted using a split-sample procedure. A k-medoid cluster analysis was conducted to identify audio feature commonalities between self-selected songs. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between audio features and desired recovery emotions. Results Participants valued music listening as a recovery activity to a similar extent as watching TV, sleeping, or talking to a significant other. Cluster analyses revealed that self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery can be grouped into two distinct categories. The two categories of songs shared similarities in key, loudness, speechiness, acousticness, instrumentalness, liveness, musical valence, tempo, duration, and time signature, and were distinguished by danceability, energy, and mode. No audio features were significantly associated with participants’ desired recovery emotions. Conclusions Although a comprehensive portrait of the relationship between audio features and stress recovery still warrants further research, the present study provides a starting point for future enquiries into the nuanced effects of musical audio features on stress recovery.

The lack of knowledge on how to determine sample sizes in experiments is arguably one of the main reasons underlying the replication crisis in psychological science. We distributed a survey to Indonesian students and researchers concerning 1) familiarity and understanding of statistical concepts related to sample size determination, 2) current sample size determination practices in experiments, and 3) ideal sample sizes for experiments. Subsequently, we simulated expected statistical power given the sample sizes reported in the survey. The results demonstrated that 1) while a majority of participants were somewhat familiar with statistical concepts related to sample size determination, they did not always endorse the correct and/or complete definition of each concept. Furthermore, 2) our participants relied on practical considerations in determining sample sizes. Consequently, 3) the reported sample sizes did not have sufficient power to detect small to medium effect sizes, which are commonly present in psychological science.Abstrak. Salah satu kendala utama yang melatarbelakangi krisis replikasi dalam psikologi adalah kurangnya pemahaman peneliti psikologi mengenai besaran sampel ideal dalam penelitian. Survei disebarkan kepada 354 mahasiswa dan peneliti psikologi untuk menanyakan 1) familiaritas dan pemahaman mengenai konsep-konsep statistika terkait penentuan besaran sampel, 2) kebiasaan menentukan besaran sampel penelitian, dan 3) pendapat mengenai besaran sampel ideal. Selanjutnya, menggunakan besaran sampel yang dilaporkan untuk mensimulasikan capaian kekuatan uji statistik (power). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa 1) sebagian besar mahasiswa dan peneliti psikologi familiar dengan konsep-konsep statistika yang erat kaitannya dengan penentuan besaran sampel, namun memiliki pemahaman yang keliru dan/atau tidak utuh mengenai konsep-konsep tersebut, dan 2) mereka mengandalkan pertimbangan pragmatis dalam menentukan besaran sampel. Akibatnya, 3) besaran sampel yang dianggap ideal tidak memiliki kekuatan uji statistik yang cukup untuk mendeteksi besaran efek kecil dan sedang, yang umum ditemukan dalam penelitian-penelitian psikologi.Kata kunci: besaran efek; besaran sampel; kekuatan uji statistik; krisis replikasi 1 Korespondensi mengenai artikel ini dapat melalui: w.wiradhany@rug.nl

Timely recovery from stress is crucial in the prevention of various stress-related disorders. Music listening is often used by adults and teenagers to reduce stress. However, while music listening seems to be a promising way to promote effective recovery from stress, current research has given little attention to the explanatory mechanisms underlying the effect of music listening on stress recovery. The present study investigates the role of (positive) emotional responses and cognitive distraction in the assumed relationship between music listening and stress recovery. Additionally, we explored the effects of self- and experimenter-selected music on stress recovery. In an online experimental study, participants (N = 210) were first exposed to an adapted version of the Portland Arithmetic Stress Task. Subsequently, participants underwent a 10-minute recovery period, during which they listened to either self-selected music, experimenter-selected music, or an audio control stimulus. Participants reported their emotions, perceived stress, and cognitive distraction at 2-minute intervals throughout the recovery period. Statistical analyses revealed that favourable changes in emotional responses mediated the relationship between self-selected music listening and stress recovery, while favourable changes in cognitive distraction mediated the effects of both self- and experimenter-selected music on recovery. Exploratory analyses revealed that the effects of self- and experimenter-selected music on stress recovery were comparable, likely due to similarities in audio features such as danceability, instrumentalness, and mode between the two music conditions. Our findings suggest that music listening has a beneficial influence on stress recovery, and that positive emotional experiences seem to function as an underlying explanatory mechanism in this association.

Studies have suggested that listening to music may be beneficial for stress reduction. Despite this, empirical support for this opinion has been largely equivocal. To clarify the current literature, we conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized, controlled experimental studies investigating the effects of music listening on stress recovery in healthy individuals. In fourteen experimental studies, participants (N = 706) were first exposed to an acute laboratory stressor, following which they were either exposed to music or a control condition. A random-effects meta-regression with robust variance estimation demonstrated a non-significant cumulative effect of music listening on stress recovery g = 0.15, 95% CI [-0.21, 0.52], t(13) = 0.92, p = 0.374, with high heterogeneity between studies. Thus, no definite conclusions may currently be drawn about the effects of music listening on the short-term stress recovery process of healthy individuals. Suggestions for future research are discussed.