Emotion Regulation Through Self-Chosen Music: A Qualitative Study With Young Adults

The emotional implications of music have attracted the interest of many psychology researchers in the past few decades. The current study investigated how self-chosen music facilitated emotion regulation strategies in young adults from Greece during intense emotional periods. The sample of the study involved 12 Greek students, ranging from 18 to 28 years of age. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and interpretive phenomenological analysis was applied for the analysis of data. Findings suggest that the perceived manageability of an emotion plays a key role in determining the regulation strategy employed. When experiencing manageable emotions, participants remain connected to their inner feelings, using strategies such as mindful attending, music as a substitute for human presence and catharsis. In contrast, when facing unmanageable emotions, they avoid emotional confrontation, using music to suppress distressing emotions or opting not to listen to music at all. Future studies can expand on this research topic and further add to our findings.