Why do we prefer music to silence?

Many of us enjoy listening to music while we work. I’m no exception, as I’m listening to my ‘Work | Study | Relax‘ Spotify playlist while writing this post. That list has mainly instrumental music, and different themes of different videogames and other artist. All songs are on the softer side, as vibrant music is not my cup of tea when I need to work. However, something that tampers with my motivation is that I remember reading that silence is actually better for focus (or that noise is detrimental to focus).

It makes me feel a bit guilty about my choice, especially when I have Loop earplugs (not a referral link 🙂 ) to silence the world around me. I shouldn’t feel this way (and neither should you), as it turns out that different studies have found different results and they have their own limitations.

For example, Jafari et al. (2019) study used background noise, but they didn’t specify what the sound was like. Moreover, they mention that many studies ask participants to self-report their feelings when exposed to different conditions, and that this approach is not ideal (they actually used electroencephalograms to measure the effect of noise on the study subjects).

Sarah Masud also mentioned how different studies get contradictory results and even noted how background music usage was slightly related to job dissatisfaction. This finding raises intriguing questions: Do people listen to music more often when they are dissatisfied with their work, or is it actually music that creates the dissatisfaction? The implications of these contradictory results are thought-provoking and a clear sign that this still needs further investigation.

Should we work or study in silence, tho?

Jordan Calhoun shared different studies that found that Silence was, overall, better for cognitive tasks, with a small exception for lo-fi music, which might have helped the study participants with reading comprehension (but not by much).

Music can help us feel better, which is why we might prefer it over being in a silent environment. Still, I think we should give Silence a try (although I’m not particularly fond of it). Do you listen to music while you work, or are you part of the silence team? If you listen to music while working, what type is it? Let us know in the comments (if you want to 😉 ).

About the Author:
I’m Astrid, a biologist who made a career shift to become a virtual assistant and an accountability partner. My journey from the world of science to customer service and freelancing has given me a unique perspective on life, and I sometimes share it here on WordPress.

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