Listening to Music Boosts Students’ Homework Enjoyment, Focus, and Effort

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 3:45pm
  In Poster Session: Motivation, Emotion, and Self-Regulation: Connecting Student Learning and Teacher Practice

Abstract

Students frequently listen to music while doing homework. While music’s emotional effects are well studied, research on background music during cognitive tasks has mostly focused on cognitive performance. We predicted that listening to music during homework would improve students’ emotional experience, focus, and effort compared to a silent work condition. In a within-subjects field experiment, 160 college students worked on homework while listening to their preferred music in one session and in silence in another. Analyses of post-task surveys confirmed our preregistered hypotheses: students reported greater focus, effort, and positive emotions about their task in the music condition. These findings suggest that listening to music can serve as an effective motivation regulation strategy for students in academic contexts.

Authors

• Siena Adwere-Boamah, Knox College

• Daeun Kim, Knox College

• Mai Hasegawa, Knox College

• Evan Elijah Morris, Knox College

• Sasha Jeffries, Knox College

• Jasmine Lerner, Knox College

• Aaron Shinefield, Knox College

• Leah Binzel, Knox College

• Gabriela Orduña-Aparicio, Knox College

• Dristi Shrestha, Knox College

• Emily Lieder, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen