Music as emotional self-regulation throughout adulthood

TLDR

Emotional self‑regulation is a major driver of musical engagement at all ages, yet its development across the life span is poorly understood. The study aimed to qualitatively explore the core processes and strategies of music‑mediated emotional self‑regulation in adults. Twenty‑one adults aged 21–70 participated in group interviews that were examined using qualitative content analysis. The analysis identified that the fundamental nature of music‑based emotional regulation remains consistent across adulthood, while changes can be grouped into age‑related shifts, event‑driven fluctuations, and retirement transitions, underscoring music’s functional role in psychosocial development.

Abstract

Emotional self-regulation is acknowledged as one of the most important reasons for musical engagement at all ages. Yet there is little knowledge on how this self-regulatory use of music develops across the life span. A qualitative study was conducted to initially explore central processes and strategies of the emotional self-regulation during adulthood. The data were collected through group interviews and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Participants were 21 interviewees with an age range of 21—70 years. The results clarified conceptual features of music-related emotional self-regulation in adulthood and revealed two main trends. First, the basic nature of regulation, including various regulatory goals and strategies, remained highly similar throughout adulthood. Second, however, several changes were also evident, and they could be further categorized into three types: change by age, event-related fluctuations, and retirement transition. The study provided knowledge about the role of music-related emotional experiences as a functional and meaningful part of human behavior and psychosocial development during adulthood.