Personality characteristics, music-listening, and well-being: a systematic and scoping review

Abstract

When researchers and clinicians try to identify appropriate and effective ways to improve well-being among different populations, music is often included in interventions or research projects. The existing literature has consistently reported interactions between the effects of personality traits and music listening. However, the interrelations between individual traits and well-being after music listening are still partially unclear. This systematic review, registered on PROSPERO, investigates the relationship between everyday music listening, individual characteristics — operationalized as stable and transient personality traits — and well-being. Articles were searched on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, with a final result of 115 records. After eligibility screening, eight studies were included in the review. The results showed that both stable and transient personality traits influence music's effect on well-being. As a result of the scoping review, a theoretical perspective combining the emotional dimension, the principle of emotional congruence, and the dimension of music immersion and well-being was identified. Based on this knowledge, music listening could be systematically introduced into daily routines to improve everyday well-being and prevent or reduce stressful states.