My Research

Beronius Haake, A. (2008). Individual music listening in workplace settings: An exploratory survey of offices in the UK. (Article submitted to Musicae Scientiae)

(funded by: AHRC, principle investigator: Dr Nicola Dibben)

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a survey which investigated music listening practices and experiences in office settings in the UK. 294 respondents provided quantitative and qualitative data on occupation, amount and type of music listening during a working week, listening technologies employed, amount of control the respondent had over music in their workplace, tasks performed concurrently with music listening, perceived functions that music listening had for the respondent and reasons for not listening to music at work.

Respondents reported a high degree of choice over music listened to at work, and no trends in types of music were found. Respondents most commonly reported experiencing relaxation when listening in the office, and felt that music listening could help to ease stress in the workplace through experiences of relaxation and improved mood. They believed that music could help them to both engage in and escape from work, and they often used music to block out unwanted sounds in the office environment.

Respondents also reported managing their listening practices so as not to disturb colleagues or appear unprofessional in front of clients. Imposed music was reported to sometimes cause adverse emotional reactions. Implications for the use of music listening to reduce stress at work are discussed.

Functions

Mean

SD

N

Improves mood

4.4

0.9

236

Helps to relax

4.3

1.0

236

Makes you happier

4.1

0.9

237

Makes you less bored

3.9

1.1

238

Creates a suitable atmosphere

3.8

1.0

233

Improves your focus

3.8

1.0

233

Blocks out noise

3.7

1.3

235

Inspires/stimulates

3.7

1.1

231

Helps creative flow

3.6

1.1

231

Distracts unwanted thoughts

3.4

1.2

232

Comments by some participants

“It puts me in a good mood and therefore I feel more cheerful at work and less stressed.” (295, F: 26-35yrs, Personal Assistant).

“It is almost seen as taboo and I do get some comments about not working when it is on and people come into the office.” (290, M: 56-65, Projects Officer)

“Improves my ability to focus on what I am working on. People tend to interrupt your work less if you are wearing headphones!” (143, M: 26-35yrs, Grid Systems Manager)

“Personally I feel it would be inappropriate to listen to music out loud in the workplace, especially in an open plan office. With varying tastes in music it could cause more stress for people being made to listen to music given the choice they would not.” (12, F: 26-35yrs, Sales Administrator)

“Helps me concentrate, especially when someone else is in the office, or talking on the phone, or having a meeting in my office, helps me to concentrate on what I am doing, not what they are doing.” (265, F: 56-65yrs, Personal Assistant/Course Administrator)

“You miss office discussions and these can be very important when you work in a team and the discussions are usually work related.” (397, F: 36-45, Technical Infrastructure Specialist)

Conclusions

Respondents from this survey of British offices listened for a third of their working week and they reported a high degree of choice over the music heard. They often listened via radio or CD-player in their computer, when travelling, doing routine tasks or word-processing tasks and they often listened individually in their offices. Those who used headphones did so for a majority of the time spent listening to music. When respondents listened to music at work, they experienced relaxation and improvement of mood. Respondents believed that music could help them to both engage in and escape from work. Music blocked out environmental sounds; enabling respondents to concentrate on work. Music also enabled respondents to think about things other than the work at hand thereby allowing respondents to escape ’boring’ of ’unpleasant’ work environments.

This study provides evidence that listening practices are context-specific and conditioned by physical and social environments. Many respondents were not only aware of, but often concerned, that music could disturb others and they actively managed their listening behaviour in order to accommodate both themselves as individuals and the perceived need of colleagues’ or clients.

Respondents reported how music listening could help to ease stress in the workplace, through experiences of relaxation and improved mood. However, no trends in terms of genres were found in the data, indicating that there is little evidence for the efficacy of classical music as opposed to other music genres.

Anneli Beronius Haake * PhD Candidate * anneliberonius@hotmail.com *