Music, the Great Communicator. A Cross-sectional Study on the Association between Music Preference and Life Satisfaction among High School Students

Abstract

Research from Trimbos Institute (2020) shows that life satisfaction is decreasing among Dutch adolescents. Friends and music are two important sources for adolescents’ life satisfaction (Trimbos Institute, 2020). This research focuses on the relationship between music preference and life satisfaction from a sociological point of view. It seeks to examine whether the relationship between music preference and life satisfaction is explained by two underlying mechanisms, namely having more online friends and the quality of friendships. To answer the research question, cross-sectional data from the HBSC study is used. The representative sample of this research consists of 1451 Dutch high school students (Mage =14; SDage = 1.56; 43.7% boys). Results showed that music preference is correlated with life satisfaction (beta = -0.18; p < .01). Adolescents who prefer nonmainstream music have a significantly lower life satisfaction than adolescents who prefer mainstream music. Contrary to expectations, this relation was not explained by the two underlying mechanisms that were tested, namely having more online friends and the quality of friendships. Yet, the results of this study should only be understood in the context of the study and its limitations.