New research reveals the powerful psychological impact of song lyrics

A new comprehensive analysis suggests that the words embedded in songs do far more than simply provide a narrative for a melody; they actively shape the thoughts, feelings, and actions of listeners. The findings indicate that exposure to specific lyrical content can have measurable effects on everything from charitable giving and empathy to aggression and sexual attitudes. These results were published in the scientific journal Psychology of Music.

Music consumption has become a dominant activity in modern daily life. Recent estimates suggest that the average person listens to music for approximately three hours every day. The most popular genres frequently feature lyrics that explore intense themes, including romantic relationships, substance use, social protest, and violence. Educators and psychologists have grown increasingly concerned about how these messages might influence listeners, particularly adolescents and young adults who are in the process of forming their identities.

Despite the prevalence of music in society, many listeners believe that the lyrics they hear have no impact on them. This belief often stems from a sense of personal autonomy or a strong identification with specific artists.

The authors of the current study aimed to test this assumption objectively. They sought to determine if song lyrics act as a psychological stimulus that can alter behavior, emotional states, and attitudes in a predictable manner. The researchers were particularly interested in informing the field of critical music education, which strives to teach students how to analyze the media they consume rather than absorbing it passively.

“One of the aims of critical music education is to enable students to critically examine the relationships between music and society. One particularly fruitful way of addressing this aim is by encouraging students to engage in critical analysis and problematization of the narratives conveyed in the songs they habitually listen to,” explained study author Pablo Marín Liébana, a professor at the University of Valencia.

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“However, students’ musical preferences are often regarded as aesthetically inferior and educationally inappropriate, which leads many teachers to resist incorporating them into their teaching practice. In addition, a widespread belief among some educators holds that song lyrics do not influence listeners, on the assumption that they are rarely attended to or are of secondary importance, with listeners focusing primarily on melody and rhythm.”

To investigate this, the researchers conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis. They followed the PRISMA protocol, a rigorous standard for reporting evidence-based reviews. They searched major scientific databases for empirical studies that specifically examined the impact or effect of song lyrics.

This initial search yielded over one thousand potential articles. After applying strict inclusion criteria, such as requiring the studies to be published in peer-reviewed journals and to rely on empirical data, the researchers selected 82 studies for the systematic review.

From this pool, the researchers identified a subset of studies suitable for a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical method that combines data from multiple independent studies to determine the overall strength and direction of an effect.

They selected 34 experimental studies that included both experimental and control groups. These studies provided the necessary statistical data to calculate effect sizes. The researchers categorized the dependent variables into three distinct areas: cognitive-behavioral effects, emotional effects, and attitudinal effects.

The analysis revealed that song lyrics have a medium-sized effect on cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The content of the lyrics generally aligned with the subsequent behavior of the listeners. For example, individuals who listened to songs with prosocial lyrics, which express themes of helping and kindness, were more likely to engage in helping behaviors. Specific studies included in the review showed that these listeners donated more money to charity, tipped restaurant servers more generously, and were more willing to help pick up dropped items.

In contrast, the researchers found that exposure to aggressive or violent lyrics was associated with increased hostility. In laboratory settings, participants who listened to violent songs were more likely to administer hot sauce to another person or engage in aggressive driving behaviors during a simulation.

Similarly, lyrics containing sexual content were linked to distinct behavioral changes. The findings suggest that exposure to such themes is associated with earlier initiation of sexual activities in adolescents and a higher likelihood of engaging in risky sexual practices.

The researchers also examined how the presence of lyrics affects cognitive performance. The results suggest that songs with lyrics tend to be more distracting than instrumental music. Listeners often displayed lower performance on tasks requiring verbal memory, reading comprehension, and attention when lyrics were present. This indicates that the brain may automatically process the linguistic information in songs, which draws resources away from other cognitive tasks.

The strongest impact observed in the meta-analysis was on emotions. The researchers found a high effect size in this category, indicating that lyrics are particularly potent at inducing emotional states. Prosocial lyrics were consistently linked to increased empathy and reduced feelings of hostility. Sad lyrics tended to lower the listener’s mood, while aggressive lyrics often led to increased agitation and negative affect.

Regarding attitudes, the meta-analysis found a medium effect size. The data suggests that the messages in songs can shape how listeners view the world and others. Exposure to lyrics promoting equality was associated with more positive attitudes toward women and reduced prejudice. On the other hand, lyrics that objectified the body or presented sexualized narratives were linked to a greater tolerance for objectification and negative views on relationships.

The researchers also noted that sexualized lyrics appeared to influence how listeners perceived others. In several studies, exposure to such content correlated with a tendency to view others primarily through a sexual lens.

Aggressive lyrics were found to correlate with hostile attitudes, while prosocial lyrics were associated with a decrease in support for interpersonal violence. These findings support the idea that media consumption plays a role in observational learning, where individuals acquire criteria for judging events and people based on the models they observe.

“Song lyrics, independently of other musical elements such as rhythm or melody, influence the ways in which individuals behave, their attitudes towards others, and the emotions they experience,” Marín Liébana told PsyPost. “It was striking that all 42 independent variables analyzed in the meta-analyses indicated psychological effects aligned with the narratives conveyed by the song lyrics, and that none of them showed effects in the opposite direction. I initially expected to find greater variability in the results; however, I was surprised that all findings consistently pointed in the same direction.”

But it is also important to note that these effects are not absolute. “The findings do not imply that listening to a particular type of song lyrics necessarily leads all individuals to behave in accordance with those lyrics,” Marín Liébana explained. “Rather, the results indicate a moderate influence on behaviours and attitudes, and a stronger influence on emotional responses. However, this influence interacts with other personal and contextual variables, meaning that the effects of song lyrics may vary across individuals and situations.”

While the findings provide evidence for the influence of lyrics, there are some limitations to consider. The majority of the studies included in the review were conducted in laboratory settings where listeners were exposed to music selected by researchers. This artificial environment differs from real-world scenarios where individuals choose music based on their personal preferences.

Additionally, most studies measured effects immediately after listening. “The studies reviewed examined short-term effects; therefore, although this may appear to be a logical assumption, it is not possible to infer long-term changes in personality or an increased likelihood of specific behaviours or attitudes in the absence of prior exposure to music,” Marín Liébana said.

Future research is needed to explore the long-term effects of lyrical exposure. The authors suggest that studies should investigate how repeated listening in natural environments influences behavior over time. They also recommend that future inquiries look at a more diverse range of music genres and listener demographics to ensure the findings are broadly applicable. Understanding whether specific musical elements, such as rhythm or tempo, interact with lyrics to amplify or mitigate these effects is another area ripe for investigation.

The authors argue that these findings highlight the necessity of critical music education. Since music is a pervasive part of socialization, they suggest that students should be equipped with the tools to critically analyze the narratives they consume.

“Based on my experience, particularly in initial teacher education, individuals tend to believe that the lyrics of the songs they listen to do not influence their behaviours or attitudes,” Marín Liébana said. “This belief may stem, on the one hand, from the sense of autonomy and personal freedom it provides, and, on the other, from the fact that people often identify strongly with the music they listen to and with the artists themselves, which makes it difficult to acknowledge that such music may have negative effects on them.”

Looking forward, “I would like to examine the beliefs held by primary and secondary school students regarding how the songs they listen to affect them, and to develop an educational methodology that enables teachers to incorporate students’ musical preferences into the classroom while guiding them in the critical analysis of the lyrics of those songs,” Marín Liébana added.

The study, “Systematic review and meta-analysis on the psychological effects of song lyrics: A perspective from critical music education,” was authored by Pablo Marín-Liébana and Javier Ibias.