Summary: A new study shows that background music in workplaces can harm employee mood, energy, and job performance when it doesn’t match individual needs. This “music misfit” effect leads to mental fatigue, decreased focus, and even counterproductive behaviors.
The negative impact is especially pronounced for workers who struggle to ignore background stimuli, known as non-screeners. The findings highlight the need for employers to consider both customer and employee preferences when selecting music—and suggest allowing personal music choices could boost well-being and productivity.
Key Facts:
- Music Misfit Effects: Mismatched background music reduces positive mood and cognitive energy.
- High-Risk Group: Non-screeners are more affected due to difficulty ignoring background noise.
- Workplace Consequences: Misfit music can lead to slower work, negativity, and reduced helpfulness.
Source: Ohio State University
Have you ever gone to a store or a restaurant where the music was so annoying that you walked right out?
Now imagine what it must be like for the employees.
In a new study, researchers found that when background music at a workplace is out of sync with what workers need to do their jobs, it can affect their energy, mood – and even performance.
“Music that doesn’t fit what an employee needs to feel energized, manage emotions, and focus on task can have a real negative impact,” said Kathleen Keeler, co-lead author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.
“We found that a music misfit can lead employees to feel more fatigued, have trouble focusing, and not really enjoy being at work. And that in turns prompts them to engage in behaviors that can harm the organization.”
The problem is worse for people who have difficulty screening out background noise from their environment, the study found.
It is an understudied issue, Keeler said. About 13.5 million people work in occupations where background music is common. But the music is often chosen with only customers in mind.
“It is a mistake for managers to assume that music doesn’t affect employees,” Keeler said.
The study was published online recently in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
The researchers conducted two studies. One study involved 166 full-time workers who participated online.
Before they began, participants rated how much they needed four features of music: volume, speed, complexity and emotional intensity. The participants then listened to one of two playlists while they conducted a creativity task.
One playlist was upbeat, happy pop music with moderate complexity. The other was slower, more somber music played at a lower volume.
After completing the task, participants rated how much the music they heard fit their needs for volume, speed, complexity and emotional intensity.
The findings showed participants experienced a negative impact if the characteristics of the playlist they listened to was out of sync with what they said they needed.
Those who had a music misfit showed a decrease in pleasant feelings and emotions and also more cognitive depletion – a feeling of mental exhaustion, Keeler said.
The problem was particularly acute for people referred to as non-screeners. “Stimulus screening” is the ability to focus on one sensory input at a time.
Non-screeners have difficulty doing that and – in this case – were unable to ignore the music in the background while they concentrated on their task.
“The bad effects of music misfit are worse for those who are non-screeners,” Keeler said.
“They have difficulty blocking out the music and so they feel less positive emotion and feel more depleted after listening to the music that was out of sync with what they needed.”
The second study was a real-world sample of 68 workers in health care offices, retail stores and dining halls where background music was a feature of their everyday work life.
Participants completed three email surveys every day for three weeks about their musical needs, the music they heard, their moods, cognitive depletion and various actions at work.
The findings confirmed results of the first study and added another wrinkle: Music misfit had an impact on job performance. Participants were more likely to act in ways that hurt the company – and less likely to do positive things – on days when they felt out of sync with the music they heard.
Negative actions could include working more slowly, talking negatively about the workplace with other employees, and pilfering office supplies. Positive actions included helping a fellow worker on a project that was outside their direct responsibilities.
“It can affect the bottom line of companies if their employees are not being productive because they are being drained and distracted by the music they hear all day,” Keeler said. “Their performance suffers.”
The results suggest that employers need to take into consideration the musical wants and needs of their employees.
“Employers should try to strike a balance between making sure their music appeals to both customers and employees, because this is not a trivial matter,” Keeler said. “If their employees aren’t happy, that is not going to be good for the business.”
Employers can also ensure there are places in the workplace where employees can escape the music during their breaks.
In addition, they could invest in earbuds using smart technology that allows wearers to hear conversations from customers while screening out some background noises, including music.
And while this was not a focus of this study, the results also suggest that workers may be happier and more productive if they are allowed to listen to their own music when appropriate.
“I know some managers are reluctant to allow employees to listen to their own music, but our research suggests that there are a lot of benefits, including productivity, engagement and well-being,” she said.
Harshad Puranik of the University of Illinois-Chicago was co-lead author. Other co-authors were Yue Wang of the University of Illinois-Chicago, and Jingfeng Yin of The Hong Kong, Polytechnic University.
About this psychology, music, and productivity research news
Author: Jeff Grabmeier
Source: Ohio State University
Contact: Jeff Grabmeier – Ohio State University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access.
“In sync or out of tune? The effects of workplace music misfit on employees” by Kathleen Keeler et al. Journal of Applied Psychology
Abstract
In sync or out of tune? The effects of workplace music misfit on employees
Employees, especially in the service sector, often work long hours exposed to background music that they have little control over because it is usually selected to enhance customer experience.
How does this affect employees’ daily work experience?
This research focuses on how a misfit between the type of music employees need and the background music played in their workplace impacts their psychological states and behaviors.
Integrating stimulus–organism–response theory with the research on self-regulation of attention in the workplace, we theorize that workplace music misfit can lower employees’ positive affect and increase cognitive depletion, further impacting their organizationally directed citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors.
We also theorize that these adverse effects of workplace music misfit are stronger for employees who have lower stimulus screening ability.
The test of our hypotheses across two studies—an online experimental study and a 3-week experience sampling methodology field study—broadly supported our theory.
Our research offers a novel and dynamic account of workplace background music and its effects on employees’ psychological states and workplace behavior.
