“Listening to Music Alone Operates as a Social Surrogate”
April 4th, 2025Via: PhysOrg:
Humans have a fundamental need to belong, which strongly motivates our behavior. Failing to connect with others can lead to depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. There are traditional ways to fill this need, like spending time with family and friends, but there are non-traditional strategies as well, activities that might not be immediately recognized as social.
These are known as social surrogates, which can buffer against loneliness, isolation and social threats, like rejection, just as well as time spent with others.
Parasocial relationships, such as the one-sided bond between fans and celebrities, immersion into the social world, and reminders of others, are all social surrogates.
“Listening to music alone operates as a social surrogate along all three of those pathways,” says Paravati. “All of these paths can help us feel less lonely and more belonging. Music helps us feel connected to the artists; it can make us feel immersed in the world of music; and music can remind us of others.
“You might think you’re motivated to listen to your favorite song because you think it has a catchy beat, but it’s likely that you’re drawn in because that music is filling your social fuel tank and helping you feel a sense of belonging.”
For the study’s first experiment, researchers asked participants about their use of known social surrogates, such as favorite television shows, as well as their use of music.
“We found that listening to one’s favorite music helped individuals feel less lonely,” says Paravati. “But someone’s favorite music was more effective at this than just listening to music in general.
In an imaginary but psychologically emotion-laden domain, the listener who remembers a hit song will turn into the song’s ideal subject, into the person for whom the song ideally speaks. At the same time, as one of many who identify with that fictitious subject, that musical I, he will feel his isolation ease as he himself feels integrated into the community of “fans.” In whistling such a song he bows to a ritual of socialization, although beyond this unarticulated subjective stirring of the moment his isolation continues unchanged.
– Theodor W. Adorno, Introduction to the sociology of music (original edition 1962).
For years now, the “Star-Spangled Banner” has been warped farther and farther out of its original shape and significance till, at some recent football extravaganza, the singer’s act included seeming to have to read the words, as if she didn’t even know them.
It’s the musical counterpart of stomping on the flag. What will be the counterpart of burning it: drowning out the song with noise?
If fans don’t care, or like it, will that mean the US they belong to is not the one we all used to live in?
From Lynne McTaggart’s latest blog …
Hands up, anyone who wants to take a guess. What is the biggest risk factor for illness in modern times? Smoking? Big Macs? Alcohol? All of them in excess aren’t very good for you, that’s for sure, but they may not offer the health risks of one simple facet of modern life: being by yourself a bit too much.
Loneliness and isolation are not just regrettable social situations; they’re killers. They distort brain function, causing hallucinations and depression. They’re the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day—worse for you than being obese, breathing polluted air or even being a couch potato …
https://lynnemctaggart.com/all-by-myself/
The research on that may be correct, but… cui bono?
Who are the people most often said to be lonely and isolated? The elderly. Who are being told over and over that they are feeling bad, falling apart, going nuts and being killed altogether before their time? The elderly. Who are most openly targeted for population reduction? The elderly.
I am always flabbergasted by the number of times I’ve heard or read about the problem of “loneliness” because I’ve never felt lonely in my entire life, and I ain’t no spring chicken. One of the happiest times of my life was when I was living alone for years (and even hating to have to head out to the grocery store every 2 weeks). I chronically made up “socially acceptable lies” to decline social invitations, as I’d rather stay home and read.
I don’t have any favorite programs (I don’t watch TV). I *rarely* listen to music, because I prefer to read in silence. If someone asked me to name my favorite song, I’d stand there in astonishment, trying to remember if I had a favorite in my youth. I have no “celebs” or favorite sports teams that I follow (having to watch something like a football or soccer game is a form of punishment).
Yes, I test as a very strong introvert, and yes, I think most people are morons.
Same here, pookie, except that I think most people are not really idiotic, just intentionally taught all the vain and empty things while the solid, useful things are glossed over, discounted or ignored. It’s learned idiocy, not innate, so there’s some hope for them yet.