SOUNDS OF SCIENCE: HOW MUSIC CAN FINE-TUNE YOUR RESEARCH

There is also a seemingly infinite number of curated playlists to fit a listener's mood or activity, claiming to help boost fitness performance, calm the mind or increase productivity. According to Levitin, oxytocin, a hormone that can help with social bonding, is often released when people sing or listen to music with others4. In 2022, Andrea Caputo, a pianist and organizational psychology PhD student researching the effects of music at the University of Turin, Italy, surveyed 244 workers to evaluate how listening to music for different purposes affected their perception of job satisfaction and performance6. "The emotional use of music is positively related to job satisfaction," says Caputo, adding that workers reported higher scores for job performance and satisfaction when they used music to regulate their mood at work.