MIB finds correlation between music and Covid-19 coping
Covid-19 has, among other things, created the new so-called “coronamusic” genre. The name refers to music that was created as a response to Covid-19, such as newly composed pieces, corona playlists and rewritten lyrics. According to two studies with Fellow and Assistant Professor Niels Christian Hansen from the Center of Excellence Music In the Brain at Aarhus University, the use of coronamusic has played an important role in people’s mental health during lockdown. The two new studies were recently published in the scientific journals Humanities & Social Sciences Communications and Frontiers in Psychology.
Fellow and Assistant Professor Niels Christian Hansen from the DNRF’s Center for Music in the Brain (MIB) at Aarhus University is at the forefront of two new studies about the correlation between music and coping with Covid-19 during lockdown. The studies found that so-called coronamusic – which refers to newly composed pieces, corona playlists and rewritten lyrics – played an important role in people’s mental health during lockdown. The studies have been published in the scientific journals Humanities & Social Sciences Communications and Frontiers in Psychology.
“People who were in a bad mood during the Covid-19 crisis found comfort in the music and used it to regulate their emotions, while people in a better mood used the music as a replacement for social contact. We especially experienced this at home: how a united feeling, national pride and unity grew when the DR1 invited the audience to sing and dance during the best airtime every Friday night, and Phillip Faber became a national hero on the same level as Søren Brostrøm,” said Fellow and Assistant Professor Niels Christian Hansen from MIB.
An important role in people’s mental coping
The new findings show how creativity and creative responses play an important role when it comes to coping with social crises. The music had a healing effect on people’s mental coping during the crisis, a result that is based on studies with more than 5000 participants.
“Often, we have a tendency to look at music as purely entertainment – a little extra for our everyday lives – but my research clearly shows how music also helps us deal with serious social crises by elevating an individual’s mood and creating a connection between people. Who knows? Maybe the support for the Covid-19 restrictions and the prime minister wouldn’t have been at the same level if we hadn’t experienced a collective unity in the name of music during the spring and summer of 2020,” said Niels Christian Hansen.
The studies were undertaken through an international collaboration between researchers from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, and the US.