Music style preferences and well-being: A genetic perspective

The relationship between music and well-being is multi-faceted and supported by a growing body of scientific research. Music has been associated with emotional, mental, physical, and social dimensions of well-being. However, whether different music style preferences are associated with well-being remains unclear, including the role of genetics and potential causality in these associations. This study examined the relationships between well-being and music style preferences in a genetically informative sample. We analysed data from 8879 adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins (1639 complete pairs) from the Swedish Twin Registry with a subset of 3764 participants with genotype data. Well-being was assessed by the WHO-10 questionnaire. Twins evaluated their preferences for 19 music styles. We found that preferences for pop, gospel and Swedish dance band were significantly associated with higher well-being and a preference for indie music with lower well-being. Analyses in monozygotic twin pairs that were discordant in their music preferences indicated that familial confounding by genetic and/or family environmental influences accounted for the observed relations. Polygenic indices for well-being did not predict preferences for these music styles. In summary, we found no evidence of causal associations between music style preferences and well-being. • Most music style preferences were not associated with variations in well-being. • Preferences for pop, gospel, and dance band were associated with higher well-being. • A preference for indie music style was associated with lower well-being. • Music style and well-being associations were likely due to familial factors. • Polygenic indexes for well-being did not predict music style preferences.