The melody in the mind: Associations between earworms, schizotypy, and subclinical obsessive-compulsive disorder

Earworms are a form of involuntary musical imagery which are in many ways similar to musical hallucinations and obsessions present in clinical disorders, such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Previous research has shown relationships between earworms and schizotypy as well as subclinical OCD. The aim of this study was to investigate these associations in a Hungarian sample of 4301 participants. We hypothesized that (1) there would be significant correlations between aspects of schizotypy, subclinical OCD and earworms; (2) higher scores on either the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory – Revised (OCI-R) or the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised (SPQ-BR) would be associated with more negative attitudes toward earworm experiences, as measured with the Negative valence factor of the Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS), as well as (3) longer and more frequent earworm episodes. Bayesian Kendall’s tau-b correlations showed weak relationships between several aspects of both schizotypy and subclinical OCD, and introspection related to earworms and earworm-related movement. S tructural equation models showed that subclinical OCD had a weak, positive association with negative attitudes toward earworms, while schizotypy had a positive association with earworm frequency, earworm-related movement, and earworm-related introspection. These results partially support previous findings, and provide new, relevant information about the associations of personality traits and earworms in a large sample.