Why Music Matters: Music-Listening Functions and Motives in Autistic and Non-autistic Adults

Listening to music is a common part of daily life and people engage with it for many different reasons. Qualitative research offers detailed insight into autistic individuals’ musical listening experiences, yet the absence of direct quantitative comparisons limits understanding of how these experiences align with or differ from those of non-autistic individuals. This study compared autistic and non-autistic adults’ everyday functions of music listening, with a focus on coping motives and the core psychological functions of music. Autistic (n = 52) and non-autistic adults (n = 60), matched on demographic, cognitive, and music background variables, completed questionnaires assessing how often they use music to cope with negative emotions or stress, and how strongly they agree with a range of reasons for listening to music. Intentional music listening was included as a covariate to control for differences in music exposure. Group differences were examined at both category and item levels. The groups did not differ in their ratings of self-awareness, arousal and mood regulation, or social relatedness as reasons for listening to music. Autistic adults reported using music more often for coping with negative mood or stress. At the item level, only the statement “music is a social experience” differed between groups; all other social items showed comparable ratings. Autistic and non-autistic adults show broadly similar reasons for music listening, with coping emerging as a specific area of greater use among autistic adults. These findings suggest both shared and context-sensitive aspects of everyday music engagement in autism.