This study examines how emotion and music cultural preference (MCP) influence the relationship between background music (BM) and adolescent self-efficacy (SE), emphasizing the role of culturally congruent music in enhancing task-specific SE. A within-subjects experimental design was employed with 415 secondary school students aged 13–18. Participants completed English reading comprehension tasks under three conditions: no music, Chinese classical music, and Western classical music. Emotional states were assessed using psychophysiological measures and self-report questionnaires, while SE was measured with an adapted scale. Background music conforming to cultural preference (BMCP) significantly enhanced self-efficacy (M = 3.76) compared to no music (M = 2.73). Culturally congruent music increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions, with emotion serving as a significant mediator in the BM-SE relationship. MCP moderated these effects, such that culturally aligned music produced stronger benefits than culturally incongruent music. These findings underscore the importance of culturally aligned music in supporting adolescents' emotional regulation and task-related self-efficacy, offering practical implications for educational settings.
Peng Zhu (Wed,) studied this question.
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