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February 28, 2026Musicae Scientiae1 citationsOpen Access

Personalised Playlists for Affect Regulation: Testing the Iso Principle

Personalised affect-regulation playlists: A pre-registered experimental test of the iso principle in the general population

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Authors

XLXanthe Lowe-BrownSGSolange GlasserGWGreg Wadley

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Overview

Randomised experiment tests iso versus compensatory music listening for reducing anxiety in the general population, suggesting greater calmness with guided playlists.

Key Points

  • To compare the effectiveness of the iso principle and compensatory principle in music listening for modulating anxiety among healthy participants.
  • Conducted a randomised experiment with N = 193 participants.
  • Induced anxiety before assigning participants to iso, compensatory, or unguided music listening.
  • Used self-selected songs for iso and compensatory playlists, while unguided participants chose songs freely.
  • Participants rated their mood at baseline, after anxiety induction, and post-listening.
  • No significant difference in affect regulation between iso and compensatory principles was found.
  • Guided listening conditions (iso and compensatory) showed significantly greater increases in calmness than unguided listening.
  • Exploratory analyses identified seven distinct patterns of unguided music listening, varying in perceived effectiveness.

Cite This Study

Lowe-Brown et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69a288170a974eb0d3c041b8https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649261421187
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