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Pop music is a product of human consciousness and widely exists in all known human cultures. Music is not a necessity for human survival, why is it so important to humans? For a long time, social connections have been considered an important function of music and a major factor influencing the evolution of human musicality. The recent hypothesis of music social connection provides a framework for understanding the biological and cultural evolution of music. It suggests that music can coordinate emotions, behaviors, and ideological perspectives among individuals, strengthen intimate relationships between individuals, and thus enhance social cohesion. Pro social behavior is a manifestation of human social connections, which refers to the beneficial behavior of individuals towards others, groups, and society, such as helping behavior. Although studies have shown that listening to prosocial songs and their associated prosocial emotions can promote individual prosocial behavior, it remains unclear whether the music itself and its corresponding emotional experiences are sufficient to influence prosocial behavior after excluding the influence of lyrics. In addition, although some studies suggest that prosocial behavior is related to factors such as individual psychological theory ability and cognitive ability, the mediating effect of music on prosocial behavior through psychological theory ability and cognitive ability has not been verified. Therefore, based on the classic two-dimensional emotional model, this study systematically examines whether music and its induced emotional experiences affect individual prosocial behavior decisions, and further explores the mediating role of psychological theory and cognitive ability.
ZHANG et al. (Sun,) studied this question.