Correction: Musical preferences of Brazilian high school students.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239891.].

"Help! I Need Somebody": Music as a Global Resource for Obtaining Wellbeing Goals in Times of Crisis.

Music can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance positive mood, and facilitate social bonding. However, little is known about the role of music and related personal or cultural (individualistic vs. collectivistic) variables in maintaining wellbeing during times of stress and social isolation as imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. In an online questionnaire, administered in 11 countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, and USA, N = 5,619), participants rated the relevance of wellbeing goals during the pandemic, and the effectiveness of different activities in obtaining these goals. Music was found to be the most effective activity for three out of five wellbeing goals: enjoyment, venting negative emotions, and self-connection. For diversion, music was equally good as entertainment, while it was second best to create a sense of togetherness, after socialization. This result was evident across different countries and gender, with minor effects of age on specific goals, and a clear effect of the importance of music in people's lives. Cultural effects were generally small and surfaced mainly in the use of music to obtain a sense of togetherness. Interestingly, culture moderated the use of negatively valenced and nostalgic music for those higher in distress.

Musical preferences of Brazilian high school students.

Music is considered a vital element in young people's lives. It functions as an important means for expressing the emotions and feelings they experience in a daily basis. As such, this study explores the music preferences of high school Brazilian students (N = 940), 530 female (56.9%) and 410 male (43.1%) participants between 14 and 20 years old (M = 16.14 years old, SD = 1.22). The main instrument for data collection was the Questionnaire on Musical Style Preferences, which was adapted to the Brazilian context and encompassed 33 different music styles. A principal component analysis resulted in five dimensions representing different musical styles: (1) Intense, (2) Unique, (3) Sophisticated, (4) Contemporary, and (5) Mellow. The results of this study reinforced theory of the five-factor model of musical preference. Results also suggest that Mellow music was the most preferred while Sophisticated music was the least preferred among participants. Regarding gender, male participants showed a greater preference towards Contemporary, Intense, and Sophisticated music, whereas women generally preferred Mellow and Unique. Regarding age, participants under 20 years old showed a greater preference towards Mellow musical styles as compared to older participants. On the one hand, regression analyses showed that preferences towards Intense music decrease with age. On the other hand, gender was a better predictor for music preferences than age. Although the results of this study correspond to those of previous studies, more research studies are necessary to further explain musical preferences within the Brazilian context.

Music Preferences and Personality in Brazilians.

This article analyzes the relationship between musical preference and type of personality in a large group of Brazilian young and adult participants (N = 1050). The study included 25 of 27 states of Brazil and individuals aged between 16 and 71 years (M = 30.87; SD = 10.50). Of these, 500 were male (47.6%) and 550 were female (52.4%). A correlational study was carried out applying two online questionnaires with quality parameters (content-construct validity and reliability), one on musical preference and the other on personality. The results indicate four main findings: (1) the musical listening of the participants is limited to a reduced number of styles, mainly Pop music and others, typical of Brazilian culture; (2) the Brazilian context supposes a determining aspect in the low preference of non-Brazilian music; (3) there is a positive correlation between most personality types analyzed and the Latin, Brazilian, Classical and Ethnic musical styles. A negative correlation between these types of personality and the consumption of Rock music was also observed; (4) musical preferences are driven not only by personality but in some cases they are also driven by socio-demographic variables (i.e., age and gender). Likewise, this work shows how participants make use of music in personality aspects that may be of interest for the analysis of socio-affective behavior (personality) as well as according to different socio-demographic variables (e.g., age and gender). More cross-cultural research on musical preference and personality would need to be carried out from a global perspective, framed in the context of social psychology and studies of mass communication.