Abstract
Research suggests that negative moods may be associated with attraction to negative emotion in music, a finding that runs counter
to mood management theory. Despite such evidence, no study has examined how and why people who have clinical depression
listen to music. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted with textual responses from 294 online survey respondents (148 with
depression and 146 without depression). Findings revealed that people with depression were more likely to use music to match or
reflect mood or to express emotion, while those without depression were more likely to use music for energy and inspiration.
Negative emotion in music enabled some to attend to negative emotion, with subsequent dissipation of negative mood. For
others, it was connected with negative cognition and a worsening of negative mood