{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T04:30:45Z","timestamp":1786595445259,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786579200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Extensive research has shown that music is linked to subjective well-being. However, the specific role of music reward sensitivity seems to be neglected. The current study investigates the potential association between music reward sensitivity and the subjective well-being of college students, and further explores the indirect pathways of resilience and perceived social support.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Using a multi-phase research design with two-month intervals, we surveyed 668 undergraduate participants across three waves, assessing music reward sensitivity, resilience, perceived social support, and the components of subjective well-being, including positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. Hierarchical regression and indirect pathway analyses were used to examine the proposed associations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Music reward sensitivity was positively associated with positive affect and life satisfaction, but was not significantly associated with negative affect. Indirect pathway analyses indicated that resilience and perceived social support were involved in the associations between music reward sensitivity and positive affect and life satisfaction. Moreover, the social reward facet of music reward sensitivity was positively associated with perceived social support, resilience, positive affect, and life satisfaction, but not with negative affect.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study highlights the value of considering music reward sensitivity in research on emotional well-being and life satisfaction among college students. The findings suggest that resilience and perceived social support may help explain the associations between music reward sensitivity and higher positive affect and life satisfaction. They also support future work testing whether music reward sensitivity, especially the socially rewarding aspects of music, can inform individualized music-related interventions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1897252","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T04:24:24Z","timestamp":1786595064000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Music reward sensitivity and subjective well-being in college students: the indirect pathways of resilience and perceived social support"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jinmei","family":"Tu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Music and Dance, Guangzhou University","place":["Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Music and Dance, Guangzhou University","place":["Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00918174","article-title":"Preliminary development of a scale of social support: studies on college students","volume":"9","author":"Barrera","year":"1981","journal-title":"Am. J. Community Psychol."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conb.2013.01.017","article-title":"Neuroscience of affect: brain mechanisms of pleasure and displeasure","volume":"23","author":"Berridge","year":"2013","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Neurobiol."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11818","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.191355898","article-title":"Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion","volume":"98","author":"Blood","year":"2001","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1019","DOI":"10.1002\/jts.20271","article-title":"Psychometric analysis and refinement of the Connor\u2013Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC): validation of a 10-item measure of resilience","volume":"20","author":"Campbell-Sills","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Trauma. Stress."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2016.12.009","article-title":"Perceived social support and self-esteem as mediators of the relationship between parental attachment and life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents","volume":"108","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Personal. Individ. Differ."},{"key":"ref9001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"310","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.98.2.310","article-title":"Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis","volume":"98","author":"Cohen","year":"1985","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1002\/da.10113","article-title":"Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC)","volume":"18","author":"Connor","year":"2003","journal-title":"Depress. Anxiety"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"144","DOI":"10.1177\/0305735617734627","article-title":"Music as an emotion regulation strategy: an examination of genres of music and their roles in emotion regulation","volume":"47","author":"Cook","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychol. Music"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2015.01.005","article-title":"What can music tell us about social interaction?","volume":"19","author":"D\u2019Ausilio","year":"2015","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327752jpa4901_13","article-title":"The satisfaction with life scale","volume":"49","author":"Diener","year":"1985","journal-title":"J. Pers. Assess."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-018-0307-6","article-title":"Advances in subjective well-being research","volume":"2","author":"Diener","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"713818","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.713818","article-title":"How do music activities affect health and well-being? A scoping review of studies examining psychosocial mechanisms","volume":"12","author":"Dingle","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03193146","article-title":"G*power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences","volume":"39","author":"Faul","year":"2007","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"300","DOI":"10.1037\/1089-2680.2.3.300","article-title":"What good are positive emotions?","volume":"2","author":"Fredrickson","year":"1998","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.56.3.218","article-title":"The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions","volume":"56","author":"Fredrickson","year":"2001","journal-title":"Am. Psychol."},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1367","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2004.1512","article-title":"The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions","volume":"359","author":"Fredrickson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9280.00431","article-title":"Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being","volume":"13","author":"Fredrickson","year":"2002","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1151007","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2023.1151007","article-title":"Exploring the influence of national music lessons on subjective well-being, self-esteem, and national identity among university students: a case study from China","volume":"14","author":"Fu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111828","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2022.111828","article-title":"Musical preference but not familiarity influences subjective ratings and psychophysiological correlates of music-induced emotions","volume":"198","author":"Fuentes-S\u00e1nchez","year":"2022","journal-title":"Personal. Individ. Differ."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1177\/10298649211060028","article-title":"Individual differences in music reward sensitivity influence the perception of emotions represented by music","volume":"27","author":"Fuentes-S\u00e1nchez","year":"2021","journal-title":"Musicae Sci."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1038\/s41398-021-01483-8","article-title":"Mental health and music engagement: review, framework, and guidelines for future studies","volume":"11","author":"Gustavson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Transl. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1186\/s12887-023-04101-2","article-title":"The effect of non-verbal music on anxiety in hospitalized children","volume":"23","author":"Hakim","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Pediatr."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15050575","article-title":"The impact of choir singing on international students\u2019 sense of belonging, loneliness, and wellbeing: a controlled evaluation of UQ voices","volume":"15","author":"Han","year":"2025","journal-title":"Behav. Sci."},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2008.09.001","article-title":"Big five traits mediate associations between values and subjective well-being","volume":"46","author":"Haslam","year":"2009","journal-title":"Personal. Individ. Differ."},{"key":"ref25","volume-title":"Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach","author":"Hayes","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1382","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00216","article-title":"Neuronal correlates of perception, imagery, and memory for familiar tunes","volume":"24","author":"Herholz","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2023\/4939048","article-title":"Real-time human-music emotional interaction based on deep learning and multimodal sentiment analysis","volume":"2023","author":"Jiang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Wirel. Commun. Mob. Comput."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn3666","article-title":"Brain correlates of music-evoked emotions","volume":"15","author":"Koelsch","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E7337","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1611211113","article-title":"Neural correlates of specific musical anhedonia","volume":"113","author":"Mart\u00ednez-Molina","year":"2016","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5018","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.2020-18.2019","article-title":"White matter microstructure reflects individual differences in music reward sensitivity","volume":"39","author":"Mart\u00ednez-Molina","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-017-0241-z","article-title":"Modulating musical reward sensitivity up and down with transcranial magnetic stimulation","volume":"2","author":"Mas-Herrero","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1525\/mp.2013.31.2.118","article-title":"Individual differences in music reward experiences","volume":"31","author":"Mas-Herrero","year":"2013","journal-title":"Music. Percept."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2014.01.068","article-title":"Dissociation between musical and monetary reward responses in specific musical anhedonia","volume":"24","author":"Mas-Herrero","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1017\/S0954579411000198","article-title":"Resilience in children threatened by extreme adversity: frameworks for research, practice, and translational synergy","volume":"23","author":"Masten","year":"2011","journal-title":"Dev. Psychopathol."},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2005.05.053","article-title":"The rewards of music listening: response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system","volume":"28","author":"Menon","year":"2005","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2011.05.008","article-title":"The development of aesthetic responses to music and their underlying neural and psychological mechanisms","volume":"47","author":"Nieminen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"666702","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.666702","article-title":"Flourishing in resonance: joint resilience building through music and motion","volume":"12","author":"Nijs","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1924","DOI":"10.1177\/1049732320944142","article-title":"How participatory music engagement supports mental well-being: a meta-ethnography","volume":"30","author":"Perkins","year":"2020","journal-title":"Qual. Health Res."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1042","DOI":"10.1038\/nature05051","article-title":"Dopamine-dependent prediction errors underpin reward-seeking behaviour in humans","volume":"442","author":"Pessiglione","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"548","DOI":"10.1177\/03057356231212362","article-title":"The impact of musicking on emotion regulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"52","author":"Peters","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychol. Music"},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33821","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-05119-5","article-title":"Communal music as a tool to improve positive affect after social ostracism or negative autobiographical memory recollection","volume":"15","author":"Piccolo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27766","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-78156-1","article-title":"Music communicates social emotions: evidence from 750 music excerpts","volume":"14","author":"Pring","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref43","first-page":"249","article-title":"Revision of the positive affect and negative affect scale","volume":"14","author":"Qiu","year":"2008","journal-title":"Chin. J. Appl. Psychol."},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"205920432093977","DOI":"10.1177\/2059204320939772","article-title":"The potential of music to effect social change","volume":"3","author":"Rabinowitch","year":"2020","journal-title":"Music. Sci."},{"key":"ref45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1139","DOI":"10.1037\/a0022406","article-title":"The structure of musical preferences: a five-factor model","volume":"100","author":"Rentfrow","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2059204321993731","DOI":"10.1177\/2059204321993731","article-title":"Musical engagement is linked to posttraumatic resilience: the role of gender, personality, and music listening styles after childhood trauma","volume":"4","author":"Rosenberg","year":"2021","journal-title":"Music. Sci."},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.1177\/03057356221087445","article-title":"Music therapeutic emotional processing (MEP): expression, awareness, and pain predict therapeutic outcome","volume":"51","author":"Saarikallio","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychol. Music"},{"key":"ref48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1038\/nn.2726","article-title":"Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music","volume":"14","author":"Salimpoor","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nat. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"216","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1231059","article-title":"Interactions between the nucleus accumbens and auditory cortices predict music reward value","volume":"340","author":"Salimpoor","year":"2013","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e59","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X20000333","article-title":"Music as a coevolved system for social bonding","volume":"44","author":"Savage","year":"2021","journal-title":"Behav. Brain Sci."},{"key":"ref51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.56.091103.070229","article-title":"Behavioral theories and the neurophysiology of reward","volume":"57","author":"Schultz","year":"2006","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101769","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aip.2021.101769","article-title":"Developing music-based emotion regulation (MBER): a theoretical model for age-related depression prevention","volume":"74","author":"Sekyung","year":"2021","journal-title":"Arts Psychother."},{"key":"ref53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"767","DOI":"10.3390\/bs14090767","article-title":"The association between music listening at home and subjective well-being","volume":"14","author":"Shan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Behav. Sci."},{"key":"ref54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"561","DOI":"10.1007\/s11205-013-0361-4","article-title":"The relationship between social support and subjective well-being across age","volume":"117","author":"Siedlecki","year":"2014","journal-title":"Soc. Indic. Res."},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1038\/s44159-024-00315-y","article-title":"Theoretical and empirical advances in understanding musical rhythm, beat and metre","volume":"3","author":"Snyder","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"25338","DOI":"10.3402\/ejpt.v5.25338","article-title":"Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives","volume":"5","author":"Southwick","year":"2014","journal-title":"Eur. J. Psychotraumatol."},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1037","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-024-03533-0","article-title":"The path to happiness for music students: music empathy and music engagement as potential sources of subjective well-being","volume":"11","author":"Tu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun."},{"key":"ref58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20592043231214085","DOI":"10.1177\/20592043231214085","article-title":"Melody for the mind: enhancing mood, motivation, concentration, and learning through music listening in the classroom","volume":"6","author":"Vigl","year":"2023","journal-title":"Music. Sci."},{"key":"ref59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-022-00578-5","article-title":"Music in the brain","volume":"23","author":"Vuust","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"499","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1440-1819.2010.02130.x","article-title":"Psychometric properties of the 10-item Connor\u2013Davidson resilience scale in Chinese earthquake victims","volume":"64","author":"Wang","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref61","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7275","DOI":"10.1007\/s12144-023-04928-z","article-title":"Music and subjective well-being in older Chinese adults: perceived stress moderates the mediating effects of emotional adaptability","volume":"43","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Curr. Psychol."},{"key":"ref62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1177\/10298649211034547","article-title":"The Chinese version of the Barcelona music reward questionnaire (BMRQ): associations with personality traits and gender","volume":"27","author":"Wang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Musicae Sci."},{"key":"ref63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1063","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.54.6.1063","article-title":"Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales","volume":"54","author":"Watson","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"948","DOI":"10.13342\/j.cnki.cjhp.2009.08.026","article-title":"Reliability and validity of the satisfaction with life scale for Chinese demos","volume":"17","author":"Xiong","year":"2009","journal-title":"China J. Health Psychol."},{"key":"ref65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15010064","article-title":"Does participation in group music activities and pro-social behavior among college students have an association? A study of the interlocking mediating effects of positive social connections and peer support","volume":"15","author":"Yang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Behav. Sci."},{"key":"ref66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1111\/nyas.12677","article-title":"Musical pleasure and reward: mechanisms and dysfunction","volume":"1337","author":"Zatorre","year":"2015","journal-title":"Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10430","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1301228110","article-title":"From perception to pleasure: music and its neural substrates","volume":"110","author":"Zatorre","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref68","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"494","DOI":"10.1037\/1528-3542.8.4.494","article-title":"Emotions evoked by the sound of music: characterization, classification, and measurement","volume":"8","author":"Zentner","year":"2008","journal-title":"Emotion"},{"key":"ref69","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327752jpa5201_2","article-title":"The multidimensional scale of perceived social support","volume":"52","author":"Zimet","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Pers. Assess."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1897252\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T04:24:26Z","timestamp":1786595066000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1897252\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"references-count":69,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1897252"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1897252","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"article-number":"1897252"}}