STUDY: LISTENING TO MUSIC MAKES YOU WORK BETTER

(October, 2014) Listening to music at work increases accuracy and speed, a new study has found. The study, from Mindlab International, found that 9 out of 10 workers perform better when listening to music. For the experiment, 26 participants were given a series of different tasks five days in a row – including spell-checking, equation solving, mathematical word problems, data entry and abstract reasoning. The workers completed these tasks while listening to one of four music genres or no music at all, to see which had the greater effect on accuracy and speed of correct responses.
– 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results when listening to music.
– 81% completed their fastest work when music was playing.
– Participants made the most mistakes when not listening to any music at all.
– Pop music was found to be the best music genre for spell-checking quickly, and, alongside dance music, produced the fastest overall performance for getting work done.
– Ambient music led to the highest level of accuracy for respondents completing tasks involving equations.
– Participants listening to dance music produced more accurate results in spell-checking, solving equations and tackling tricky mathematical word problems, increased proof-reading speed and and were able to complete abstract reasoning tasks more quickly.
Said Dr David Lewis, neuropsychologist and chairman of Mindlab International, “The take-home message is that music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their mental state, their emotional state – they’re going to become more positive about the work.”
* “And rock on,” he added.
* No love for country?
* Listening to music during work certainly helps me on the job… of, uh, playing music.
* Jeeze, the test group was a whole 26 people, because 30 would have just been overkill.
* It was a 5-day study and science doesn’t get much more comprehensive than that.
* Mindlab International? Get over yourself.