Why do HSPs Love Music so Much?

As a Highly Sensitive Person (and a music lover), I’ve always wondered how I can be so easily overstimulated from noise like talking or traffic, but I can listen to music for hours without being irritated or overstimulated. Also, many HSPs are interested in the arts,¹ which makes for a worthy discussion: Why do HSPs love music so much?

Brain Differences?

According to Psychology Today, a huge part of music being so attractive to HSPs is because in people with high levels of empathy, like HSPs, music activates our brain's reward system, which "makes us feel good."² Because our brain has “significantly higher activation”, in this reward area, as opposed to people with lower sensitivity, it is shown that we experience more joy from listening to “familiar music” that the participants liked.³

Also, music creates greater stimulation in the prefrontal cortex, a region of social processing, which means "it may train the listener’s self in social attuning and empathic relationships.”³  And this experience is likely stronger in highly sensitive people. Psychology Today cites a valuable study that shows some evidence supporting the idea that “areas implicated in trait empathy and social cognition also appear to be involved in music processing, and to a significantly greater degree for individuals with high trait empathy.”⁴

Differences in norepinephrine and a part of our prefrontal cortex mean that we experience emotions more intensely than others,⁵ both positive and negative. This could lead to a more intense and possibly more enjoyable experience when listening to music.

Ultimately, we see that biologically our brains often react stronger than others to music in large part because of our empathy. What other reasons might music affect us more powerfully?

Emotions?

Another possibility is that music provides the emotional depth HSPs lack in our relationships or life in general. Deeper and more emotionally intimate topics often interest us,¹ and we might crave them if we don’t have them in other areas of our life, like our relationships. Or maybe we were taught to suppress our emotions, and music helps us feel them.

It can also provide relatability by hearing others' stories. We might feel less alone and understand that many of our struggles are shared. Music can also help us understand our emotions and potentially put into words what we’re feeling. Oftentimes for me, if I’m sad and listening to sad music, a phrase or line of a song will jump out and put into words the complexity of the emotion I’ve been feeling that I’ve been unable to articulate. 

Or maybe its the fact that music calms our sensitive nervous systems.⁶ As well as being a great distraction, which can calm our nervous system, our “heart rate, breathing, and digestion, can be influenced by the rhythm and tempo of the music we listen to”, according to The Sukha Company, a website/app that offers music for focus.⁷ This means that because of music’s influence on our body, slower tempos can help calm our nervous system.

Does Genre Matter?

It has been shown through research “that empathy is positively linked to preferences for sad and tender music (R&B/soul, adult contemporary, soft rock genres) and negatively correlated with preferences for intense music (punk, heavy metal, and hard rock genres)."⁸ Additionally, studies show that “empathy and openness to experience were linked to liking gloomy music."⁹ Multiple theories about why people like sad music exist, and many center around our brain's (pleasurable?) release of chemicals, which the brain releases to soothe our “trauma", which in this case is actually just sad music that our brain interprets as trauma.¹⁰

Ultimately, music can affect highly sensitive people in many unique ways, such as our brain differences or its calming effect on the nervous system, which could lead to us enjoying it more. Music is a valuable resource for us to use to come to greater realizations about ourselves and our emotions, calm our nervous system, potentially help loneliness, and countless other reasons that vary with the individual. 

What other ways does music affect you as a highly sensitive person? Comment below or email me!

Sources

¹ Aron, E. N. (1997). Highly Sensitive Person.

² Wallmark, Z., Deblieck, C., & Iacoboni, M. (2018). Neurophysiological Effects of Trait Empathy in Music Listening. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(29681804). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00066.

(AS CITED IN)

Ward, D. (2019). Why Sensitive People Need Music. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201901/why-sensitive-people-need-music.

³ Leman, M. (2007). Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation Technology. Cambridge, MA: IT Press.

(AS CITED IN)

Wallmark, Z., Deblieck, C., & Iacoboni, M. (2018). Neurophysiological Effects of Trait Empathy in Music Listening. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(29681804). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00066.

(AS CITED IN)

(QUOTED SOURCE) Suttie, Jill. “Where Music and Empathy Converge in the Brain.” Greater Good, 22 Oct. 2018, greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/where_music_and_empathy_converge_in_the_brain.

⁴ Todd, R. M., et al. “Neurogenetic Variations in Norepinephrine Availability Enhance Perceptual Vividness.” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 35, no. 16, 22 Apr. 2015, pp. 6506–6516, www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/35/16/6506.full.pdf, https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.4489-14.2015. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022. (As cited in) Ward, D. (2019). Why Sensitive People Need Music. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201901/why-sensitive-people-need-music.

⁵ Drd@DrElayneDaniels.com. “6 Ways a Highly Sensitive Person’s Brain Is Different.” Dr. Elayne Daniels, 9 Dec. 2021, drelaynedaniels.com/6-ways-a-highly-sensitive-persons-brain-is-different/.

⁶ Rouillon, Tahlee. “The Science behind Why Calming Music Is so Soothing for HSPs.” Highly Sensitive Refuge, 8 Dec. 2021, highlysensitiverefuge.com/calming-music-effects-on-brain-science/.

⁷ “How Music Affects the Brain and Promotes Mental Calm.” Thesukha.co, 2025, www.thesukha.co/post/how-music-affects-the-brain-and-promotes-mental-calm. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

⁸ Clark, S., Giacomantonio, S. (2015). Toward predicting prosocial behavior: Music preference and empathy differences between adolescents and adults. Empirical Musicology Review, 10(1–2), 50–65.

(AS CITED IN)

Heshmat, Shahram. “Music and Empathy.” Psychology Today, 2024, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-of-choice/202405/music-and-empathy.

⁹ Vuoskoski, Jonna K., and William F. Thompson. “Who Enjoys Listening to Sad Music and Why?” Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 29, no. 3, Feb. 2012, pp. 311–317, https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2012.29.3.311.

(AS CITED IN)

Talbert, Sabrina. ““Yes, I like Listening to Sad Songs Even When I’m in a Great Mood.”” Women’s Health, 27 Nov. 2022, www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a41983906/sad-songs-science/.

¹⁰ (Multiple Authors)

(AS CITED IN)

Huron, David. “Why Is Sad Music Pleasurable? A Possible Role for Prolactin.” Musicae Scientiae, vol. 15, no. 2, July 2011, pp. 146–158, https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864911401171. (AS CITED IN)

Eerola, Tuuomas. “Why Do Some People Love Sad Music?” Greater Good, 26 Sept. 2016, greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_do_some_people_love_sad_music.