Pump Up the Jams and Feel Powerful
Skip to content
Leadership Aug 4, 2014

Pump Up the Jams and Feel Powerful

The right background music can affect how you construe information and your willingness to take initiative.

Music can empower you to take initiative.

Yevgenia Nayberg

Based on the research of

Dennis Hsu

Li Huang

Loran Nordgren

Derek D. Rucker

Adam D. Galinsky

It is hard to go too long without hearing music. Music can wake us in the morning and brighten up our commute. Music greets us at coffee shops, department stores, bars, and gyms. Music teaches us the alphabet and implores us to fall in and out of love. Yet, despite the central role that it plays in the lives of so many people around the world, we are still learning about music’s transformative effects on the psyche.

In a recent article, a team of researchers investigated one potential effect of music: psychological empowerment. Their research question was simple yet intriguing: Could listening to the right kind of music—even in the background—make us feel more powerful and in control?

Certainly many athletes believe in the power of music. “Rituals exist in all sports,” says Derek Rucker, a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management. “One ritual we have noted is that athletes often arrive at the stadium wearing earphones. And these athletes often emerge from the locker room to the sound of music pounding. It is as if the music is offering a psychological coat of armor for the competition about to occur.” Dennis Hsu, a faculty member at the University of Hong Kong who received his PhD at Kellogg, adds, “Stadium crowds are stirred and fired up by deafening music way before the competition actually takes place.”

“You might try [this] in certain situations where you want to be empowered.”

Given these ubiquitous athletic examples, the researchers were curious about whether music really did provide a type of psychological armor. So Rucker, Hsu, and three colleagues—Loran Nordgren, an associate professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, Li Huang, a Kellogg graduate now on faculty at INSEAD, and Adam Galinsky, a former Kellogg professor now at Columbia Business School—designed a series of studies to find out.

“Get Ready for This”

The researchers first identified which music is likely to empower its listeners and which would leave them feeling cold. Their process was straightforward: They brought people into the lab, played them a number of songs, and simply asked them to rate on a seven-point scale how powerful, dominant, and determined the songs made them feel. The winners—Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready for This,” and 50 Cent’s “In Da Club”—were compiled into a “high-power” playlist. Three other songs, similar in style (sports music and hip-hop) but rated as less empowering, became the “low-power” playlist.

Then, a new group of participants listened to either the high- or low-power playlist as they completed different tasks. In one experiment, participants were shown word fragments like P _ _ E R, which could either be completed as a word related to dominance (e.g., POWER) or as an unrelated word (e.g., PAPER). Sure enough, those listening to the high-power playlist were more likely to complete the fragment using power words than those listening to the low-power playlist. Because participants were instructed to complete fragments with the first word that came to mind, the study suggests that the empowering effects of music may be somewhat unconscious and automatic.

Changing Behavior

In the subsequent experiments, the researchers tested whether empowering music makes people behave as if they are, in fact, more powerful. “One thing we know from prior research is that people who feel powerful tend to make the first offer in negotiations. Essentially, power is a propensity to act, to take charge of the situation,” explains Rucker. After listening to music, participants were asked whether they would prefer to go first or second in a debate. Indeed, those who listened to the high-power playlist opted to go first almost twice as often (34%) as those who’d listened to the low-power playlist (20%).

So what is it about powerful music that makes it so … powerful? In their final experiment, the researchers investigated one particular musical feature—the level of bass—by creating heavier- versus lighter-bass versions of the same songs. Listeners found the bass-heavy versions more empowering than the low-bass ones, both consciously and unconsciously. Why is this the case? Perhaps we are hardwired to associate booming tones with large, powerful objects and experiences. Think Darth Vader. “He was one of the most intimidating and formidable screen villains that we’ve ever had, and he had that very deep bass voice to signify his unsurpassed presence and dominance,” explains Rucker. Or perhaps the bass notes get under our skin and make us feel large and powerful. Whatever the reason, the researchers believe the level of bass is only one of many musical qualities—volume, tempo, genre, and lyrics, among others—with the potential to affect our experience of empowerment.

Jams in the Workplace?

The research suggests that music’s ability to pump us up may indeed have utility outside of the stadium. “Just as professional athletes might put on empowering music before they take the field to get them in a powerful state of mind,” says Rucker, “you might try [this] in certain situations where you want to be empowered.” Perhaps you have a meeting scheduled with your boss or an important client. Or perhaps you have a job interview. Previous research by Rucker and colleagues found that feelings of power lead to better performance in interview situations. “Empowering music might be used strategically to get us in the right frame of mind.”

The researchers hope these studies pave the way for expanded investigations into music’s impact on our minds and behaviors. This is work that might be of value to both managers and retailers: “What we want to know is when does music have an effect on employees, and when should I care about it as a manager? Equally important, when should I not care about it?”

Advertisers, too, should take note. “Given that music can have psychological triggers, what you want to do in your advertisement is align with how you want your consumer to think and feel.” says Rucker. And more broadly, research should not limit itself to music. We can also consider how other environmental cues affect our behavior. Aparna Labroo, a professor of marketing at Kellogg, has noted, for instance, that turning up the lights can intensify emotions.

But for now, don’t be ashamed to rock out to empowering tunes—in the shower, in the car, or while preparing for that job interview.

Featured Faculty

Professor of Management & Organizations

Sandy & Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies in Marketing; Professor of Marketing; Co-chair of Faculty Research

About the Writer
Jessica Love is the staff science writer and editor at Kellogg Insight.
About the Research

Hsu, Dennis, Li Huang, Loran F. Nordgren, Derek D. Rucker, and Adam D. Galinsky. Forthcoming. “The Music of Power: Perceptual and Behavioral Consequences of Powerful Music.” Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Most Popular This Week
  1. How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?
    Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans may percieve biracial people differently—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.
    How are biracial people perceived in terms of race
  2. Don’t Wait to Be Asked: Lead
    A roadmap for increasing your influence at work.
    An employee leads by jumping from the bleachers and joining the action.
  3. How (Not) to Change Someone’s Mind
    Psychologists have found two persuasion tactics that work. But put them together and the magic is lost.
    A woman on a street talks through a large megaphone.
  4. Which Form of Government Is Best?
    Democracies may not outlast dictatorships, but they adapt better.
    Is democracy the best form of government?
  5. How Autocracies Unravel
    Over time, leaders grow more repressive and cling to yes-men—a cycle that’s playing out today in Putin’s Russia.
    autocrat leaning over battle map surrounded by yes-men.
  6. Knowing Your Boss’s Salary Can Make You Work Harder—or Slack Off
    Your level of motivation depends on whether you have a fair shot at getting promoted yourself.
    person climbin ladder with missing rungs toward rich boss surrounded by money bags on platform
  7. Sitting Near a High-Performer Can Make You Better at Your Job
    “Spillover” from certain coworkers can boost our productivity—or jeopardize our employment.
    The spillover effect in offices impacts workers in close physical proximity.
  8. It’s Performance Review Time. Which Ranking System Is Best for Your Team?
    A look at the benefits and downsides of two different approaches.
    An employee builds a staircase for his boss.
  9. Will AI Eventually Replace Doctors?
    Maybe not entirely. But the doctor–patient relationship is likely to change dramatically.
    doctors offices in small nodules
  10. Why Do Some People Succeed after Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?
    A new study dispels some of the mystery behind success after failure.
    Scientists build a staircase from paper
  11. Four Strategies for Cultivating Strong Leaders Internally
    A retired brigadier general explains how companies can prioritize talent development.
    Companies should adopt intentional leadership strategies since developing leaders internally is critical to success.
  12. Take 5: Not So Fast!
    A little patience can lead to better ideas, stronger organizations, and more-ethical conduct at work.
  13. Too Much Cross Talk. Too Little Creativity. How to Fix the Worst Parts of a Virtual Meeting.
    Six tools from an unlikely place—improv comedy—to use on your next Zoom call.
    meeting participants improv
  14. Take 5: How to Be Prepared for Important Career Moments
    Expert advice on getting ready to network, negotiate, or make your case to the CEO.
    How to be prepared
  15. Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Is Still Entrepreneurship
    ETA is one of the fastest-growing paths to entrepreneurship. Here's how to think about it.
    An entrepreneur strides toward a business for sale.
  16. Why Do Long Wars Happen?
    War is a highly inefficient way of dividing contested resources—yet conflicts endure when there are powerful incentives to feign strength.
    long line of soldiers marching single file through a field
  17. 5 Tips for Growing as a Leader without Burning Yourself Out
    A leadership coach and former CEO on how to take a holistic approach to your career.
    father picking up kids from school
  18. 2 Factors Will Determine How Much AI Transforms Our Economy
    They’ll also dictate how workers stand to fare.
    robot waiter serves couple in restaurant
  19. What Went Wrong at AIG?
    Unpacking the insurance giant's collapse during the 2008 financial crisis.
    What went wrong during the AIG financial crisis?
More in Business Insights Finance & Accounting