Much Harder To Deal With

A Study of Mental Well-Being, Listening Behaviours, and Musical Practices during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Switzerland in 2020

Abstract

The mutual influence between people’s mental well-being and their musical listening and practicing behaviors has been examined in many recent studies. The following experiment aims to identify changes in this relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown in Switzerland in early 2020. In an online survey, fourteen interviewees were asked about potential changes in their mental well-being, listening behaviors, and musical practices caused by the precautionary government measures. The results showed an equal division between people noticing their mental well-being worsening and participants not observing any changes or feeling better than they did before. These mental changes, or lack thereof, were further contextualized with regard to situations such as job insecurities or changes in the working environment of the participants.