A new look at the potential links between music practice, empathy, and prosociality

Engaging in music practice is often assumed to increase empathy and prosociality. However, data in support of this relationship are limited, leaving unclear which components of empathy (cognitive empathy, emotional contagion, and emotional disconnection) and prosocial behaviors, if any, would be affected. Here, we recruited musicians with more than 2 years of musical experience ( n = 80) and nonmusicians ( n = 89) to measure empathy (using subjective and objective measures) and prosociality (using economic games). We hypothesized that musicians would score higher than nonmusicians on empathy and prosociality, and that musicians who practice more would show greater effects. Using classical and Bayesian analyses of variance (ANOVAs), we found no difference between musicians and nonmusicians in empathy and prosociality, and no correlation with the amount of practice. Exploratory analyses revealed associations between the age of onset of music practice and empathy, suggesting that it is not music practice per se but specifically its initiation in early life that could be linked to empathy. These findings challenge the common assumption that music practice in general increases empathy and prosociality and invites to explore in which specific contexts music practice does so (e.g., particular age ranges or group-based settings).