Music as social surrogate? A qualitative analysis of older adults’ choices of music to alleviate loneliness

People are living longer than ever. Loneliness is prevalent across various age groups, posing a serious threat to both wellbeing and health. The social surrogacy hypothesis predicts that people make use of temporary substitutes for interaction with other people. In this qualitative study, we explored the role of self-chosen music as a social surrogate. A sample of older adults (N = 35) was asked to name three pieces of music they would choose to make them feel better if they were feeling very lonely and to explain their choices. We carried out a reflexive thematic analysis of their responses, which revealed six main themes: musical characteristics, coping mechanisms, memory and engagement, emotional reflection, bodily movement and dance, and listening context. These findings offer insight into how self-chosen music serves as a social surrogate in the absence of other people, through fulfilling social needs and mimicking human expressions or emotions through its characteristics and the context in which it is listened to. Age-specific factors including reminiscence and engagement with meaningful memories are likely to enhance emotional reflection, enabling familiar music to deepen connections to personal experiences. Overall, this study highlights the potential of music as a social surrogate to alleviate the loneliness often experienced by older adults.