Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency

Yinghan Xing

doi:10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252736.20261004

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Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency

Volume 10, Issue 4

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Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency
Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency
The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Vol. 10, Issue 4, Pages: 187-192(2026)
Published：30 August 2026
DOI：10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252736.20261004
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Xing Yinghan.Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency[J].Creativity and Innovation,2026,10(04):187-192.
DOI：

Xing Yinghan.Helper or Enemy? The Impact of Background Music on Task Completion Efficiency[J].Creativity and Innovation,2026,10(04):187-192. DOI： 10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252736.20261004.

摘要

Abstract

People commonly listen to background music while completing various tasks

however

misuse of background audios may cause negative impact on overall task efficiency. Based on Cognitive Load Theory and Arousal Theory

the paper clarifies two mechanisms of background music: cognitive load pathway and emotional arousal pathway. It selects lyric presence and tempo as core musical features

divides tasks into high-cognitive-load tasks

simple mechanical tasks and creative tasks

and explores the matching logic between musical characteristics and task types. The analysis reveals that lyrical and fast-tempo music produces extra cognitive load and disturbs high-cognitive tasks; slow lyric-free instrumental music fits high-cognitive and creative tasks best

and fast-tempo music improves efficiency of repetitive tasks by boosting arousal. This study constructs a unified music-task matching model to provide scientific reference for choosing appropriate background music for different tasks. This research only relies on literature analysis without original experiments

which brings certain limitations to the research.

关键词

Keywords

references

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