The Role of Socially Conscious Message Songs on Social Psychology and Public Behavior

The relevance of socially conscious message songs relies on their ability to raise awareness, provoke thoughts, and inspire actions thus leveraging the influence of music in addressing pressing societal issues and catalyzing positive change within societies. To add to their artistic value, such songs play a significant role in the collective unconscious, profoundly molding the opinions, habits, and outlook of the entire community. Understanding the critical role of socially conscious message songs can always be emphasized through further and higher education in arts and social psychology, as well as formal and informal discussions in public policy. To facilitate a better understanding of such critically important songs, this paper looks at the effect of message songs on public attitude, which has an extensive bearing on the development of positive social change and justice. Message song, a term coined by Mosi Dorbayani (2018), refers to songs, the lyrics of which are challenging social norms, social injustice, promoting empathy, understanding and tolerance – the songs that motivate communities to align their actions, attitudes, beliefs, and societal behavior for change – to create a better, inclusive, and peaceful world for all. This paper looks at the role of message songs and their connection with emotional resonance, empathy, cognitive processing and attitude change, and highlights social identity and collective action amongst other factors.