Psychological Effects of Cultural Upheavals from Millions of Song Lyrics Over 100 Years

Cultural upheavals impact many aspects of social life, and many studies have investigated their impact on language patterns. However, few investigations have isolated the impact of upheavals on individuals at scale in popular media. The current work evaluated millions of song lyrics spanning more than a century in search of within-artist and between-artist signals of distress from the Vietnam War, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and COVID-19. Compared to a five-year baseline, rates of self-references - a marker of psychological distancing - were significantly reduced after the Vietnam War and September 11th. Cognitive processing terms were elevated post-upheaval vs. pre-upheaval, which indicated artists' increased attempts to make meaning from such massive disruptions. Content patterns corroborated these findings as artists wrote more about "life and freedom" (societal conditions) and less about "courtship and nightlife" (interpersonal connection) following the upheavals. Cultural upheavals modify individual and collective verbal behavior, demonstrating their far-reaching impact on society.