Rhythmic Complexity and Groove: Moderating Effects of Obsessive Beliefs and Personality Traits

Groove, commonly defined as the pleasurable desire to move in response to music, has been consistently associated with an inverted U-shaped relationship between rhythmic complexity and movement-related enjoyment, whereby moderate levels of complexity elicit the strongest responses. While the inverted U-shape has been conceptualized as a universal musical response, growing evidence suggests that individual cognitive and personality characteristics may shape how rhythmic complexity is experienced. The present study investigated the moderating effects of obsessive beliefs and HEXACO traits on groove responses of varying levels of rhythmic complexity. A total of 261 participants listened to 63 musical excerpts and rated their desire to move in response to each stimulus. Personality traits were assessed using the HEXACO Personality Inventory, and obsessive beliefs were measured with the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-46). Mixed-effects models examined the relationship between pulse entropy as an index of rhythmic complexity, and wanting-to-move ratings. HEXACO personality traits and obsessive beliefs scores were entered into the model as covariates to test their moderating role on the relationship between rhythmic complexity and wanting-to-move ratings. Results showed an inverted U-shaped association between rhythmic complexity and groove, with the highest wanting-to-move ratings occurring at intermediate levels of complexity. Higher obsessive-belief scores were associated with a preference for less rhythmically complex stimuli, reflected in stronger wanting-to-move ratings at lower pulse entropy levels. This pattern was observed across all OBQ subscales and remained significant after controlling for HEXACO personality dimensions. High Openness was associated with stronger overall groove responses, whereas higher Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness showed preference for lower rhythmic complexity. These findings support the theory that individuals with strong obsessive beliefs may prefer rhythms that are more predictable and less cognitively demanding, possibly due to alterations in the weighting of prediction errors and increased sensitivity to uncertainty. More broadly, the results support predictive processing of musical reward and highlight the importance of considering listener-specific factors in theories of music cognition, and in the development of personalized music-based interventions. Keywords: groove, rhythmic complexity, obsessive beliefs, HEXACO, music cognition