Headphones or a speaker: your podcast listening experience changes with your choice

Listening to a podcast with headphones or earphones produces a phenomenon called ‘in-head localisation’. — AFP Relaxnews

Podcasts are often described as one of the most intimate, personal formats. But American researchers have observed that this impression is largely linked to the conditions in which we listen to them. Wearing headphones or earphones serves to reinforce our feeling of connectedness with the presenter of a podcast.

Researchers from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, UCLA and UC Berkeley observed this phenomenon by giving several tests to 4,000 participants. One test involved 1,310 individuals listening to an audio report about a homeless mother and daughter. Some listened through headphones and others through speakers. The scientists found that the former reported feeling more empathy for the two women than the latter.