Impact of Dhamma Music on the Emotional Well-being of Chinese Young Adults: A Uses and Gratifications Study of the Bilibili Platform
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Abstract
This study examines how Dhamma Music on the Bilibili platform contributes to the emotional well-being of Chinese young adults through the lens of Uses and Gratifications Theory. It has three objectives: (1) to identify the content characteristics of Bilibili Dhamma Music and the emotional and thematic distribution of user-generated texts; (2) to analyze the core need dimensions and gratification modes of Chinese young adults who use Bilibili Dhamma Music; and (3) to explain the influence paths through which Dhamma Music supports emotional well-being. The study used a mixed-methods design combining qualitative narrative analysis and computer-assisted quantitative text analysis. Eighteen Chinese young adults aged 18-35 were interviewed through semi-structured online interviews. In addition, 126,000 valid bullet-screen comments (danmu) and user comments were collected from ten high-engagement Bilibili Dhamma Music videos and analyzed through sentiment analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling.
The findings indicate that Bilibili Dhamma Music appears mainly in three forms: long-duration scene-accompanying music, secularized adaptations, and traditional Buddhist chants. User interaction was dominated by themes of anxiety relief, sleep support, emotional decompression, life reflection, and spiritual comfort. Three gratification dimensions emerged: emotional relief, cognitive companionship, and spiritual comfort. These dimensions operated through a five-stage healing narrative: emotional dilemma, algorithmic or accidental discovery, acoustic comfort, community resonance, and cognitive-emotional transformation. The study concludes that Dhamma Music functions as a low-threshold digital resource for emotional regulation, companionship, and meaning-making among Chinese young adults. Its effect should be understood as a media-based support mechanism for emotional well-being rather than a clinical intervention.
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