Headphone Bravado - what is it?

It’s always amazing to watch someone who is generally mild mannered and reserved put the headphones on and start singing loudly and dancing unashamedly. Being inside a pair of headphones seems to elicit a response know as ‘headphone bravado’ where the person involved shows more a more outgoing side of themselves than normal.

This is a fun and wonderful thing at a festival where someone is dancing more than usual and singing when they don’t usually sing but it’s really special in a school environment. We have created a silent disco for Byron Bay Public School on several occasions for the youngsters and it’s proven to be more than just a disco and is actually changing peoples lives. Teachers are coming up to us with tears in their eyes and pointing to a child who is clearly having a fun time with a bunch of other kids and telling us how he is usually very reserved and never interacts with the other kids. Something about the headphones has opened his path the bravery to step out and be noticed and have fun.

This transformational aspect of a silent disco is something that came to us a bit of a surprise but is now well recognised. We have lost count of the times a quiet and hesitant person has come out of the disco with a completely different demeanour to when they went in. They often will say that it’s the most fun they’ve had in a long time or at the festival.

Why is this happening? Is it because they can’t hear themselves sing? Is it because they are ‘contained’ within the headphones and therefore feel safe? It’s most likely both of these and maybe more.

Whatever the reason it is a definitely positive side effect of entering a silent disco, putting the headphones on, choosing a channel and getting taken away by a great DJ.