# Validation of the Persian Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale alongside multifaceted investigation of earworms among Iranian college students

## TL;DR

This study validates a Persian version of a scale to measure involuntary musical imagery and explores earworms among Iranian college students.

## Contribution

The study introduces and validates the Persian Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (PIMIS) for use in Iranian populations.

## Key findings

- The PIMIS was found to be valid and reliable for measuring earworms among Iranian college students.
- The study provides detailed data on the phenomenon of earworms in a non-Western cultural context.
- The PIMIS includes 15 items and three additional questions for comprehensive measurement.

## Abstract

Involuntary musical imagery is considered a ubiquitous phenomenon worldwide, while mixed and inconsistent results regarding different aspects of earworms remain challenging. Furthermore, there is a special need for research on earworms in societies other than in European or American. The primary aim of our study is to validate the Persian Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (PIMIS) and, secondly, to carry out a detailed exploration of earworms among Iranian college students.

A total of 946 Iranian college students were recruited to answer the Persian Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (PIMIS), and gold standards including the Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ, to convergent validity), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21, to concurrent validity), the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI, to predictive validity), as well as the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-revised (OCI-R), and socio-demographic queries. A complex of features regarding the validity and reliability of the PIMIS, along with numerous aspects of earworm, were explored.

The Persian Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale encompasses 15 items along with three additional questions. It was found to be a valid and reliable instrument among Iranian college students, qualified to measure individual differences in earworms. Phenomenological evidence and detailed data on individual differences could provide rich knowledge for the rest of the literature paradigms. Moreover, future investigations into the local regions of the Iranian population are recommended.