Musical Tastes and Personality Traits

[Ksyrup]

Very interesting...

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Musical Styles and Preferences Reveal Personality Traits

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Tuesday, June 10, 2003


June 10, 2003 -- Whether you're a little bit country or a little bit rock and roll, the type of music you listen to may say a lot about your personality.

A new study shows there's a good reason why the question, "So, what kind of music do you listen to?" comes up often during first dates -- the answer may speak volumes about another person's personality traits, interests, and outlook on life. And it turns out that classical music aficionados may have a lot in common with die-hard heavy metal fans.

The study, published in the June issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, analyzed the musical tastes of more than 3,500 individuals and found the musical styles people favor are closely linked to their personalities.

It showed that musical preferences could be organized into the following four general dimensions according to the level of complexity, emotion, and energy found in each musical style:

Reflective and complex - classical, jazz, blues, and folk
Intense and rebellious - alternative, rock, and heavy metal
Upbeat and conventional - pop, religious, country, and soundtracks
Energetic and rhythmic - rap/hip-hop, soul/funk, and electronica/dance

Researchers say each of these broad categories of musical preferences was also closely linked to an individual's personality traits, self-perception, and cognitive ability or intelligence.

For example, people who preferred classical music or other types of music classified as reflective and complex were likely to be open to new experiences, intelligent, politically liberal, and less athletic.

Heavy metal fans who liked intense and rebellious music also tended to be open to new experiences and consider themselves intelligent, but they were also curious about different things, enjoy taking risks, and physically active.

Researchers say their analysis suggests that people who enjoy upbeat and conventional music styles like popular and religious music are cheerful, socially outgoing, reliable, enjoy helping others, view themselves as physically attractive, and be relatively conventional.

But rap fans and others classified as listening to musical styles considered as energetic and rhythmic literally followed the beat of a different drummer. The study showed these people tend to be talkative, full of energy, forgiving, and eschew conservative ideals.

The participants believed that musical preferences revealed as much about their personalities as their hobbies did. And when it came to sizing up others, musical preferences ranked second only to hobbies in terms of what the participants felt revealed the most about others' personalities -- more than what kinds of books or magazines they read.

Researchers Peter J. Rentfrow and Samuel D. Gosling of the University of Texas at Austin say many questions remain before any concrete theories on musical preferences can be made. But their results show that, "It is clear to us that music can contribute much to the understanding of many psychological phenomena."


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[mckerney]

No mention of emo, punk, or nerd rock?

[korme]

mckerney representin as always

[Ksyrup]

I think that would get lumped into rock.

[Airhog]

dont forget ska!

[tucker342]

makes since

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Airhog
dont forget ska!

I think they just assumed everyone that listened to ska was too big a loser for anyone to care about



Yes, I listen to ska too...

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
I think that would get lumped into rock.

But most who listen to emo just go around depressed all the time, which isn't quite intense and rebellious. I'll give you the rebellious for everyone that listens to punk and is pissed at the world, though I think that still leaves nerd rock up in the air.

[Airhog]

Man nerds dont get pissed, they get even. When that jock is working at Mcd's because he tore his acl out, that nerd just laughs as he gets in his corporate jet and goes and earns 2 million before lunch.

[korme]

kerny, I listen to emo/punk and I wouldn't consider myself ever depressed or rebellious. Whattya think about that?

[sabotai]

Intense and rebellious - alternative, rock, and heavy metal

That's me in a nutshell. No this is me in a nutshell. Help, I'm in a nutshell. How did I get into this enormaous nutshell.

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by Airhog
Man nerds dont get pissed, they get even. When that jock is working at Mcd's because he tore his acl out, that nerd just laughs as he gets in his corporate jet and goes and earns 2 million before lunch.

"It's all right, it's OK, you're gonna work for us some day."

That was our band chant at the end of high school football games.

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by sabotai
Intense and rebellious - alternative, rock, and heavy metal

That's me in a nutshell. No this is me in a nutshell. Help, I'm in a nutshell. How did I get into this enormaous nutshell.

I'm not sure I fit this, at least not outwardly. I can be intense at times - like anyone else - but most of the time, I'm rather laid back. And, about the only thing rebellious about me is my choice of music. But that's kind of a circular argument.

[Ben E Lou]

So.....

What if you're like me, and your top four, which you listen to pretty much equally, are in all four categories??? (folk, rock, country, rap/hip hop)

[Fritz]

what if you listen to Germans who sing latin-pop?

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by Fritz
what if you listen to Germans who sing latin-pop?

There's a pop category.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by SkyDog
So.....

What if you're like me, and your top four, which you listen to pretty much equally, are in all four categories??? (folk, rock, country, rap/hip hop)

I was thinking pretty much the same thing. (classical, jazz, blues,alternative, rock,religious,soul/funk)

Hey SkyDog, I guess we just can't be pigeon-holed into one particular group. Surprise, surprise.

[dawgfan]

That's the problem with these kinds of attempts at generalization - they work to the extent that people fit their predefined categories, but I suspect there are many people out there (me included) that have musical interests that span the whole range listed.

I'd be curious to see the study and examine the methodology used to come up with these results. One of the first things I learned in college was how many scientific studies are done using flawed methodology, and how many legitimate studies are misinterpreted or skewed when reported by the media. This particular study sounds like one where someone had a theory about music and personality and then skewed the results to fit that theory.

[cartman]

Originally posted by SkyDog
So.....

What if you're like me, and your top four, which you listen to pretty much equally, are in all four categories??? (folk, rock, country, rap/hip hop)

I think the medical term is schizophrenic...

[JeeberD]

I think there are some problems with this. I listen mostly to hard rock, but I'm not intense at all. And I'm certainly not rebellious.

Piece of crap research...

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by cartman
I think the medical term is schizophrenic...

You may be right. After all, our screen-name is SplitPersonality.

[Leonidas]

What the hell is a "rhythmic" personality?

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Shorty3281
kerny, I listen to emo/punk and I wouldn't consider myself ever depressed or rebellious. Whattya think about that?

Stereotypes my friend, stereotypes...



I suppose I could have said 'being emo' or 'a punk', but you've really reminded me how much I still have to teach you before sending you out into the real world