Music Preferences Linked to Personality: Study

Yahoo ^ | June 7th 2003 | Natalie Engler

[CanadianFella]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The music you listen to may say more about you than you think, according to new research findings that suggest that our choice in music reflects our personalities.

Do you enjoy blues, jazz, classical and folk music? You may be intelligent, tolerant and politically liberal, researchers report.

Meanwhile, country and religious music fans tend to be cheerful, outgoing, reliable and conventional, while alternative and heavy metal music lovers tend to be physically active, curious risk-takers.

As for rap/hip-hop and dance music fans? They are often outgoing, agreeable people who generally eschew conservative ideals, according to a report in the June issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (news - web sites).

The findings help explain why people who meet at parties often ask one another about their favorite music or bands, study author Dr. Peter J. Rentfrow told Reuters Health. "It assumes that knowing the answer tells you something about who they are" and whether or not to pursue a relationship, added Rentfrow, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

The results, noted Rentfrow, could have implications for not just dating and friendships, but for marketing, too. Already advertisers use music to entice certain types of people to buy their products.

"We might come up with typologies comprised of music preferences, socioeconomic status, and age," he told Reuters Health.

Online merchant Amazon.com, among other Web sites, tracks customers' purchasing history and browsing patterns and compares their habits with those of others in order to come up with product recommendations. While the company chose not to disclose data indicating the success of this approach, a spokesperson told Reuters Health that it is "well suited to music, where tastes don't change much over time."

Common sense? Perhaps. On the other hand, said Rentfrow, the study may reveal insights into "the mundane."

"Sometimes the most obvious things are hardest for researchers to see," he told Reuters Health. "That's why there's so little research on music preferences and personality. Because it's something we take for granted."

To look at the relationship between music preferences and personality traits, Rentfrow and Texas colleague Dr. Samuel D. Gosling conducted six studies on over 3,500 students. They examined the students' beliefs about music, their music preferences, self-perceptions and cognitive abilities.

Their findings suggest that personality, self-perception and cognitive ability each play a role in the "formation and maintenance of music preferences," they write.

SOURCE: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003;84:1236-1254.

[Desdemona]

Well, I am NOT a country music fan., Period. The occasional Pasty Cline is plenty. That being said I'm very reliable and conservative.

I just want to know why some of the best opera is being turned into cliche by the automobile companies. I've heard selections from Le Nozze di Figaro, La Serva Padrona (Paisiello), Lakme (okay, that was perfume), La Wally, Rigoletto, Il Barbiere di Sivilia, Die Zauberflaute (sp?), La Boheme, etc. The Marines used Carmina Burana.

I don't know. I think there is something wrong with the survey.

[cajungirl]

My problem is I can't remember who sings what and what kiind of music it is,,is that a common problem. I am a 60's white woman and lately I like Tom Waits and am beginning to see some beauty in rap, I mean some of it is pretty good. I heard one song ona Sopranoes sound track,,can't remember the group but it was something with "head" in the name and the lyrics were really violent but it was catchy and I like to make a salad while listening,,the lyrics are something like "get down on your knees you m---f---er. Now I don't know what happened after he got on his knees but either he got shot or did a sexual act. Nevertheless it was fun to listen to. Sometimes I think I am senile.

[Uncle Meat]

I went out and bought both of the Zep sets too.Very pleased.Love anything Zep,but not too fond of Robert Plant's solo stuff.After getting a belly full of today's crap,I'll stick with the good ol rock and roll.Gov't Mule is one of the few of today's bands that I can really relate to these days.I thopught The Four Horsemen were going somewhere back in the early 90's but they only managed to put out a couple of albums,both kick ass.

[redhead]

"what does it say about 50 year-olds who listen to the same rock music their teenaged daughters do?"

Or, 60-year-olds who listen to their sons' Great White, Led Zeppelin, Steelheart, etc., as well as guitar jazz, swing, bluegrass, classical, zydeco, AND Klezmer?

[kaylar]

Glass Hammer, Blind Guardian, Metallica, Lorena McKennitt, Heart, Bach, Purcell, Vivaldi, Queensryche, Led Zep, U2....

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I like kazoo sonatas.

I like Mozart's Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica with flute, oboe, viola and cello. ;-)

A Brief History of Glass Music
Glass Armonica FAQ
Glass Harper - Lessons

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

BTW, I do believe there is something to the Mozart Effect, especially with helping to hard-wire humans' brains from a very early age.

http://parenting-baby.com/Parenting-Baby-Music-Research/index1.html

[FITZ]

Who do these people think listens to rap noise or acid rock if not people on the political left?

No ---I think the left listens to pop if they're young and really weird stuff --- listen to what they play on NPR stations ---- also Joan Baez. Acid rock would appeal to conservatives.

[King Nothing]

All of you.. go buy this album.... NOW.

[LurkerNoMore!]

Bump to another Johhny Rivers fan in post #5.

[Fawnn]

How about somebody who supports Israel, yet loves Wagner overtures? (And 50's rock and roll! Ronnie Dove. Show tunes....) ;)

[ninenot]

There might be a little to this, but it's not even CLOSE to the take the study's authors have.

I would suggest that we should recall that 'culture' is a direct result of 'cult.' That is, what you worship will be manifested in 'how' you render that worship.

The cult of sex, the cult of violence, the cult of (etc., etc., etc.) each have their own attendant culture. Some are not such good things--thus, the back-beat of rock'n'roll, which plays directly to the region beneath the bellybutton.

OTOH, the cult of patriotism (Sousa,) can be a good thing, as the cult of courtship and gentility (Strauss.)

All things in moderation except the cult of worship of God.

[putupon]

I only like Polka music but can no longer listen since I'm boycotting all things German.

[najida]

What if you listen to mostly world music (what catogory does that fall into?)....from Gypsy Kings to Koto Drums to Hossam Ramsy to Music of the Andes.....

[RandallFlagg]

Yeah....

[maxwell]

I've noticed most fans of rap/hiphop are outgoing, agreeable people who enjoy unusual handshakes and are often interested in whether they can steal your hubcaps or have sex with your date. They also believe in sharing their musical tastes with everyone within a 20-mile radius of wherever they are located.

Hehe... I was thrown by the researchers' assessment in that regard as well. In my experience, all the rap fans that I have known (with one single exception) have been highly confrontational, highly disagreeable, explosive, hoodlum-esque, and the type I wouldn't trust further'n I could throw, and I'll leave it at that.

Me, I'm a big ol' country music fan myself. I guess I am fairly reliable though I wouldn't say conventional. What a bogus study. It ain't gonna make me like rap.

[Richard Kimball]

You're not phrasing it correctly. Everyone, according to these studies, is a wonderful person. Here's what you wrote:

all the rap fans that I have known (with one single exception) have been highly confrontational, highly disagreeable, explosive, hoodlum-esque, and the type I wouldn't trust further'n I could throw

Here's how to phrase it so it can go in Cosmo or the Enquirer:

If you listen to rap or hip hop, you are one of two types. You are either enthusiastic, given to sudden outbursts of enthusiam, usually 9 mm or larger, creative headwear angles and sharing your music with all others within a quarter-mile range, or you're a middle class white kid, seeking to get in touch with a multicultural viewpoint, so long as it doesn't involve moving out of your parents house.

Now, isn't that more agreeable?

[ohioWfan]

Hmmmmm.......I like Classical and jazz best, my favorite religious music is Bach, don't care for country other than bluegrass and good gospel quartets with super low basses, but I sure ain't no liberal!

I personally 'eschew' stereotypes. I never fit anybody's mold.....and I like it that way! :o)

[gcruse]

In order of what I actually listen to:

1. Heavy metal
2. Country
3. Classical

            Hence I am a politically liberal  physically active, risk-taker.

Well, no, none of the above.  I think social psychology fits the
category of, "any science that includes the word 'social' is not science."