Music preference and personality

Professor North asked more than 36,000 people in more than 60 countries to rate a wide range of musical styles in order of preference. Certain aspects of personality were also measured by questionnaire. The results showed: Blues fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease Jazz fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing and at ease Classical music fans have high self-esteem, are creative, introvert and at ease Rap fans have high self-esteem and are outgoing Opera fans have high self-esteem, are creative and gentle Country and western fans are hardworking and outgoingReggae fans have high self-esteem, are creative, not hardworking, outgoing gentle and at ease Dance fans are creative and outgoing but not gentle Indies fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard working, and not gentle Plywood fans are creative and outgoing Rock/heavy metal fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, and at ease Chart pop fans have high self-esteem, are hardworking, outgoing and gentle, but are not creative and not at ease Soul fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle, and at ease North aid he wanted to study why music is such a significant part of people’s identity.

“People do actually define themselves through music and relate to other people through it but we haven’t known in detail how music is connected to identity,” he said.

“We have always suspected a link between music taste and personality. This is the first time that w©eve been able to look at it in real detail.No one has ever done this on this scale before. ” People may define their musical identity by wearing particular clothes, going to certain pubs, and using certain types of slang. So it’s not so surprising that resonantly should be related to musical preference. “We really got the sense that people were selecting musical styles to like that match their own personality,” North said. He believes that his results show why people can get defensive about what they like to listen to, as it is likely to be profoundly linked to their outlook on life.

The study also demonstrates the ‘tribal function” of musical taste that can explain why people often bond over music.North noted that classical and heavy metal music both attracts listeners with similar personalities but dissimilar ages. Younger members of the personality roof apparently go for heavy metal, while their older counterparts prefer classical. However, both have the same basic motivation: to hear something dramatic and theatrical, a shared “love of the grandiose,” he said. “The general public has held a stereotype of heavy metal fans being suicidal depressed and being a danger to themselves and society in general,” he said, “but they are quite delicate things. Aside from their age, they’re basically the same kind of person [as a classical music fan].