Published in Rants And Opinions     1 comments – join the discussion!

I thought this was absolutely brilliant. Professor Adrian North, with the Psychology Department of Scotland's Herriot Watt University, led a internet study that included over 36,000 music lovers, wherein they were asked to rate 104 musical styles and questioned on aspects of their personality.

The end result seems to suggest that we can now know what a person’s personality traits are depending on the type of music they listen to. Not surprisingly, country music fans are ‘hard working (I can’t help but think of Loretta Lynn singing ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’). But, surprisingly, heavy metal fans and classical music fans have a lot in common: they are both creative, at ease and introverted, however, classical music fans have high self-esteem wherein heavy metal fans do not.

Perhaps this explains why music is such an important part of our lives; why it impacts us so profoundly and why we can become very protective about what we like and what we listen to. It seems that the kind of music we listen to not only ‘soothes’ us but we are also attracted to music that reflects our personalities. Fascinating!

So far the study has revealed the following links between personality traits and music. If you find that you like more than one genre of music, or several, then choose the one that you listen to the most.

Bollywood: Creative, Outgoing

Samba: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Blues: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

Funk: High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing and at ease

Jazz: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

Classical: High self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease

Opera: High self-esteem, creative, gentle

Easy-listening: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Country & Western: Hardworking, outgoing

Hip Hop: High self-esteem, outgoing

Reggae: High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Dance: Creative, outgoing, not gentle

Disco: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle

Indie: Low self-esteem, creative, not hard working, not gentle

Punk: Lack self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not gentle

Rock 'n' Roll: High self-esteem, creative, hardworking, not gentle, at ease

Rock/Metal: Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, introverted, gentle, at ease

Pop: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle, not at ease

Soul: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease

Swing: High self-esteem, creative, at ease

You can still take part in the survey if you CLICK HERE It’s a little bit lengthy but still worth the effort.

Interestingly enough, “North, who specializes in research in the area of social psychology of music and consumer behavior, also conducted a study to understand how music affects our perceptions and how it might change the way wine tastes. After conducting research on 250 of his students, he confirms that music impacts our perceptions when we drink wine. Professor North expects the research could lead retailers to include suggested music pairings on wine bottles.” Now, I think that would be cool!

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SpiritedOne

Posted on September 26, 2008, 3:12 pm

If music be the food of love, play on... Shakespeare had it right all along, I suppose. Now I can understand why I am so protective of my music choices and how others respond to those choices. Very interesting article.

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