[Dixielandjazz] What Your Taste in Music Says About You

[Snogpitch]

I had a friend forward this on to me, knowing I was a fan of a variety of
music.  It came from MSN:
http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/66/79748.htm

The question that burns in the back of my mind, and seems a valid point,
until some of these music genres came about, what did these dimensions use
as a music style?  

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Musical Styles and Preferences Reveal Personality Traits

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

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."
------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, June 2003.

-- 
Snogpitch

snogpitch at prodigy.net
ICQ: 4989342
Webpage: http://pages.prodigy.net/snogpitch/