How Your Music Can Tell Your Personality Type

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Have you ever observed that you and your friends tend to appreciate similar music genres??

Research indicates that this might not be mere coincidence.

?? What Does The Research Say?

A 2018 study looked at people’s music-related Facebook likes and music-listening habits. The researchers found that the participants’ musical preferences predicted some personality traits.

The researchers looked at how people’s musical tastes compared with their personality based on the Big Five personality traits:

• openness to experience
• conscientiousness, or how responsible, reliable, and self-controlled you are
• extraversion, ranging from outgoing to introverted
• agreeableness, or how friendly you are
• neuroticism is a measure of how nervous or sensitive you are

?? What Science Says About Your Music Tastenbsp;

People who are more open to new experiences tend to enjoy complex music like classical, opera, and jazz, but might not be as keen on slow, relaxing genres like R&B and soft rock, or contemporary music like rap and electronic.?

This means that if you're open-minded, you might appreciate classical and jazz, but not be as into R&B or electronic tunes.

For those who are more extroverted, they tend to lean towards easy-going music like country and folk. This type of music is seen as straightforward and down-to-earth.

On the other hand, if you're generally agreeable, you're likely to have a broad liking for music. You're open to different genres and styles.

A recent study in 2022 looked at the musical preferences of over 350,000 people from various parts of the world and found that the connection between personality and musical taste is pretty much the same everywhere.?

So, no matter where you live, your personality and your taste in music are linked.

The researchers also discovered that those with higher extroversion really get into lively, rhythmic, and electronic music. And for people with high openness, gravitate towards intricate music, like improvised and instrumental tracks.

?? Personality Traits and Music Taste

In one study, researchers asked more than 36,000 participants worldwide to rate more than 104 different musical styles. Here are some of the personality traits the study linked to certain musical styles.

?? Pop. Extroverted, honest, and conventional. Although pop music lovers were hardworking and had high self-esteem, researchers suggest that they are less creative and more uneasy than those enamored by other musical styles.

?? Rap/hip hop. Despite the stereotype that rap lovers are aggressive or violent, the researchers found no such link. However, rap fans tended to have high self-esteem and were generally more outgoing than fans of other styles.

?? Country. These fans typically identified as hardworking, conventional, outgoing, and conservative. Although country music frequently centers on heartbreak, people who prefer it tend to be emotionally stable. They also ranked lower than others in openness to experience.

?? Rock/heavy metal. Rock and heavy metal often project images of anger, bravado, and aggression. However, this study found such fans to be gentle, creative, and introverted. They also tended to have low self-esteem.

?? Indie. Fans of the indie genre registered as introverted, intellectual, and creative, but less hardworking and gentle than fans of other styles. Passivity, anxiousness, and low self-esteem were other notable personality characteristics.

?? Dance. Those who preferred dance music were typically outgoing, assertive, and open to experience but ranked lower than others in gentleness.

?? Classical. The study's classical music lovers were generally somewhat introverted but at ease with themselves. Creativity and healthy self-esteem were common among them.

?? Jazz, blues, and soul. Extroverted with high self-esteem. They also tend to be very creative, intelligent, and at ease.

?? Individual Differences in Music?

Personality traits alone don’t account for musical preferences, though. The older 2010 study involving data from over 36,000 participants suggests other factors also play a role in musical taste, including:

• gender
• age
• social class and income
• cultural background
• self-esteem

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