Question 12- Discuss The Role Of Personality In Music Preferences

Question 1

Music and big 5 relate

Answer 1

-Many studies look at different music types and how these relate to the Big 5:
•Openness to experience
•Conscientiousness
•Extraversion
•Agreeableness
•Neuroticism/emotional stability

Question 2

Hunter and Schellenberg (2011)

Answer 2

-Looked at musical complexity of classical pieces of music and personality
•Study conducted on exposure and personality with regards to music by asking PPs to identify the lead instrument in a brief classical music exerpt, then rate how much they liked the music

•Personality measured by big 5 questionnaire

-Results:
•Those high on openness preferred the more complex music, whereas individually preference for music varied from one person to the next

Question 3

Rentfrow and Gosling (2003)

Answer 3

-Looked at a Dutch sample of adolescents and found four music-preference dimensions and the personality factors that correlated with each dimension

-Reflective and complex
•Made up of blues, jazz, classical and folk music
-Intense and rebellious
•Made up of rock, alternative and heavy metal music
~Both dimensions were positively related to openess

-Upbeat and conventional
•Made up of country, sound track, religious and pop music
~Positively related to extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness
~Negatively related to openness

-Energetic and rhythmic
•Defined by rap/hip-hop, soul/funk and electronica/dance music
~Positively related to extraversion and agreeableness

-No substantial correlations were found between any dimension and neuroticism

Question 4

Results from both studies make sense

Answer 4

-Openness positively related to complex music
•Classical and heavy metal more complex, some people won’t attempt to listen to it

-Opennes negatively correlated to conventional dimension
•To me pop isn’t overly complex and generic in a sense. If you like one beat or track you’re likely to like a lot more

-Energetic and rhythmic related to extraversion and agreeableness
•Suggests out-going and up-for-anything people also like most upbeat or outgoing music

-Rentfrom and Gosling study tested over 1000 people which suggests that personality does play an essential role in music preferences. Due to individual differences etc not everyone will fit into the same box