Question 13- Discuss The Role Of Social Influences On Music Preferences

Question 1

Anecdote

Answer 1

-Personally believe social influences play a huge role in music preferences
•I mainly used to listen, and still do listen, to indie, pop and rock when younger. When I was 15, I made friends with people who liked heavy metal and introduced me to the genre. Now even though I listen to a variety of music, I mainly listen to rock and heavy metal now

Question 2

Egermann, Kopiez and Altenmueller (2013)

Answer 2

-Social feedback increases individual ratings of arousal and enjoyment on one’s music taste
•Social feedback works better at doing this than informational feedback

Question 3

Possible explanations of Egermann, Kopiez and Altenmueller (2013)

Answer 3

-Conformity?
•Possible need to fit in
•Informational feeback is just words

-Humans are social animals
•We seek approval from others on a range of behaviours
•Historically music has been used for social bonding, so gaining positive feedback from perrs may make us feel closer/connected to them

Question 4

Rentfrow et al (2011)

Answer 4

-Looked at individual differences in music-genre preferences and identified 5 dimensions:
•Mellow
•Urban
•Sophisticated
•Intense
•Campestral

-Researchers suggested preferences are affected by both the auditoy and social characteristics of music
•The social influences of music preference are due to the connotations of the music one listens to
~E.g. one might listen to sophisticated music if they want to come across as intelligent and inspiring

Question 5

Concluding comment

Answer 5

-From the pieces of research, it can be argued that social influences play an important role in music preferences, not only to be liked by a group of people but to also be perceived in a certain way