Types of Music Appeal to Specific Personalities

Now, Israeli-led research involving more than 350,000 participants from over 50 countries and six continents has found that links between musical preferences and personality are universal.

Across the world, without significant variation, Greenberg and his team found the same positive correlations between extraversion and contemporary music; between conscientiousness and unpretentious music; between agreeableness and mellow and unpretentious music; and between openness and mellow, contemporary, intense and sophisticated music. They also identified a clear negative correlation between conscientiousness and intense music.

The researchers accurately predicted that extraversion – which is defined by excitement-seeking, sociability and positive emotions – would be positively associated with contemporary music that has upbeat, positive and danceable features. Similarly, they were not surprised to find that conscientiousness – associated with order and obedience – clashed with intense musical styles, which are characterized by aggressiveness and rebellious themes.

The researchers used the MUSIC model, a widely accepted framework for conceptualizing musical preferences, which identifies five key musical styles: ‘Mellow’ (featuring romantic, slow, and quiet attributes as heard in soft rock, R&B, and adult contemporary genres), ‘Unpretentious’ (uncomplicated, relaxing, and unaggressive attributes as heard in country genres), ‘Sophisticated’ (inspiring, complex, and dynamic features as heard in classical, operatic, avant-garde, and traditional jazz genres), ‘Intense’ (distorted, loud, and aggressive attributes as heard in classic rock, punk, heavy metal, and power pop genres), and ‘Contemporary’ (rhythmic, upbeat, and electronic attributes as heard in the rap, electronica, Latin, and Euro-pop genres).

https://www.israel365news.com/266095/types-of-music-appeal-to-specific-personalities-according-to-a-major-international-study-led-by-an-israeli-researcher/