Have you ever been asked the question, “Why are you listening to that?” At that moment, you sit there and try to come up with a reason to explain your answer. However, the answer always seems to be, “Because I like it.” There’s no particular reason, maybe it’s the artist or maybe it is because you just like the beat. Perhaps it could be the way you are feeling at that particular moment.
Every day people are exposed to music in one form or another, whether they wish to hear it or not. For example, every time someone walks into a store, goes to eat dinner or something as simple as walking into an elevator. Music is always playing in the background. It can actually be somewhat hard to get away from it. Yet the music does not seem to irritate people, if anything we can use the subject of music to learn about someone’s personality. The question, “What kinds of music do you like?” is a universal question. It allows us to explore another person’s musical interest, which would then lead to the basis of a friendship.
Not every person is going to have the same taste in music, but why is it that people find a certain genre more appealing than others? A person’s personality and individuality clearly has a large role Research indicates that there is a definite correlation between personality and music preferences (Rentfrow & Gosling p. 1236-1237, Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham p. 180-183). Those that enthusiastically chose to involve music in their lives will be more open to whatever music findings they come across in their everyday lives. There are also individuals who can play one or more musical instrument(s) and would be considered music lovers. Most of them have started from a young age and as they grew older would spend huge amounts of...
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...ersonality, their self-views and their cognitive abilities. It would also seem that, from knowing someone’s music preferences, we gain insight into their levels of openness, extraversion, intelligence, and even perhaps their political leanings.
Works Cited
Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas, and Adrian Furnham. "Personality And Music: Can Traits Explain How People Use Music In Everyday Life?." British Journal Of Psychology (London, England: 1953) 98.Pt 2 (2007): 175-185. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Rentfrow, Peter J., and Samuel D. Gosling. "The Do Re Mi's Of Everyday Life: The Structure And Personality Correlates Of Music Preferences." Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 84.6 (2003): 1236-1256. PsycARTICLES. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Schapiro, Meyer. "Leonardo and Freud: an art-historical study." Journal of the History of Ideas (1956): 147-178.
If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.
Linder, Todd. “The Effects of Music on People's Behavior”. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec 2013. .
Imagine a life without sound, would it not be one value living? All of these completely different parts of music and different styles and arrangements of notes and beats has had the ability to fully alter generations and alter the course of history for various people. Music comes all told completely different forms from hardcore to soft and mellow. As a result of these distinction a method of music exists for each kind of person and has the flexibility to go beyond generations. Music is important to our senses and vital to our needs, so listen up!
There are many factors in life that affect personality, but perhaps one of the most significant is the genre of music you listen to. I chose to focus specifically on how music may affect an individual’s personality. I used two resources to support this topic. The first is a peer-reviewed article from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled, “Exposure to Violent Media: The Effects of Songs with Violent Lyrics on Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings”. The other is a popular press article published in Psychology Today, titled as “What Your Stuff Reveals about You.” These two articles will make you question the genre of music you listen to.
"Outline of a Proposed Model of Sources of Variation in Musical Taste." by Albert LeBlanc, Bulletin
Knox, Richard A. "Sweet Taste in Music May Be Human Trait, Harvard Study Finds." Boston Globe, 5 September 1996, pp.A6.
“The type of music you prefer relates to your personality.” Professor Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, has attempted the biggest study so far of musical tastes and identity sort. He is a specialist on music brain science and has done far reaching research on the social and connected brain science of music, specifically the relationship between popular music society and uncommon conduct in puberty, music and customer conduct, and the part of musical inclination in ordinary life (Collingwood, 2008). He found out that there are different personalities linked with different genres of music, including rock music, on his research.
Music plays an important part in everyone’s life. The way a person perceives the music allows for them to be affected by it in several ways but most importantly, it changes their emotions. Many people say that music has no importance to the change of a person’s mood when in reality it has a great effect on it. Depending on the mood that someone is in, will determine the type of music they will listen to. Generally, if someone is happy they will listen to lively music. When someone is sad they will listen to mellow music. Music has been proven to be an influence to an individual’s mood (Sydney, 2013).
It’s also interesting to think about how music plays a role in someone’s identity. Many articles found discuss the Social Identity Theory, and the people who conduct these experiments always keep this in mind, “Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) maintains that individuals gain a social identity from the groups to which they belong. The theorists claim that members have a desire to evaluate their own group positively and that they achieve positive evaluations through social comparisons with relevant other groups along valued dimensions. One maintains positive social identity and self-esteem through in-group favoritism, positive distinction from the out-group, and, occasionally, out-group derogation (e.g., Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995)” (Tarrant, North, Hargreaves, 2001). Towson’s online database is an excellent place to research what has been found on music’s effects on psychology, and ...
Livosky, Marilyn et al. Psychology Journal. “Personality and Music Preferences in College Students and Young Children.” Mar2012, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p13-25. 13p
A musician’s distinct personality type can often be characterized by their instrument choice and from the ensemble that they play in. This study observed the differences in the personality types of High School Band, Orchestra, and Choir members. The Meyer-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) was given to 143 Band members, 99 Orchestra members, and 107 Choir members. In this study, Orchestra refers to a strings only ensemble and Band refers to brass and woodwinds; Percussionists aren’t mentioned in the article.
How do we arrive at our musical taste? Is musical taste an individual consideration or purely a product of our social circumstances? Why do people acquire musical taste and what do they use it for? “Tastes are relatively unproductive: the objects are simply random signs, the subjects are merely reproducing the hierarchy of social positions.” (Bourdieu, 1984).
Music, a form of art, made up of unique and special sounds containing elements of pitch and rhythm can powerfully soothe one’s soul. Firstly, there are different types of music, and each has its own features. These sounds and features are what I admire in music because to me it creates a new form of communication to one’s consciousness. It stimulates our mind and gives it a sense of harmony and peace through the hardships that life poses for us. As a kid, I would always listen to music from any genre, deciding which genre would complement me the most as I grew older. In middle school, I remember going on the computer and finding a website/program where I could make my own beats. From that day on, I spent countless of hours each day making sure the tune sounded proper and pleasurable for my ears. At first, it wasn’t good, but eventua...
Music is can be a very complicated and delightful at the same time. Music affects our bodies in several ways when engaging with it. The complicated and delightful apparatus we call music affect people physically, psychologically, and is great with healing emotional affliction, strengthens emotions, and is known to cure illness. Music also plays an influential role in the socialization of teenagers. Mainstream music is available practically everywhere. It is conveniently accessible over the internet, radio, individual recordings and other forms of technology
Through music we are able to comprehend someone’s personality, their views, their culture, and who they are as an overall person. The music you listen to is a reflection of who you are and your own personal thoughts. As I reflect on the music I listen to I came to the conclusion that I gravitate towards songs that depict the emotions we feel through lyrics while being able to relate it to my own personal experiences.