Music and personality: a natural match?

Contrary to popular belief, music does not explain our way of being. We use music to identify ourselves with the most important and valid political and social positions, but some people consider that there is no direct link between that identification and our actions. Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll lyrics, Heavy Metal Songs, Classic Compositions, etc. are the part of our mindset. The truth is that when we associate musical style with personality, we risk making broad generalizations and inaccuracies. We would be playing on a field of cheap demagoguery, relying on prejudices imposed by the mass media and youth television series.

Cliches are being deconstructed.

Consider this: the harsh aesthetic and violence that surrounds heavy metal do not correspond to the personality of its followers: a large portion of them are kind, peaceful people with a tendency toward introversion, as revealed by a study conducted at the University of Heriot-Watt, using a survey that was completed by 37,000 people worldwide via the internet.

Strange coincidences: 'heavies' and 'classics' are the same

According to North and Hargreaves' survey, the personality of heavy metal fans is very similar to that of classical music fans, though their study does reveal that the latter have higher self-esteem than the former on average. So, despite the fact that musical styles differ greatly, not to mention the costumes that each musical style proposes, classics and long-haired people can be classified as having the same psychological profile. Other research, led by F. Baker and W. Bor (2008) at the University of Queensland in Australia, supports the previous findings, ruling out the possibility that music or musical style plays a causal role in antisocial behavior, for example. This is not to say that listening to certain musical styles "transforms" our personalities.

Personality is a multifaceted and multi-cause concept

As a result, the psychic state is predetermined, and from that point forward, each individual allows himself to be conquered by the music that best suits his personality. Listening to music with melodies or depressing lyrics in someone's ears does not always mean that it is a trigger to depress many of their listeners; on the contrary, this type of music can sometimes help to overcome low mood moments. Most people stick to the musical styles they listened to when they were 14 to 26 years old, and this is because youth shapes our identities, which will no longer be as malleable for the rest of our lives. According to new research, heavy metal fans are gentle, indie music listeners lack self-esteem, and pop music fans are uncreative. A psychology professor has been conducting research on the links between personality and music taste for the past three years. He discovered that country and western fans are hardworking, rap fans are outgoing, and jazz and classical music fans are innovative and self-assured. Heavy metal fans, contrary to popular belief, are gentle and at ease with themselves, but they are not hardworking. According to the research, those who listen to heavy metal and classical music share the personality traits of being creative, at ease, and introverted. However, classical music fans have high self-esteem, whereas heavy rock fans have low self-belief.