Is there a relationship between music taste and personality type?
"Jazz, let's face it, it's just insolent noise." - The Talented Mr Ripley
Thankfully, this isn't the view at Universal Production Music, but it's not an uncommon opinion. Jazz is often considered the Marmite of musical tastes. So, why is it that some people love a particular music genre, while others loathe it?
Music taste develops according to a number of factors: cultural background, socioeconomic status, the influence of family and friends, neurological wiring and personality type.
For example, a child from a wealthy family, whose parents attend the opera or pay for traditional music lessons, is considered more likely to be exposed to and develop an appreciation for classical music.
A teenager, whose social circle worships a certain music genre, like punk rock, is more inclined to be influenced by their peers into liking it too.
Music taste could even be affected by the way someone processes sound. Certain brains might prioritise language processing and focus more on lyrical content, while others can be more inclined to notice and appreciate rhythm.
And then, there's personality type.
It plays a relatively small role
Studies into the music tastes of the big 5 personality types (categorised by tendency towards openness, extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness) suggests there is a correlation between the type of person you are and the sort of music you like listening to.
However, its important to note that the magnitude of most of these correlations is close to zero. That’s pretty far from an exact science. But here’s how personality traits can be (somewhat) mapped to musical preferences.
Openness = Jazz, classical, eclectic
It's suggested that open people more readily appreciate the complexity and originality of these more melodically complex genres.
Extraversion = Pop, electro, rap, hip-hop, soul, dance
Extroverts belong to a fairly broad church where music taste is concerned. Anything where energy, rhythm and strong melodies combine to create upbeat vibes is preferred.
Neuroticism = Rock, heavy metal, grunge
Those who score highly on the neuroticism scale are said to listen to rebellious music genres, which include rock, metal and grunge, and might also include punk, due to its intensity. This group also uses music to regulate the negative emotional states they experience.
Agreeableness = Pop, easy-listening
Considered an emotionally intense bunch, the agreeable cohort is supposedly more comfortable with relaxed music genres.
Conscientiousness = Pop, country, soft rock, folk
This group's preferences are at odds with the Neuroticism group. They like songs with structure, devoid of chaos. Ones that are positive, mellow and unaggressive.
If you're interested in finding out which personality type you are, there are several resources available online, including this free version from The University of Liverpool.
Is music taste linked to intelligence?
The 5 personality traits (and, by extension, the associated music preferences) are not absolutely correlated with lower or higher intelligence.
Certain facets of each personality type can, to vastly different degrees, hint towards cognitive ability.
For example, a facet of openness is the ability and inclination to engage with new concepts. This has a moderate association with intelligence level. Meanwhile, a facet of neuroticism is negative temperament, which can, to a very small degree, stand in the way of higher levels of thinking.
But these are subtraits of the big 5 personality types. And they’re narrow indicators of intelligence, at best.
A study more closely linking intelligence and music preference was published in the American Psychological Association. It found “intelligence to be a significant predictor of the preference for instrumental music, but not of the preference for vocal-instrumental music.”
Importantly, this says that higher intelligence may predispose you to liking instrumental music, but it doesn’t say that simply liking instrumental music indicates higher intelligence.
Even more importantly, listening to music with a high lyrical content doesn’t make someone less intelligent.
Intelligence isn’t everything. Neither is personality type.
Intelligence is one element of our personalities, and it doesn’t narrowly define our musical tastes. Our taste in music develops as we age, as our mindsets adjust and as we grow in our experience of the world.
Our relationships can open us up to new music genres we wouldn’t previously consider. Our worldviews can change over time, too, impacting our appreciation for more or less conventional genres.
What we tune into and appreciate in our favourite genre is based on a highly personal set of influences, ranging from biology, upbringing and experience to simply our mood in the moment.
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