Your Taste of Music Defines Your Personality
As humankind, we are exposed to music during most of our waking hours. Though our musical taste tends to differ from each other and this difference often remains to be a mystery. There are a number of musical pieces which leads us to shed tears while some may make us feel like dancing. The music that one loves may make another person feel irritated. Whereas we have often seen people having an inherent talent in vocal or instrumental music while many others do not possess the same. Psychology in the current era has undoubtedly shown that personality does have an eminent role to play in such individual differences. Though people may have opposing views regarding the same. Surprisingly our musical taste is also capable enough for revealing our inner thoughts and feelings.
Music generally fulfils three prominent psychological needs -
Music is a source of relaxation against boredom and helps us regain energy and attention while studying, driving and working.
It generates and stimulates intellectual curiosity.
It manipulates one's emotional state in order to help them achieve a better state of mood.
There have been a number of studies based on one's musical taste versus their Personality. These studies have been conducted by making use of various models of Personality. Let us take up two prominent models of personality.
MYER BRIGGS Personality Type Indicator
This Personality inventory defines one's personality among the sixteen best possibilities. Your "TYPE" may be made up of four "TRAITS'' . Through this it is easier to identify if one is an "extrovert" or an "introvert".or the combination of being born to a certain extent. Here our perception is also taken into consideration whether it is sensing or intuition. One way of judging is another part to be noted. Either he may be a thinker or a feeler. All these factors are helpful in order to analyse whether you prefer to use your perceptions or judgement. After all the tests conducted as per the inventory, we have a summary at the hand of the following personality types. They would be further explained broadly under the Genres -
Extraversion versus introversion
Sensing versus intuition
Thinking versus feeling
Judgement versus Perception
The Big Five Personality Inventory
Another model used for Personality tests is known as the Big Five Model. It describes one's personality based on five broad dimensions.
Open towards new experiences
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Here, openness to new experiences and the level of extraversion have the biggest influence on your acceptance towards liking and disliking various types of music. Your conscientiousness and sensuality make you feel and enjoy even those pieces which may not be your top favourites.
Genres VS Personality
POP - As a fan of POP music one's personality is likely to stand out from the rest. They are often considered to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. Pop lovers are often an extravert yet they do not possess much of the creativity. Turbulence and nervousness might often hit you back in regular but short intervals. Yet on most occasions, you possess high self-esteem and can tackle hard work easily. You generally prefer to follow intuitions.
RAP AND HIP-HOP - The fans of hip-hop are outgoing and total extroverts. You love to socialize and often go out to parties. You possess an energetic and rhythmic vibe and high self-esteem. As a matter of fact, you generally prefer sensing over intuition. Present, tangible and concrete information is more valuable for these personality types.
ROCK - Fans or lovers of Rock are most intuitive persons which means that they easily trust information which may not be related enough to their senses. They can easily relate the same with other information and look forward towards future possibilities. In the hours of challenges, you remain sufficiently relaxed and flexible. The Indie rockers are a little lazy but comparatively more creative than many others. You are always seen to emerge as debaters.
METAL - They often possess distinctive traits. They are mostly introverted and deeply intuitive. They dwell in the world of reflective ideas and do not require tangible information always in order to interpret and process. Even though the music might be loud and dark, your personality has a touch of creativity and gentleness.
CLASSICAL - They are highly intuitive and possess a good amount of inner self-confidence. You are smarter and more tactful than many others. You often love to get along with complex symphonies and compositions. You possess a creative mind and listening to music is a theatrical experience for you.
R&B - They are the ones who truly follow their heart. You easily express your emotions that have been inspired by the music. If required you do not back off to speak your heart out if required.
EDM - It constitutes a wide range of genres and comprises different traits that tend to appear among its fans. They are pretty much outgoing by nature and this trait is seen in common for people in all age groups. You are often too enthusiastic and apprehensive and make a crowd enjoy to the fullest and go crazy with your presence.
Music Therapy
The above findings have shown us how one's musical taste intermingled with his or her personality. This assists us to infer a range of information about their personality and the way one thinks. This information serves as the best guide for parents, educators and life partners of an individual or one's friend to gauge their dearest one more thoroughly. It will greatly assist Musical Therapists to formulate therapies for their clients.
Musical therapy has a prominent role to play towards improving one's quality of life. It has a number of benefits for various age groups. It helps improve cognitive, motor, emotional, social, aesthetic, sensory and emotional health by making use of active and receptive music experiences. These further undergo improvisation, recreation, composition, discussions and receptive methodologies. All of them in combination impact one's mental health in a positive manner.
