Print VersionSignals and Patterns:
Research from SP Labs & Signal Patterns
Personality and Music Preferences Findings
January 20, 2009
According to research by Signal Patterns’ SP Labs, personality is related to preferences for basic aspects of music. SP Labs researchers found that individual differences in such personality traits as Extraversion Conscientiousness and Openness are related to whether someone likes lively and upbeat music, calm and relaxing music, or abstract and complex music. These findings have potentially interesting implications for music networking sites and recommendation services.
An increasing amount of research indicates the type of music people like is related to their personality. In general, it appears as though people seek out styles of music that reflect and reinforce aspects of their personalities. For example, people high in sensation seeking are drawn to heavy metal and punk music because those styles of music satisfy their need for stimulation; extraverts enjoy styles of music that may be considered sociable and enthusiastic because it complements their tendencies to be energetic and happy; and open minded people enjoy music from a variety of genres because such diversity fulfills their need to experience new things. Thus, the types of music people enjoy listening to reinforce their basic psychological needs and tendencies. But to which aspects of the music in particular are people drawn?
Research by Signal Patterns' SP Labs1 has discovered that there are specific musical characteristics that are related to people's individual personality traits. Of the thousands of people who have completed Signal Patterns' Music Patterns and Personality Patterns Surveys:
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People who like sophisticated and forceful music are very reflective (aesthetic)
Individuals favoring intelligent and inventive music (e.g. classical, jazz, and world) as well as loud and energetic music (e.g. heavy metal, rock, alternative and punk) were found to appreciate art, beauty, and design; regard aesthetics as an integral aspect of a good life; and are confident in their preferences. -
Men who like inspiring music are extremely open minded
Individuals favoring uplifting and stimulating music were found to be interested and curious about many things. Generally, such people tend to be creative, imaginative, intellectual, and to appreciate arts and culture. -
Men who like sophisticated music are twice as likely to be creative
Men favoring intelligent and inventive music were found to be good at solving problems, coming up with original ideas, and seeing connections between things, connections that others tend to miss. -
Women who like smooth and urban music are very reflective (aesthetic)
Women favoring relaxing and gentle music (e.g. R&B, soul) as well as rhythmic, percussive and funky music (e.g. rap, dance, techno or electronica) were found to appreciate art, beauty, and design; regard aesthetics as an integral aspect of a good life; and are confident in their preferences.
These results indicate that there are certain aspects of music that people really enjoy and look for in a new piece of music. The results also highlight which aspects of music determine whether people will like a particular song or not.
Given that there are links between preferences for certain music genres and personality, to what extent is personality related to the musical characteristics people are drawn to most? In other words, are there personality differences between people who like romantic as opposed to aggressive music?
By analyzing the responses from Signal Patterns users who completed both the Personality Patterns and Music Patterns surveys, SP Labs was able to examine the connections between a wide range of personality traits and musical characteristics.
It turns out that personality is related to preferences for certain musical attributes. For example, people who described themselves as sociable tended to prefer music that was loud, fast, electric and percussive. People who described themselves as conscientious, honest and principled tended to prefer slow, relaxing and unaggressive music. People who described themselves as reflective, creative and intellectual tended to prefer music that was acoustical, dense, inspiring, complex and intelligent.
Taken together, the links between music preferences and personality suggest that music preferences are manifestations of people’s personalities. Indeed, the patterns of relationships between sociability and music suggest that people who are lively and extraverted like music that is also a bit lively and extraverted. And the connections between creativity and preferences for intricate and complex music suggest that people who enjoy music that is hard to understand and complicated may do so because it satisfies a need for mental stimulation that simpler styles of music do not fulfill.
These results have a number of useful applications. For instance, information about the particular music attributes that people like could be incorporated into music recommendation services to produce more enjoyable playlists. Smart playlists could also be developed that take into account people’s psychological qualities, like personality and mood, and play music that appeals to listeners’ psychological state.
1Using data from 5,964 people who completed the Personality Patterns and Music Patterns surveys
About Signal Patterns
Signal Patterns develops social web applications that characterize and connect users to each other based on their interests, personality and preferences. With these scientific-based applications, consumer can discover more about themselves as well as make valuable connections to like-minded individuals, while publishers, advertisers and social networks can increase their own user engagement. Signal Patterns' patent-pending technology results from a unique combination of in-house behavioral science research and data mining expertise. Founded in 2006, Signal Patterns is based in Pleasantville, NY. For more information: http://www.signalpatterns.com
About SP Labs
SP Labs is the research arm of Signal Patterns and consists of a team of top scientists from different disciplines: personality psychology, machine learning, biometrics, social psychology and neuroscience. SP Labs focuses on developing research techniques, surveys and studies that look across seemingly unrelated areas to discover connections and patterns. Through rigorous science and sheer computational power, the SP Labs team's research is able to identify patterns emerging from the data, making connections between disparate subject areas with the goal of helping people learn more about themselves, their relationships and the people around them. For more information visit: http://www.signalpatterns.com/corporate_labs.html© 2008. All Rights Reserved
