Music Preferences and Personality Traits

TXEA 1101: Writing the Research Paper
Music Preferences and Personality Traits

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MUSIC PREFERENCES AND PERSONALITY TRAITS

Jennica Chin
University of Malaya
jennica_luvc@yahoo.com
Abstract
Music is regarded as the most faithful companion for students of the 21
st
century as it has penetrate
deeply into their everyday life via mass media and other social influences such as peer pressure and etc.
Students spend multiple hours each day listening to music (Foehr, 2006). Everyone loves music but not all
of us listen to the same type of music. Nicola Sigg (2009) argued that a relationship was found between
some music preference factors and some personality traits. By replicating the previous study conducted
by Rentfrow and Gosling (2003), this paper will examine whether any correlation between music and
personality traits can be identified using samples from undergraduates in Malaysia. Based on Rentfrow
and Goslings (2009) theory suggesting that people styles of music are consistent with their studies, the
aim of this paper is to know whether previous findings about music preference and personality can be
generalized and applied using different samples across cultures. Data analysis will be compiled from a
collection of 50 questionnaire survey forms targeting University students from both public and private
institutions. All the data obtained will be categorized and analyzed in table and statistical forms. The
account of the data analysis will finally confirm whether or not the correlation exists.

Key Words: Music, Lyrics, Genre, Personality Traits, Musical Preference
Multimedia: All figures, tables and images are presented in either PDF format or Microsoft Office

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1. Background & Introduction
The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a relationship between musical
preferences and personality traits amongst University students in Malaysia. The target
audiences are generally parents, educators, psychologists and sociolinguist who are interested
to know the behavior of students and whether music/sounds that they are attuned to
contribute to the formation of their personalities. Nicola Sigg (2009) mentioned that if a
correlation is found, parents, educators, sociolinguists and psychologists would find it beneficial
in working with adolescents. In relation to the purpose statement proposed, there are two
research questions here to be attended:
i. Is there any correlation between the musical preferences and personality traits of
University students in Malaysia?
ii. By replicating the study conducted by Rentfrow and Gosling (2003), does the result
obtained from this study will be parallel to their findings stating that certain personality
traits are correlated with particular musical preferences?
The reason to conducting the research is to test whether the instruments used is applicable
using other samples, such as undergraduates in Malaysia. Based on the comparison of the
existing methodology, all data were obtained using Western Samples. Rentfrow & Gosling
(2003) in their notable research, also used American Sample in which they later generalize the
results to other cultures and countries. However, inconsistent findings have been reported for
Spanish and English samples regarding the association (Rawlings, Vidal & Furnham, 2000) Thus,
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it is important to note that findings from this type of research cannot automatically be
generalized across people from different regions because of other factors.
2. Literature Review
Chamorrow-Premuzic, Fagan & Furnham (2010) regarded music as the favorite enduring leisure
activity for adolescents today while personality is seemingly seen as an important moderator of
emotional perception and influence in choosing music. Students nowadays are attuned to
music deeper than anyone could ever imagine. While educators and parents are busy with the
effort of gearing up the hidden potentials in adolescents by studying their personality traits, not
much of us are aware of the crucial role of music in shaping ones personality. Schwartz and
Fouts (2003) discovered how adolescents musical preferences were largely related to their
personality style as well as the developmental issues that they are dealing with. It is important
to note that student chooses music not just because it rhymes pleasantly to their ears but
rather, because it goes along with the rhythm of their heart and mind. The music that they are
attuned to is naturally reflecting their opinion and in some way, portraying the situation in life
that they are dealing with. As mentioned in the introduction, the aim of this study is to know
whether previous findings about music preference and personality traits can be generalized
using different samples, since according to Rentfrow and Gosling (2009), people styles of music
are consistent with their personalities. By that, it is important to note and explore the existing
studies that was carried out way back to the olden days until the recent studies to figure out
the precise way of comprehending past theories and finding relevant relation to this paper, in
hope to replicate and device a revised version, to know whether the hypothesis is relevant in
this context which specifies the University Students in Malaysia as the samples of research.
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The study on the relationship between music and personality started mildly in the early
twentieth century (Myers, 1922) but the first documented paper noting the significant links
occurred around the 1950s, with the development of the IPAT Music Preference Test (Cattell &
Anderson, 1953; Cattell & Saunders, 1953). With IPAT in mind, Cattell & Anderson argued that
personality can be inferred from the types of music that people prefer, through the Factor
Analysis of liking for the classical and Jazz excerpts that they provided. In 1954, Cattell &
Saunders identified 12 music preference factors that they had interpreted as the revealing
unconscious aspects of personality. They hypothesized that preference for sentimental classical
music most likely implying sensitivity while the preferences for tempo, jazz music are easily
reflected on upbeat personality. Although there were few famous researchers such as
(Dollinger, 1993; Litle Zuckerman, 1986) who later researches into this topic either by
replicating or modifying existing accounts, we will instead look into the specific works that
focuses on undergraduate students in their samples such as (Rawlings et al, 1995; Rawlings &
Ciancarelli, 1997) with related findings regarding the ties between musical preferences and
personality traits found in students (Schwartz & Fouts, 2003; Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003). Both
research shows a consistency of findings pointing towards the notion of the musical preference
dimension, though the samples used and methods used varied in terms of clinical, laboratory
and scientific research.
With the appreciation and citation used from past research, the literature review of this paper
will focuses more on the recent findings and research that was conducted not older than 5
years. Notably, Seth Perkins, 2008 compiled the past studies of this topic in his journal called
Personality and Music: An examination of the Five Factor Model in conjunction with Music
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Preference, and from his work, we can see more detailed research has been further carried out
since the earliest work conducted. His result shows that multiple genre have similar sorts of
appeal and to summarize differences observed in the present study, folk music was found to
group with upbeat music and alternative was not found to be heavy metal or rock, but rather
formed a factor with hip hop/rap. (Seth Perkins, 2008). Although the initial categorization of the
main music genres proposed by Rentfrow & Gosling (2003) coincide with the current studies,
we can see that even the genre classifications were debatable for its nature of confusion.
In the journal article reviewed by Rentfrow, (2009), he established a clear line of history
overview on the types of research conducted, specific researchers involved and also methods
that has been used throughout the century such as the IPAT Music Preference Test, Big Five
theory, STOMP Short Test of Music Preference and to Sensation Seeking Test. (Refer to
Reference) From this work, the links between music preferences and personality are in line with
interactionist perspectives, making it reasonable to suggest that people styles of music that are
consistent with their personalities (Rentfrow, 2009). Referring to the research conducted by
Vouskoski (2011), Extroverts are more likely to be attuned to cheerful music while those with
the higher score on Neuroticism (emotionally unstable) are more likely to be emotionally
affected by sad music. In regards to that, Chammorrow-Premuzic, Fagan & Furnham (2010) also
note that Extroverts commonly use upbeat music as a background in activities, fulfilling their
need for a more arousal environment. In short, the Extroversion and Neuroticism theory
(Chamorrow-Premuzic et al., 2010) basically states that outgoing personalities prefer happy
music while the latter prefers sentimental songs in which they can relate to. Note that this
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research is however, limited with the use of self-report measures, and could be replicated with
physiological measures for further support (Vouskoski, 2011).
From this line of research, it appears that people prefer particular kinds of music because they
have particular personality characteristics that the music satises (Arnett, 1995; Arnett, Larson,
& Offer,1995; Gantz, Gartenberg, Pearson, & Schiller, 1978; Larson, 1995).
Study Samples/ Instrument Key Findings Hypothesis/ Theory
Cattell &
Saunders
(1953)
385 Participants
(IPAT- Music Preference
Test)
Identified music
preference dimensions
that resemble
underlying personality
dimensions
Preference for:
Tempo, Jazz Upbeat
Personality
Sentimental Sensitive
Personality
Litle &
Zuckerman
(1986)
82 U.S Undergraduates
(Rated on the five point
Likert scale)
Established correlation
between preference
for music genres and
sensation seeking
Intuitive people enjoy a wider
variety of music as compared to
people who prefer sensing.
Rawlings et al
(1995)
44 Australian
Undergraduates &
Adolescents
(Through excerpt &
questionnaires)
Extended previous
research by
documenting relations
between music-genre
preferences &
personality traits
Extraverts liked more types of
music than introverts and in
particular preferred
popular/rock music:
introversion was not
significantly related to harder
rock items.
Seth Perkins
(2008)
99 U.S students
(Factor Scale Analysis)
Multiple genre have
similar sorts of appeal
and to summarize
differences observed in
the present study.
Folk music was found to group
with upbeat music and
alternative was not found to be
heavy metal or rock, but rather
formed a factor with hip
hop/rap.
Nicola Sigg
(2009)
314 undergraduates
Of Auckland University (NZ)
(Stress Scale DASS, Ten
Item Personality Inventory-
TIPI)
No relationship
between music
preference, as an
aspect of
social identity, and self-
esteem.
A relationship was found
between some music
preference factors and some
personality traits.
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Rentfrows
(2009)
3087 U.S undergraduates
and young adults
(Ten Item Personality
Inventory- TIPI)
No substantial
correlation was found
between the music
preference dimension
and emotional ability.
The links between music
preferences and personality are
in line with integrationist
perspectives, suggesting that
people styles of music that are
consistent with their
personalities
Table 1: Brief summary of the list of Literature Review studies conducted, along with the
participants involved, instruments used, key findings and related hypothesis/theories.

3. Methodology
Participants
Data will be compiled from a collection of 50 questionnaire survey forms targeting University
students from both public and private institutions.
Settings
The questionnaires will be distributed in University campuses and college dorms where
students will be explained about the nature of this study and permission will be asked before
conducting the surveys.
Method of Analyzing
The scope of analysis will be further narrowed down to main genres. Individual assessment
based on self ratings will be conducted to know whether the genres of music that students feel
related to have any correlation with their underlying personality traits. The questionnaire will
be analyzed separately before comparing it to other participants in general, so to get the
overall results. The data obtained will be keyed in and analyze using Microsoft Excel to be
tabulated into table form and scatter plot analysis.
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Instruments & Scales
The Short Test of Music Preference, STOMP (Gosling, Rentrow, 2003) consists of 14 items in
total. (Refer to Figure 2) As an aspect of identifying preferences for music, it aims to display a
correlation with TIPI scores. This instrument hypothesized that the generalizability of their
research is relevant across samples, stating that specific musical preferences are correlated
with specific personality traits. Therefore, a proxy measure of intergroup differences is
established to indicate an individual preference to numerous music genres. The 14 items will
entail the calculation of 171 differences in genres, which when summed, is a proxy
representation of intergroup differences along the musical lines. Using similar approach found
in TIPI, a participant who assigns an equal preference rating to all genres could obtain a score of
0, thus, does not identify with any one genre and an example at the other end of continuum
would be a participant could rate 7 (i.e., strongly like) to one genre whilst rate 1 on (i.e.,
strongly dislike) across all genres. In this case, this particular participant is said to have extreme
preference for a single genre.
The Ten Item Personality Inventory, TIPI (Gosling, Rentfrow & Swann, 2003) consists of 10 items
in total. Each item is prefaced with how I see myself as and it is rated on a seven point Likert
scale. From the 10 items, half of it denotes one pole of the famous Big Five dimensions of
personality (namely the extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability, and
agreeableness) while the other half denotes the opposite pole (as in Introversion,
disagreeableness, conventional, spontaneous, and emotional instability) (Refer to Figure 1). An
overall score for each dimension is recorded by adding, after appropriately recoding it. The
higher the score in a particular item, the more prominent the personality trait is found within
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that individual. Hence, the hypothesis of this instrument states that each type of traits reflects
different personality that influence the preference towards different genre.
Scales scoring
1. Recode the reverse-scored items (i.e., recode a 7 with 1, 6 with 2, 5 with 3, etc). The
reverse scored items are 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10.
2. Take the average of the two items (the standard item and the recoded reverse-scored
item) that make up each scale.
4. DATA ANALYSIS
Correlation analysis was conducted to identify whether there is a relationship between
preference for music and personality traits. Total preference was calculated by summating the
preference scores from all listed music genres. To analyze the obtained data, correlation
coefficient (r) is used to measure the degree of correlation between the results obtained from
STOMP (Music Preference) and TIPI (Personality Traits) using 50 samples from undergraduates
in Malaysia. Referring to Table 2, each Items comparison shows different levels of correlation
with the corresponding traits based on the generalized samples as a whole. Note that r value is
a dimensionless quantity and it does not depend on units employed. Simply said, if a value
shows + 1 (where X increases when y increase), the two items show strong positive linear
correlation. However, if the value obtained is 1 (where x increase but y decreases), the items
are said to have perfect negative fit. In other cases where the value is near to 0 or shows an
exact zero, the two items have no linear correlation. From the table, certain personality trait
shows positive linear correlation with all four items, but varies in each value. The differences in
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those mentioned values are what differentiate each item in terms of the strength of the
relationship of the two items. For example, Conscientious is said to have positive correlation
with all four preferences but it is said to stronger with preferences for Reflective/Complex than
Energetic/Rhythmic.
Correlation
Reflective &
Complex
Intense &
Rebellious
Upbeat &
Conventional
Energetic &
Rhythmic
Extraversion r= -.023 r= .17 r= .058 r= .241
p= .876 p= .238 p= .687 p= .092
Agreeableness r= .074 r= -.339 r= -.152 r= -.194
p= .608 p= .016 p= .292 p= .177
Conscientiousness r= .387 r= .212 r= .075 r= .003
p= .790 p= .140 p= .603 p= .984
Emotional Stability r= .02 r= .054 r= .194 r= .153
p= .891 p= .708 p= .177 p= .290
Openness r= .11 r= .122 r= .108 r= .203
p= .446 p= .397 p= .457 p= .158
Table 2: The Correlation Table of TIPI & STOMP [Value of r (-1 < r < +1)]

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Extraversion versus Genres (Music Preferences)
(a). Extraversion .vs. Reflective/Complex (b). Extraversion .vs. Intense/Rebellious
(r = -.023) (r = .17)

(c). Extraversion .vs. Upbeat/Conventional (d). Extraversion .vs. Energetic/Rhythmic
(r = .058) (r = .241)

Table 3 (a)-(d) shows the patterns of distributions found from the correlation between
Extraversion and the four other preferences (Reflective/complex, Intense/Rebellious,
Upbeat/Conventional and Energetic/Rhythmic using 50 samples (N=50).

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
12

Agreeableness versus Genres (Music Preferences)
(a). Agreeableness .vs. Reflective/Complex (b). Agreeableness .vs. Intense/Rebellious
(r = .074) (r =- .339)

(c). Agreeableness .vs. Upbeat/Conventional (d). Agreeableness .vs. Energetic/Rhythmic
(r =- .152) (r = -.194)

Agreeableness and the four other preferences (Reflective/complex, Intense/Rebellious,

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
13

Conscientiousness versus Genres (Music Preferences)
(a). Conscientiousness .vs. Reflective/Complex (b). Conscientiousness .vs. Intense/Rebellious
(r = .387) (r = .212)

(c). Conscientiousness .vs. Upbeat/Conventional (d). Conscientiousness .vs. Energetic/Rhythmic
(r = .075) (r = .003)

Conscientiousness and the four other preferences (Reflective/complex, Intense/Rebellious,

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
14

Emotional Stability versus Genres (Music Preferences)
(a). Emotional Stability .vs. Reflective/Complex (b). Emotional Stability .vs. Intense/Rebellious
(r = .02) (r = .054)

(c). Emo. Stability .vs. Upbeat/Conventional (d). Emo. Stability .vs. Energetic/Rhythmic
(r = .194) (r = .153)

Emotional Stability and the four other preferences (Reflective/complex, Intense/Rebellious,

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
15

Openness versus Genres (Music Preferences)
(a). Openness .vs. Reflective/Complex (b). Openness .vs. Intense/Rebellious
(r = .11) (r = .122)

(c). Openness .vs. Upbeat/Conventional (d). Openness .vs. Energetic/Rhythmic
(r = .108) (r = .203)

Openness and the four other preferences (Reflective/complex, Intense/Rebellious,

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8
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5. Findings and Discussion
Referring to the data distribution (Table 3-7), patterns of association used in comparing the
items using 50 samples reveal a fascinating pattern of links between music preferences and
personality traits. For example, the Extraversion dimension is positively related to
Energetic/Rhythmic and Upbeat/Conventional but not Reflective/Complex. In layman terms, we
can conclude that extroverts (people who are outgoing, friendly, sociable) are somewhat
associated with being energetic and upbeat but not necessarily reflective. Meanwhile, the
Conscientiousness dimension, although has positive relation to all genres, has more prominent
relation with Reflective/Complex. It proves that individual who are more of thinker and cares
about preciseness are normally people who are reflective and complex because they tend to
think about a matter from all dimensions to avoid mistakes.
The findings from this study have confirmed that some music preferences are indeed correlated
with personality traits. Based on the separate analysis in comparing the items, this study
managed to replicate a few aspects from Rentfrow and Goslings (2003) groundbreaking work.
It is proved that there is a positive correlation between conscientiousness and
upbeat/conventional (r= .075), openness and reflective/complex (r=. 11), openness and
intense/rebellious (r= .122) and extraversion and upbeat/conventional (r= .058). However,
there are also several failures in replicating the study: there is no correlation found between
agreeableness and upbeat/conventional (r= -.152), there is a positive correlation between
openness and upbeat/conventional (r= .108) instead of a negative correlation.

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6. Overall significance & Implicatures for Future Research
There is no doubt that the exploration of this topic would further provide better insights
towards the correlation of how music affects personality and vice versa. The current study of
not older than 5 years also points out how beneficial it could be, for educational purpose or
even psychological studies.

7. Limitations of study
There are a few limitations of most of the current literature provided in this field of study.
Many studies reviewed shows issue circulating the inconsistencies used in the experimental
conditions, thus, showing inconsistency of emotional focus or measure that varied from self
reports from the presented article. For example, the methods used varied rather significantly
and the categorization of the main genres is always a subject of debate. From all the literature
work gathered, all the researchers focused their experimental studies in laboratory settings,
unintentionally neglecting the impact of music in everyday situations or social circumstances.
The terms mood and emotion were used interchangeably in the same context throughout most
literature, rather than addressing them as separate phenomena. It is possible that important
differences between the two are not well understood in terms of musical exposure. A stronger
understanding and a consistent use of descriptive measures is needed before a better idea of
the effect of music on emotion can be explained confidently.
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Also, past researchers focused specifically on Western samples and participants and concluded
with a presumption of global validity. Thus, this paper intends to replicate existing studies and
overcome the lack of cross-cultural comparisons of the global validity presented before to see
whether or not there is a connection between personality traits and musical preference
happening on Eastern countries, and in this study, students in Malaysia, specifically. In the
future, further study on the developmental issue regarding music versus personality in Asian
region could be carried out more specifically to make clear comparison with the Western
samples to see how relevant the data is and with that also, educators or even parents will
gained a clearer insights on the subject and understand the younger generations better.
8. Conclusion
The results obtained varied in a way that some correlated with Rentfrow and Gosling (2003)
while others did not. It may imply that the correlation between particular music genre and
personality traits may actually varied across regions and the also the current music standards.
For example, Malaysian student categorizes genres perhaps differently because the standard of
measurement for each individual is not set the same. The differences found between this study
with Rentfrow and Goslings (2009) demonstrates that the relationship between music
preference (STOMP) and personality traits (TIPI) may not be suitable to be generalized across
samples. This is because music standards and sub-categorization are always at state of flux
while few other variables (such as social background, age, gender, educational background,
exposures) may affect the overall results, future researchers should always consider the current
trends of music and the categorization of music genres as it may differs from that of the past
standards.
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9. Appendix

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10. References
Cattell, R. B., & Anderson, J. C. (1953). The measurement of personality and behavior disorders by the
I.P.A.T. Music Preference Test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 37, 446-454.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Fagan, P., & Furnham, A. (2010). Personality and uses of music as
predicators of preferences for music consensually classified as happy, sad, complex,
and social. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 4(4), 205-213.

Litle, L., M, Zuckerman. (1986). Sensation seeking and music preferences. Personality and Individual
Differences, 7, pp. 575-577

Myers, C. S. (1922). Individual differences in listening to music. British Journal of Psychology, 13,
13, 52-71

Rawlings, D., & Ciancarelli,V. (1997). Music preference and the five-factor model of the NEO Personality
Inventory. Psychology of Music, 25, 120-132.

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The do re mis of everyday life: The structure and personality
correlates of music preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1235-1256.

Rentfrow, P.J., A.McDonald, Jennifer (2009). Preference, Personality and Emotion, 24.

Seth, Perkins. (2008). Personality and Music. An examination of the Five Factor Model in conjunction
with musical preference.

Schwartz, K. D., & Fouts, G. T. (2003). Music preferences, personality style, and developmental issues of
adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 32, 205-213.

Sigg, Nicola. (2009). An investigation into the relationship between music preference, personality and
psychological wellbeing.

Vuoskoski, J. K., & Eerola, T. (2011). The role of mood and personality in the perception of emotions
represented by music. Cortex: A Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and
Behavior, Behavior, 47(9), 1099-1106.

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TXEA 1101: Writing the Research Paper

Music Preferences and Personality Traits

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