What comes out of your speakers can reveal volumes about who you are, your values, likes and dislikes, personality and even political orientation.
Just asking, “What kind of music do you like?” can help you read between the lines so that you find the person just right for you. But perhaps you already knew this.
Based on a study about personality and music preferences published in the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology" by researcher Dr. Jason Rentfrow, you can now you can learn precisely what your taste in music reveals about you, and what it says about the people you're meeting on TRUE.
Music, personality and perception
There are intriguing links between music preferences and personality. The music that people listen to is related to:
Basic personality characteristics
Values
Self-esteem
Intelligence
Political orientation
Rentfrow's research, based on more than 50,000 people worldwide, indicated that people who like a particular style of music also tended to like other similar types of music. For example, some people liked:
Classical, opera, jazz, blues and folk
Rock, punk, alternative and heavy metal
Country, religious, pop, soundtracks and oldies
Rap, electronic, funk, soul and R&B
Not only do people just like one style of music, in fact many people like music in at least two other categories. This means that if people like the music within a broad category (e.g., rock), they also tend to like other types of music within that category as well (e.g., alternative).
Based on what type of music you like, people are able to form fairly accurate impressions about you. How do they do it? There are two main sources:
Music stereotypes — people are likely to form impressions of others based on stereotypes about people's music choices.
Music clues — people use specific clues in the music to judge personality. These clues include the amount of singing, tempo and emotional valence.
This information essentially reveals the amount, breadth and specific characteristics of people who like certain styles of music.
If your music is:
You're likely to be:
Others will see you as:
complex and brainy
conscientious and hardworking, yet depressed and unhappy
friendly, depressed and lonely
dreamy
conscientious, depressed and open-minded
conscientious, friendly and open-minded
upbeat and enthusiastic
sociable, calm, emotionally stable, and open to new ideas and experiences
sociable and emotionally unstable
energetic
sensation-seeking and extroverted
sensation-seeking, extroverted, unfriendly, careless and depressed
happy and optimistic
extroverted, friendly and caring
extroverted, friendly, calm and caring
angry and rebellious
disagreeable and aggressive
disagreeable, aggressive, lazy, careless, unhappy and open-minded
sad
introverted and depressed
open-minded and depressed
emotional
unconventional, depressed and lonely
friendly, depressed and lonely
arrogant, with bragging lyrics
emotionally stable and have narrow interests
extroverted, unfriendly, careless, impulsive, emotionally unstable and having narrow interests
fast
extroverted and thrill-seeking
extroverted, thrill-seeking, unfriendly, impulsive, unhappy and open-minded
has lots of singing
extroverted and friendly
extroverted and friendly
What are you into?
Take our free TRUE Interests test! Are you happiest when hiking, do you adore the outdoors? Or is a night of dancing under twinkling city lights more your speed? Find others who share a passion for your favorite pastimes and get in touch today! Take Interests now!
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