Individual Differences in Musical Taste

Several studies have investigated the relationship between (usually a narrow set of) personality dimensions and liking for a small number of individual musical styles. To date there has been no attempt to investigate, within a single methodology, the extent to which personality factors correlate with liking for a very wide range of musical styles. To address this, 36,518 participants rated their liking for 104 musical styles, completed a short form of the Big 5 personality inventory, and provided other data about their favorite musical styles. Personality factors were related to both liking for the musical styles and participants’ reasons for listening to this music. However, on the whole these latter variables were related more closely to participants’ age, sex, and income than to Big 5 scores. Thus, personality is related to musical taste, but other individual differences are arguably related more closely

Collaboration, Cognitive Effort, and Self-Reference in United Kingdom Top 5 Pop Music Lyrics 1960-2015

This research investigated associations between the lyrics of every song to have reached the weekly U.K. Top 5 singles chart from 1960 to 2015 and the number of people responsible for recording each song. Following computerized content analysis of the lyrics of the 4,534 unique songs, the results showed that the number of musicians involved was negatively related to use of cognitive terms, consistent with previous research on social loafing, and was also negatively related to instances of self-reference and use of language concerning social interaction, arguably in reflection of the inherent constraints on such that arise from collaborating with others

Pop Music Lyrics Are Related to the Proportion of Female Recording Artists: Analysis of the United Kingdom Weekly Top Five Song Lyrics, 1960-2015

Previous content analyses of pop music have considered the prevalence of misogynistic portrayals of interpersonal relationships but have used relatively small samples of music, and often neglected musician gender. Because cultural depictions create individuals' musical identity, we expect the musical norms identified by previous content analyses to be reflected by lyrics produced by males and females. The lyrics of all 4,534 songs that have reached the United Kingdom's top five singles sales chart between March 1960 and December 2015 were computer-analyzed to consider the association between 40 aspects of each and both the proportion of females who recorded each song and the gender of the vocalist. There were few associations between the lyrical content and vocalist gender. However, the proportion of all musicians who recorded each song who were female was associated positively with the lyrics containing words indicative of inspiration and variety and negatively with the lyrics containing different words, and words indicative of aggression, passivity, cooperation, diversity, insistence, embellishment, and activity. Songs recorded by a high proportion of female musicians described a wide range of subject matters in the context of abstract virtues, whereas songs recorded by a high proportion of male musicians were more likely to address stereotyped concepts of adolescent masculinity that were positively and negatively valanced

Diffusion of responsibility on social networking sites

Social networking sites regularly feature requests for assistance, although the massive number of users represents corresponding scope for diffusion of responsibility; and unlike most physical scenarios, the request for help is often made several days before assistance is offered. The present research used a specially-prepared imitation social networking site (SNS) with embedded requests for assistance, and manipulations of the number of virtual bystanders and time since the request was posted to test whether explanations of helping in physical settings apply to SNS contexts. Results showed that offers of assistance were explained less well by social impact theory, which states that propensity to offer help will decrease in proportion to the number of bystanders who can assist, than by the social influence model, which states that diffusion of responsibility effects will cease to become significantly stronger beyond a certain critical number of bystanders; and that assistance is offered more readily for recent requests than those made two days earlier

The effect of musical fit on consumers’ memory

This study investigated the impact of musical ‘fit’ on memory for items. Participants were asked to recall 20 items they had seen while listening to either rock music or classical music. Some of the 20 items were associated with either the rebellious stereotype of rock music or the affluent stereotype of classical music. More ‘rock items’ than ‘classical items’ were recalled when rock music was played, although a similar number of ‘classical items’ and ‘rock items’ were recalled when classical music was played. When rock music was played, participants recalled ‘rock items’ earlier than ‘classical items’ and the reverse was found when classical music was played. This suggests that musical ‘fit’ operates by raising the salience of items

Music selection behaviors in everyday listening

Data on everyday music listening obtained via the Experience Sampling Method indicated that selection method was related to liking for and emotional response to the music, attention paid to the music, and perceived consequences of hearing the music. Individual listener’s characteristics (e.g., age and level of engagement with music) were associated with selection behaviors. Negative effects resulted when individuals perceived they did not have control over music selection. In contrast, possessing control led to positive consequences such as enjoyment and motivation. These results indicate that control is an important aspect of one’s everyday music experiences

Aesthetic Experience Explained by the Affect-Space Framework

A framework for organizing the semantic structure of aesthetic experience is proposed. The new framework is presented in an 'affect-space' and consists of three sets of dichotomous classifications: (1) internal locus (the felt experience) versus external locus (the description of the object), (2) 'affect-valence' — the attraction to (positive valence, e.g. preference, awe) or repulsion from (negative valence, e.g. hatred, disgust) the artwork/object — versus 'emotion-valence' — the character/contemplation of an emotion (happiness-an example of positive valence, sadness-an example of negative valence), and (3) deep versus shallow hedonic tone—e.g. 'awe' is deep, 'preference' is shallow. Deep hedonic tone is proposed as a better index of aesthetic experience (awe, being moved etc.) than shallow hedonic tone (preference, pleasure, enjoyment). Deep, internal locus, affect-valence during the contemplation of an object amenable to an aesthetic judgement (beautiful, ugly etc.) presents the necessary and sufficient conditions for an aesthetic experience. The framework allows future researchers to consider which aspects of an experience come closest to actual aesthetic experience from an empirical aesthetics perspective. It also highlights the limited value in grouping together so many aesthetic experiences under the rubric of emotion, such as aesthetic emotions, preference, basic emotions and so forth. Our framework paves the way for testing and further development of theory on aesthetic experience

Musical Activity and Well-being: A New Quantitative Measurement Instrument

A relationship between participation in musical activity and well-being has frequently been observed in recent research reports. Of these, some propose various well-being-related correlates of musical participation, but the varying samples and foci leave researchers without a reasoned appraisal of these correlates or a data-driven categorization of them. To address this lacuna, the current research reviewed of existing literature, identifying 562 benefits of well-being benefits perceived to be associated with musical participation. These items were used as the basis for developing a new quantitative measure to evaluate the perceived benefits of well-being arising from music participation. Principal axis factor analysis of data using this new, 36-item measure identified five discrete dimensions: mood and coping, esteem and worth, socialization, cognition, and self-actualization. The development of this well-being measure addresses a gap in the research and provides a tool for future research concerning musical participation