The Influence of Characteristics on Music Enjoyment and Preference
Abstract
Past research has indicated that two specific personality traits, openness and
empathy, may contribute to greater enjoyment of music that expresses negative
emotions. Individuals with elevated levels of depressive symptoms may similarly
have a preference for negative music. However, no research to date has explored the
impact of both personality traits and depressive symptoms in the same investigation.
The current study measured both music enjoyment (how much people like certain
music) and music preference (how often people choose to listen to certain music)
after exposure to negative, neutral, and positive music. Supporting prior research,
this study indicated that individuals high in overall empathy (the ability to experience
the emotions of another) had a greater enjoyment of negative emotional music. No
relationship was found between openness or depression for either music enjoyment or
music preference. Further analysis of the data indicates a possible association between
music-specific measures of personality and music enjoyment/preference. Future
research will be needed to investigate the strength of this relationship.
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/70965Citation
Volume VIII, December 2013, pp. 12 - 25