Does your Music Taste Reveal Your Personality?

Based on Research by: Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (2003). A Very

Brief Measure of the Big Five Personality Domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504-528.

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The do re mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1236-1256.

First, a brief Big 5 Personality Inventory…

• You will see a number of personality traits that may or may not apply to you. Please number your paper 1-10 then indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with that statement. You should rate the extent to which the pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies more strongly than the other.

1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---------7Strongly Neutral Strongly

Disagree Agree

1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---------7Strongly Neutral Strongly

Disagree Agree

I see myself as:1. _____ Extraverted, enthusiastic.2. _____ Critical, quarrelsome.3. _____ Dependable, self-disciplined.4. _____ Anxious, easily upset.5. _____ Open to new experiences, complex.6. _____ Reserved, quiet.7. _____ Sympathetic, warm.8. _____ Disorganized, careless.9. _____ Calm, emotionally stable.10. _____ Conventional, uncreative.

Scoring

1. Recode the reverse-scored items (i.e., recode a 7 with a 1, a 6 with a 2, a 5 with a 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.

1. Extraversion: 1, 6R2. Agreeableness: 2R, 73. Conscientious: 3, 8R4. Emotional Stability: 4R, 95. Openness to Experiences: 5, 10R

Now put that aside for a second…

Music & Personality

In your notebook, number 1-14.As I play a clip of each song, rate your preference for

each song on the following scale:1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---------7Strongly Neutral Strongly

Dislike Like

Scoring

• Total your scores for the following questions and find the mean (average) score – Category 1:• Questions 1 + 2 + 5 + 10 (total and divide by 4)

– Category 2:• Questions 9 + 11 + 13 (total and divide by 3)

– Category 3:• Questions 3 + 8 + 12 + 14 (total and divide by 4)

– Category 4:• Questions 4 + 6 + 7 (total and divide by 3)

Interpretation

Category 1Reflective and Complex

• You are open to new experiences, you believe yourself to be intelligent, you have verbal (but not analytic) ability, and you are politically liberal (democrat)

• You are not socially dominant or particularly athletic.

• You are inventive, have an active imagination, value aesthetic experiences, you are tolerant of others, and reject conservative ideals.

Category 2Intense and Rebellious

• You are openness to new experiences, athletic, and believe yourself to be intelligent and verbal.

• Despite the negative themes in this music, individuals who prefer music in this dimension do not appear to display signs of neuroticism or disagreeableness

• You tend to be curious about different things, enjoy taking risks, and you are physically active

Category 3Upbeat and conventional

• You are an extravert, agreeable, conscientious, conservative (republican), you believe you are physically attractive, and you are athletic.

• You are not open to new experiences, socially dominant, or particularly liberal, and you do not have a particularly strong verbal ability.

• You are cheerful, socially outgoing, reliable, enjoy helping others, and tend to be relatively conventional.

Category 4Energetic and Rhythmic

• You are extraverted, agreeable, flirtatious, liberal (democrat), you believe you are attractive, and athletic

• You are not socially dominant or conservative.• You are talkative, full of energy, forgiving, and

tend to shun conservative ideals

How do you compare to others?

Whole Population Males Females

R&C I&R U&C E&R R&C I&R U&C E&R R&C I&R U&C E&R

This class

All 3.87 5.00 3.74 3.99 4.10 5.03 3.46 3.77 3.72 4.98 3.92 4.12

White 3.85 5.08 3.70 3.85 4.08 5.10 3.40 3.65 3.71 5.07 3.90 3.99

Hisp 3.88 5.08 3.87 4.44 4.23 5.16 3.60 4.22 3.66 5.03 4.04 4.57

Asian 4.06 4.66 4.14 4.63 4.22 4.75 4.03 4.44 3.96 4.59 4.21 4.75

AA 3.65 3.36 4.03 5.22 3.82 3.28 3.66 5.03 3.55 3.39 4.18 5.30

Other 3.88 4.97 3.65 4.16 4.26 4.94 3.43 3.97 3.69 4.99 3.75 4.25

How do your scores on the Big 5 compare to your Music

Personality test?