Musical tastes offer a window into how you think

I have both high empathy and high analytical ability, and I like a large variety of music, which fits the results of this study.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/uoc-mto072115.php

Public Release: 22-Jul-2015
University of Cambridge

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In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, a team of psychologists show that your thinking style - whether you are an 'empathizer' who likes to focus on and respond to the emotions of others, or a 'systemizer' who likes to analyse rules and patterns in the world--is a predictor of the type of music you like.

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Researchers over the past decade have argued that musical preferences reflect explicit characteristics such as age and personality. For example, people who are open to new experiences tend to prefer music from the blues, jazz, classical, and folk genres, and people who are extraverted and 'agreeable' tend to prefer music from the pop, soundtrack, religious, soul, funk, electronic, and dance genres.

Now a team of scientists, led by PhD student David Greenberg, has looked at how our 'cognitive style' influences our musical choices. This is measured by looking at whether an individual scores highly on 'empathy' (our ability to recognize and react to the thoughts and feelings of others) or on 'systemizing' (our interest in understanding the rules underpinning systems such as the weather, music, or car engines) - or whether we have a balance of both.

"Although people's music choices fluctuates over time, we've discovered a person's empathy levels and thinking style predicts what kind of music they like," said David Greenberg from the Department of Psychology. "In fact, their cognitive style - whether they're strong on empathy or strong on systems - can be a better predictor of what music they like than their personality."

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People who scored high on empathy tended to prefer mellow music (from R&B, soft rock, and adult contemporary genres), unpretentious music (from country, folk, and singer/songwriter genres) and contemporary music (from electronica, Latin, acid jazz, and Euro pop). They disliked intense music, such as punk and heavy metal. In contrast, people who scored high on systemizing favoured intense music, but disliked mellow and unpretentious musical styles.

The results proved consistent even within specified genres: empathizers preferred mellow, unpretentious jazz, while systemizers preferred intense, sophisticated (complex and avant-garde) jazz.

The researchers then looked more in-depth and found those who scored high on empathy preferred music that had low energy (gentle, reflective, sensual, and warm elements), or negative emotions (sad and depressing characteristics), or emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful features). Those who scored high on systemizing preferred music that had high energy (strong, tense, and thrilling elements), or positive emotions (animated and fun features), and which also featured a high degree of cerebral depth and complexity.

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