Toward a better understanding of the relation between music preference, listening behavior, and personality

TLDR

Previous research relating personality and music preferences has often measured such reported preferences according to genre labels. The study expands on this by examining the relationship between personality and music preferences through direct measurement of listening behavior. A sample of 395 participants had their personality, reported music preferences, and listening behavior tracked over at least three months using a music database. Reported preferences correlated with listening behavior, revealing strong positive links between Neuroticism and classical music preference and between Openness to Experience and jazz preference, while also highlighting problems with using genre labels to assess preferences.

Abstract

Previous research relating personality and music preferences has often measured such reported preferences according to genre labels. To support previous research, the current paper has expanded investigation of the relation between personality and music preferences to include direct measurement of music listening behavior. A study ( N = 395) measured participants’ personality, reported music preferences, and their listening behavior, which was tracked while using a music database for a minimum period of three months. Results indicated that reported music preferences were correlated to listening behavior, and indicated robust positive relations between Neuroticism and Classical music preference, and between Openness to Experience and Jazz music preference. Results also indicated issues when using genre labels to measure music preferences, which are discussed.