Musical style and instrument preferences as correlates of personality variables

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to provide correlational data assessing the relationships between musical style and instrument preferences and personality characteristics. Subjects (N=291) were undergraduate students from Texas A&M University, Houston Baptist University, Sam Houston State University and Lamar University. The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Musical Style Preference Test and Musical Instrument Preference Test were used to collect data from all participants. The Musical Style Preference Test and Musical Instrument Preference Test were constructed specifically for this research effort. The data from the Musical Style Preference Test and Musical Instrument Preference Test were factor analyzed, using the principal components method, to extract all factors with an eigenvalue of one or more. This procedure yielded seven factors accounting for 61% of the total variance. The Pearson Product-Moment correlation was used to determine the relationships between each of the 16PF factors and each of the musical styles and musical instruments represented in the musical preference tests. Multiple correlation coefficients using the combined variables of the musical preference tests, 21 in all, as the predictor variables and each of the 16PF factors as the criterion variable were also computed. Results indicated that numerous correlations between personality characteristics and preferences for musical styles and instruments do exist. Of 144 coefficients assessing the relationships between personality and preferences for musical styles, 38 were significant beyond the .05 level of significance. Of 192 coefficients assessing the relationships between personality and preferences for musical instruments, 41 were significant beyond the .05 level of significance. Eight of the 16 multiple correlations were significant beyond the .05 level also. Recommendations for further research based on the results of this study were presented.