Like a rolling stone
What does your musical taste say about your personality?
A global study of 36,000 people found a range of associations between personality traits and musical tastes – some of them quite surprising.
Opera lovers tend to have high self-esteem and are creative and gentle; country and western devotees are typically hard-working and outgoing; heavy metal fans tend to have low self-esteem and are not so hard-working, but are gentle.
Conversely, song choice can provide clues to personality. In one study, strangers were asked to judge what people were like (extrovert, adventurous, melancholic, etc) based on a CD of their favourite music or other clues. The assessments based on the CD were significantly better matches than those drawn from looks, clothes or taste in films.
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