Music is an important part of many people’s lives. To devoted music fans, their favorite band or artist defines their entire lives. With that being said, it is interesting to observe how different fandoms in music behave depending on their music taste. So, are personality and music taste correlated? 

There is a 2018 study that looked at people’s music-related Facebook likes. It is not the best way to conduct an observational study, as nobody under 40 uses Facebook anymore, but this is the closest thing I can find to an actual study. The University of Pennsylvania conducted the study, using the big five personality traits of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The study showed that people with higher openness were likelier to enjoy more sophisticated music, such as jazz and opera, due to their dynamic nature (psych central). 

While this study may have some truth, openness is only one personality trait. There is way more to a person than their openness, and this study does not show any other correlation between personality and music taste. I decided to take a more subjective approach to this question. I asked Kimberley-Mae Jeves (Alumni), an avid music listener, about her observations, and she said, “I think one’s personality influences one’s music taste rather than vice versa. For example, I think people who listen to country music come off as very extroverted and have mid-western hobbies.” Even though there is no scientific proof that country listeners are like this, from Kim’s and my personal experiences, the country listeners we met have generally been more outgoing and lively. They tend to be more extroverted and have more energy. On the contrary, people who love alternative music tend to be more introverted and reserved. In my experience, they are also more intuitive and observant.

However, I admit that many people have music tastes all over the place and do not relate to their personality. I have a friend who listens to anything from punk rock to folk to K-pop, and she is just as outgoing and extroverted as anyone else. This is possibly due to environmental factors. Some people are raised by parents who are music lovers, and they adopt their music taste based on that nostalgic factor. For example, I probably would not love Blur as much as I do if it weren’t for my dad. I only got into rock music because of him, and I am thankful for his input on my overall music taste. Additionally, ethnicity and race are factors. Since African American artists created and popularized hip-hop and rap, a black person would likely enjoy these genres. 

Overall, music is largely subjective. While factors such as personality and family might affect a person’s music taste, I honestly believe that most people just enjoy whatever sounds good to their ears, no matter which genre. Some people might not even listen by genre, and some songs cannot simply be categorized in one specific genre. Music as a concept is way too complicated for a concrete answer on whether or not there is a correlation between music taste and personality.