Did you know that your personality can affect your music? But not only that, the music you listen to might change your personality, or, at least, your mood for that moment. Most of the time when you listen to music, you don’t just feel nothing! You might feel a connection to the lyrics, even if you can’t completely relate to what the artist is saying.
If you hear an upbeat sound, you might feel more motivated or happy, but did you know it might go deeper than that? Usually, the song someone chooses to listen to at any moment is affected by their mood, or if they just feel like listening to music, maybe they want to feel an emotion that they don’t specifically understand yet. According to the National Institute of Health, when someone listens to an upbeat song that sounds good to their ears, their mood will boost and they will feel more motivated, and even more energetic. This is because listening to something like that can trigger the release of dopamine in your brain, which makes you feel good. According to Pfizer.com, “As your brain becomes familiar with a particular song, your body may release dopamine upon hearing just the first few notes of the song.
Your personality traits might have an affect on what you listen to as well. For example, someone who considers themselves more friendly might listen to pop, and someone who considers themselves caring or kind might listen to more mellow types of music. If you like classical music, you might consider yourself creative or open-minded. Someone who likes pop may be more sociable than someone who likes more relaxing, quieter music. Introverted people might prefer slower music with more melody and nicer more specific sounds. Extroverts or outgoing people like more energetic music, like rap or pop. Greta Youngblood, a Science teacher at Casa Grande High School, who considers herself to be creative, funny, and organized, stated, “ I tend to gravitate towards indie, but I listen to most genres.”
If you prefer country music, you might enjoy being with other people and making new friends. Of course, just because you like country music doesn’t mean you automatically like to be around people. These are really just the averages — the common themes when researchers have tried to find a correlation between music and personality.
What you think of yourself might also have a factor on what music you prefer. According to Ellora Klein, staff reporter from The Science Survey, “Social identity can drive many listeners to center their music taste around the self-view they hold, as individuals may subconsciously choose to listen to music that reinforces the idea they have of themselves or how they want to be perceived.” So, what you want others to think of you or how you think of yourself might affect what you want to listen to. If you feel self-conscious about what you listen to and don’t like to share it, then you might not want others to judge you based on your music taste.
Your gender can affect what kind of music you listen to as well. For example, a woman might have more of an emotional response to what they listen to because of increased sensitivity to emotional cues and tendency to process music through their personal or emotional experiences.
Music can also affect your mood or how you are feeling. For example, a certain song might calm you down and comfort you if you feel upset, or listening to happy music can boost your mood and make you feel more motivated and better than if you weren’t listening to anything. Music may also be able to help with boredom; you are more likely to listen to music while doing something boring or something that doesn’t require focus with your ears, but instead with your eyes. You probably aren’t listening to music while you have to focus your ears on something. Listening to music may help when coping with stress as well. Listening to soft or classical music might help with this, because you might relate with the feeling going on in the song, especially if you are not able to express yourself.
Music is for everyone, and there are so many different kinds that there is something for everyone, literally. Just remember that your music might affect how you feel in a negative way too, so keep that in mind when you are listening to your favorite sounds.
