--Introduction--
The creation of music is greatly intertwined with Human societies across the world and history. From Metal to Classical we all have our individual music preferences and we know that some genres have higher rates of things like crime and drug use linked to them either rightfully or stereo-typically. Research from Psychologists across the world has shown that there may be a bit more to our musical preferences than meets the eye and in fact may be completely dependent on the kind of person you are.
--Studies done into the subject--
A study done in 2008 at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland that surveyed more than 36,000 people from over 60 countries asking them about their music preferences followed by a questionnaire measuring aspects of their personality showed that people with a preference for Heavy Metal tended to be more introverted, creative and mentally sound in comparison to those who listened to more Pop Music who tended to be Extroverted, not creative and have more troubles with mental health. The study was done in order to look at great detail of why people get so defensive about their music tastes and if this had anything to do with their personalities, and it seems that there is a distinct connection between someones personality and their music tastes. People seem to get defensive over their music tastes because when they are questioned about it and it can feel like an attack on them as people.
Another study done in 2014 at the University of Split in Croatia that used the big five personality model that measures 5 aspects of someones personality; Extroversion, Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Intellect found that those who were more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious people tended to prefer the higher tempo music in comparison to those not so agreeable and Introverted who preferred slower paced music. Although this doesn't match up to the study done at Heriot-watt, one could presume that this was down to the genre played than the tempo it was played at.
--Music and Education--
There was a study done at the University of Missouri in 1991 that looked into the personality types of Music Educators. The study used the Myers-briggs indication model to test the Educators personality traits and found that in the sample tested it was equal in regards to Introversion and Extroversion but all of them had (E/I)NFJ personality types which according to 16Personalities puts them into the "Diplomat" sub-category of Personalities usually meaning they are more agreeable and fair regardless of if they are Introverted or Extroverted.
Various studies show that those who study music at high school tend to get higher grades and develop physically much quicker as well as having better listening skills. With the top three schools in the United States putting a great emphasis on Music and the arts at their schools and Hungary, Japan and The Netherlands who have some of the most praised schools in the world put a great emphasis on participating in music classes as well.
---Sources and Citations---
[1] - "The social and applied psychology of music." by North, A. C. and Hargreaves, D. J. (2008)
[2] - "Students’ Musical Preferences: The Role of Music Education, Characteristics of Music and Personality Traits" by
Snježana Dobrota and Ina Reić Ercegovac: https://goo.gl/j1eUD2
[3] - "Music Educators' Personality Types as Measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" by Thomas M. Wubbenhorst:
https://goo.gl/V3qAJc
[4] - "Music and the brain" by Laurence O'Donnell: https://goo.gl/BcsZJD (Page 5: Conclusions)
[5] - "Personality Types" by 16Personalities: https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types