We are what we hear and you do not doubt it. Music says a lot about our personality, about our worldview and especially about our psychology. As you can remember, some approach we have made to the question when we saw some time ago in the brains of the musicians improvising, is not it?
At that time, we saw some of the curious and complex brain processes that develop in the brains of the musicians during improvisation, I told you that the writer is also a musician (and extreme metal), but now, I am also a listener and ... what about the listeners? More precisely, what about those who enjoy those musical styles as peculiar as heavy metal in its many forms and expressions? Are there as many differences as you brag about? What about stereotypes?
A new research tries to elucidate all these questions; Accompany me to get into the head of a headbanger and to know some curiosities about the psychology of metaleros ...
The study
Like that time, let's start with some music ... and good music.
Metalheads: The influence of personality and individual differences in the preference for Heavy Metal is the title under which the results of the study by the psychologist Viren Swami and the one published last month were published in APA (American Psychological Association). A group of researchers from the University of Westminster in London, England.
In addition to attempting to overthrow some of the strong stereotypes that exist for fans of musical styles derived from metal, somehow, the study attempts to make a psychological portrait of metalheads, who would have "a peculiar constellation of traits in personality, According to the model of the big five and the theory of the trait.
A total of 414 people participated in the study, 219 women and 195 men; All British, who underwent a listening session of 10 music tracks of different styles of extreme contemporary metal (from heavy metal to metalcore, thrash, death, black, etc.), with a scale of 7 points that went from " Extreme displeasure "to" extreme pleasure ".
Once culminated, participants also completed tests of the model of the big five personality, which reveals each individual's attitudes to authority and their maximum figures, self-esteem, needs for uniqueness and religiosity.
The results: individuality and rejection of authority
The evident coincidence between the musical preference of the participants and the model of the personality of the big five was not something that surprised Mr. Swami. Numerous previous studies have demonstrated the reliable and reliable association between personality and subjectivity of individuals and their musical preferences, but not in specific and detailed form. That is to say, until then, these preferences had not been analyzed at such specific levels according to musical subgenres, such as extreme metal.
The results were very clear and showed that the most extreme compositions, with the most "heavy" guitar riffs, complex rhythms and unusual times, with abrupt changes to intense and melodic passages, as well as songs characterized by "screams, Squeaks and grunts, "were more pleasing to those who marked a clear passage to what in psychology is known as the opening to experience. In other words, the taste for these musical characteristics coincided with the most negative attitudes and rejection of authority, low self-esteem, a greater need for uniqueness and a strong detachment from religiosity. Nor was it any wonder that most of the participants under these terms were men.
The researchers summarized:
"Our results confirm previous reports about the fact that the opening is associated with a preference for heavy rock and heavy metal, including nonmainstream subgenres. In the explanation it has been suggested that individuals who score high on the aperture show a preference for intensity, variety, complexity and the more extreme and less conventional sector of heavy metal.
[...] also showed that individuals with more negative attitudes toward institutional authority were more likely to show a preference for extreme metal tracks. In general, this is consistent with the description of heavy metal fans as inhabiting a subculture of alienation, which translates into opposition to authority and society in general ... It is possible, for example, that heavy metal Can evoke related images that are inherently anti-authoritarian or the sign of a rebellion against the dominant culture. In this sense, people who have more negative attitudes towards authority may show a preference for extreme metal, precisely because it expresses their discontent with authority.
Respondents who showed a higher preference for metal tracks in the present study were also more likely to have low self-esteem and a greater need for uniqueness. In the first case, it is possible that people with relatively low self-esteem feel attracted to heavy metal because this style of music allows a purging of negative feelings. The catharsis offered by the metal, in turn, helps them increase self-esteem and promote positive self-assessments among those who otherwise, low self-esteem could prevail. "
"The people closest to the opening to the experience have a marked tendency to feel at ease with the most complex, intense, interesting and stimulating forms of music and the metal is just one of those several forms," he points out.