Relationship Between Music and Visual Art Preferences and Some Personality Traits

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between musical and visual art preferences, and the role of personality traits in predicting preferences for different musical styles and visual art motives. Participants were asked to fill out the following instruments: Questionnaire of music preferences, Questionnaire of visual art preferences, Questionnaire for personality traits International Personality Item Pool [IPIP]; the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking. Results showed that most participants preferred popular and classical music, and landscape motives, while they showed the lowest preferences for heavy metal music and paintings that represented motives of violence and cultures of the world. With regard to the relationship between music and visual art preferences, classical music preferences were positively related to preferences for all visual art motives, while preferences for jazz and world music were positively related to visual art preferences of all motives except religious. Heavy metal music preferences were related to preferences for all motives except landscapes, and popular music preferences were positively associated with religious motives and landscapes. The results of this study suggest a relatively modest contribution of personality traits in explaining music and visual art preferences, although traits for intellect, sensation seeking, and agreeableness were shown to be significant predictors in many instances.

Relationship Between Personality and Music Preferences Among University Students

“…Similarly, studies on personality and music preferences revealed that Conscientiousness is inconsistent in predicting music preferences. Previous studies reported no significant correlation between Conscientiousness and any music preference dimensions (Brown, 2012;Dys et al, 2017;Ercegovac et al, 2015;Langmeyer et al, 2012;Livosky et al, 2012;Upadhyay, Shukla, & Chakraborty, 2017). To explain this, McManus and Furnham (2006) demonstrated that Conscientious individuals have a narrow artistic view and less interest in visual and general art activities, inclusive of music.…”

“…It also shows a tendency towards positive behaviour that diverges from hostility. Individuals who possess a strong trait of Agreeableness are perceived as warm and friendly and harbouring good intentions (Ercegovac et al, 2015). Conversely, less agreeable individuals are perceived negatively as harsh and hostile (Livosky, Stevens, Hoff, & Surawski, 2012).…”

“…Firstly, Openness is found to correlate with Intense-Rebellious (IR) (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014;Ercegovac et al, 2015;Ferwerda et al, 2017;Fricke & Herzberg, 2017;Langmeyer et al, 2012;Rentfrow, McDonald, & Oldmeadow, 2009;Swami et al, 2013;Tekman, 2009;ThankGod & Lanre, 2018;Thompson et al, 2018;Vella & Mills, 2017) and Energetic-Rhythmic (ER) (Sigg, 2009). A plausible explanation for Openness to correlate with a variety of music genres is that individuals with the trait of Openness demonstrate a preference for variety (Costa & McCrae, 1992).…”

“…For instance, Openness and Extraversion have shown good consistency in predicting different music preferences. Openness has consistently predicted preference for intense music (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014;Ercegovac, Dobrota, & Kuscevic, 2015;Ferwerda, Tkalcic, & Schedl, 2017;Fricke & Herzberg, 2017;Langmeyer, Guglhor-Rudan, & Tarnai, 2012). Extraversion predicts preference for music that is energetic and rhythmic (Dys, Schellenberg, & McLean, 2017;Ferwerda et al, 2017;Fricke & Herzberg, 2017;Herrera, Soares-Quadros, & Lorenzo, 2018;Langmeyer et al, 2012).…”

Individual Differences in Music Listener Motivations: The Neglected Values

“…Although a considerable amount of studies focuses on the characteristics of personality that are related to musical tastes (Cleridou & Furnham, 2014;Ercegovac, Dobrota, & Ku s cevi c, 2015;Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003;Sch€ afer & Mehlhorn, 2017), much of the research has omitted to examine thoroughly the association between personality traits and the multiple ways in which music is used. Moreover, although personal values are a factor for deserving additional attention, previous research has neglected to inquire into the effects of individuals' values on different functions of music.…”