School’s out forever? Heavy metal preferences and higher education

Abstract

ObjectivesCultural behaviors are theoretically linked to future life chances but empirical literature is scant. We use heavy metal as an example of cultural identities due to its high salience. We first assess the social morphology of metal preferences in terms of socio-economic and socio-structural positions, and then asses the short term outcomes of being a heavy metal fan on education and health behaviors.MethodsThe analysis was based on a representative random stratified sample of 23-year-olds of native Swedish, Iranian, and Yugoslavian background in contemporary Sweden (n = 2,232). Linear probability models with multiple imputation were used to calculate preferences for metal music and the association of metal preferences with subsequent outcomes.ResultsIn contrast to many prior studies, we find that the preference for heavy metal is not structured by social background or neighborhood context in Swedish adolescents. Poor school grades tend to make them more prone to like metal, but net of previous grades, social background, personality, personal network, and neighborhood characteristics, metal fans have substantially lower transition rates into higher education.DiscussionThe study suggest that metal preferences appears rather unsystematically with few important predictors, and is linked to lower education attainments in the short run. While these findings are specific to heavy metal as a certain type of culture and to Swedish adolescents, we suggest that they are indicative of how cultural consumption may play a role for life-chances.

Musical preferences of Brazilian high school students

“…According to Bonneville-Roussy et al [ 6 ], the preference of this type of music tends to reduce over time, independently of the gender. Frequently, hard and intense music is defined as a significant thing in the lives of adolescents, because it helps them to strengthen their feelings of social disagreement, to form their identity, and to establish their ways of interpersonal relationship [ 15 , 24 , 59 ]. With the advancement of age towards a more mature stage, the feelings and the self-concepts become more stables due to important changes in their life regarding the relevance of their role inside of society, such as entering the labor market, forming a family or preparing to start an academic career [ 60 , 61 ].…”

Musical preferences of teenagers and adults: Evidence from a Spanish-speaking sample

“…The core instrumentation of Intense genres is often electronic, focusing on guitar, bass, and synthesizers. From a psychological perspective, Intense music tends to provoke strong emotional reactions in the listener, even leading to the creation of close affective bonds (Delsing et al, 2008;Hällsten et al, 2019). Finally, Intense styles are recognized as energizing the listener or putting them in an ecstatic state (Schäfer & Sedlmeier, 2009).…”

“…Unlike the Sophisticated, Unpretentious, and Moving dimensions, the Intense and Contemporary dimensions tend to be more favored by teenagers (Bonneville-Roussy et al, 2013). The musical genres grouped under these dimensions are often experienced as very important in their lives, helping them to form identities and establish interpersonal connections, and reinforcing feelings of opposition to social norms and standards (Delsing et al, 2008;Hällsten et al, 2019;Pais, 2008). Thus, teenagers tend to use music as a vehicle for expressing their thoughts, ideas, nonconformities, and daily conflicts.…”