Stereotypes and personality of classical musicians.

Stereotypes Concerning Musicians Within Symphony Orchestras

“…Indeed, it is apparent that even though the present study and that of Davies are dissimilar with respect to their sociocultural context, the data do converge, providing some evidence for cultural universals (Lonner, 1980) in musicians' stereotypes, particularly when the findings of Builione and Lipton (1983) are also considered. For example, Davies referred to the extroverted and loud behavior of the brass ("loud-mouthed and coarse ," "they're extroverts," p. 202).…”

“…The present study was designed to test empirically the validity of the available anecdotal evidence and to expand on the preliminary empirical work of Davies (1978) and of Builione and Lipton (1983) by using an international sample of professional classical musicians.…”

“…For example, the strings perceived the brass as "heavy boozers" and "slightly oafish and uncouth," and the brass characterized the strings as "oversensitive and touchy," "weaklings," "like a flock of bloody sheep," noting that they think they are "God's gift to music" (Davies, 1978, p. 203). This work was essentially exploratory, however, and, as a result, was somewhat unstructured and inconclusive; in fact, few actual data were presented by Davies. More recently, Builione and Lipton (1983) conducted a study on stereotypes among high school musicians. Among the strongest stereotypes were the strings and woodwinds' being "intelligent," "feminine," and "introverted" and the brass players and percussionists' being "extroverted," "masculine," and "sexual," all based on responses to open-ended questions.…”

Music Ensemble Participation: Personality Traits and Music Experience

“…In recent history, there has been a more scientific approach to the study of musicians' personalities in the form of personality assessment tools (i.e., 16PF, NEO-PI-R, MBTI) (Gibbons, 1990;Hyden, 1979;Kemp, 1981aKemp, , 1981bKemp, , 1982aKemp, , 1982bLangendörfer, 2008;Lanning, 1990;MacClellan, 2011;Marchant-Haycox, & Wilson, 1992;Payne, 2009;Steele & Young, 2011;Young, 2001). There has also been a considerable amount of evidence found supporting a correlation between personality and instrument choice (Bell & Cresswell, 1984;Builione & Lipton, 1983;Buttsworth & Smith, 1995;Cameron, Duffy & Glenwright, 2014;Hyden, 1979;Chang, 2007;Kemp, 1981b;Lipton, 1987). Some studies had similar results: brass players were found to be extroverted, aggressive, and lacked sensitivity (Davies, 1978;Heil, 1959).…”

“…For instance, the flute and violin are perceived as instruments for females, whereas the trumpet and drums are viewed as choices for males. Other instruments, such as the cello and saxophone, are considered androgynous (Builione & Lipton, 1983). Conway's (2000) study of gender and instrument choice found that some high school students made their instrument decisions based on stereotypes.…”