Introversion-Extroversion and Music Preference

by Dr. Greg A. Grove © 1995

Since 1925 the measurement of introversion-extroversion has occupied a special place in psychometrics. A thorough review of the paper-and-pencil questionnaires and inventories by Laird, Heidbreder, Neymann-Kohlstedt, and Bernreuter stimulated a desire to apply their findings in a novel manner. I divided the characteristics of introversion and extroversion into three objective conditionsthinking, social, and emotionalwith the aim of discovering which ones influence the styles of music we enjoy most.

Utilizing the musical tastes of 24 females and 32 males enrolled in music appreciation classes at Butte College, I entreated them with a two-page experimental survey in return for extra credit. Page one of the survey featured 18 statements designed to measure thinking, social, and emotional introversion-extroversion traits using a 5-point scale ranging from (1) Almost Never to (5) Almost Always. On the reverse side the students rated their liking-preference of 12 musical styles using the same 5-point scale. Total scores for each of the personality traits and each of the musical styles were correlated. The findings follow, all statistically significant for n=56 at or beyond .05.

Thinking introverts showed strong preference for soft rock, jazz, classical, and ethnic/international music, whereas thinking extroverts primarily enjoyed country/western and shun ethnic/international music. Social introverts revealed no strong music preference for any of the styles surveyed, whereas social extroverts mostly preferred soul and classical music. Lastly, emotional introverts found top 40s pop-rock, contemporary hit rock, and classical music to their liking, whereas emotional extroverts indicated a strong preference for only one type of music: soul.