The Connection of Neuroticism and Openness to Experience to Personal Experience of Music

Publication Date

Spring 4-16-2025

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Psychological Science, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

SPARK Category

Research

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Amber Turner

WELL Core Type

Intellectual Wellness

SPARK Session

Personality Psychology 2

Presentation Type

Talk/Oral

Summary

Past research has shown conflicting results on the connection between the Big Five Personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1994) and people’s response to music. We found research suggesting that music preference and emotional response could be connected to the personality traits of neuroticism and openness (Silvia et al., 2015; Miranda, 2020). Our goal is to build on previous research by further exploring the connection between personality traits and response to music. We hypothesized that people with high levels of neuroticism will prefer more intense genres (e.g., rock, punk, rap, R&B) and experience more negative emotions in response. Conversely, people with high levels of openness will favor lighter genres (e.g., pop, EDM, classical, country) and experience more positive emotions. College students from Belmont University completed a survey measuring personality traits, music preferences, and emotional responses to songs. Results indicated a correlation between neuroticism and preference for intense music, but there was no significant result for the correlation between neuroticism and heightened negative emotions. Openness was not associated with preference for lighter genres nor responding with more positive emotions to music. These findings suggest that personality does play a role in musical engagement but does not play a role in emotional experiences. Future research should consider additional influences, such as cultural background and personal experiences, to further understand these relationships.

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