Page No. 104-113
Durgesh K. Upadhyay, Ridhima Shukla and Aheli Chakraborty
Amity University, Lucknow Campus, India
A number of studies in the west indicate a relationship between music listening
preferences, personality and gender. The literature, which is reviewed here found no
such study in the Indian context. Therefore, the present study was conducted on 445
under- and post- graduate students of Amity University, Lucknow Campus. The study
examined the basic underlying dimensions of music preferences, the links between music
preferences and Big-Five personality characteristics, and gender differences in music
preferences. The factor analysis revealed the presence of five major factors named as
– Intense and Electronic; Devotional and Cultural; Emotional and Melodious; Spiritual
and Reflective; and Contemporary and Rhythmic, underlying the 23 genres. Results
showed that except for contemporary and rhythmic dimensions of music preference, all
other music preference styles were related to one or the other personality dimensions
(for example, intense and electronic music preference is significantly and positively
correlated with openness and negatively correlated with agreeableness personality
dimensions). Further, gender differences in music preferences were also found. Boys
tend to listen to Devotional and Cultural songs more than girls, whereas, girls enjoy
listening to Emotional and Melodious songs more than boys.