Swapping top tunes is a time-honored way to chitchat - and it turns out that this may be more than mere talk to fill the empty air. PsyBlog posted recently about why we talk about music when we meet new people. Research says that our top ten song list provides good predictors of three out of five key personality elements, and offers info you're otherwise unlikely to get from a stranger.
The so-called Big Five personality traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness. Good things to know about. According to PsyBlog, openness to experience is the trait communicated best by your top ten tunes. I haven't been able to dig up the current article, but here's an earlier article on the topic by the same authors.
By posing the question differently, researchers have also discovered that our personalities shape our musical tastes. The same five personality factors influence how we feel about tempo, rhythm, number of melodic themes, sound volume, and meter.
If you're not discussing the Billboard charts on dates and at job interviews, maybe it's time to start.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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