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Science Proves That Indie Kids Should Be More Gentle...

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Fraser McAlpine | 16:31 UK time, Friday, 5 September 2008

Indie Boys - LAZY BEASTS

This is my current favourite thing in the world ever. There's been a survey put together by a psychology team from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, and it is basically offering you and your music taste out for a fight, using insults you've given it yourself.

Or rather, to explain this using actual sense, 36,000 music lovers have been surveyed about the kind of music they like, and the kind of person they are. The results have been put through various statistical models to try and pull strands together and see whether there are broad links between what people listen to, and what they are like. The idea is that certain types of people gravitate towards certain types of music.

Professor Adrian North is the man behind the survey, and he explained what they were attempting to discover: "We have always suspected a link between music taste and personality. This is the first time that we've been able to look at it in real detail."

"What this research really tries to get at is why music is such an important part of people's identity. People often define their sense of identity through their musical taste, wearing particular clothes, going to certain pubs, and using certain types of slang. It's not so surprising that personality should also be related to musical preference."

Now, before we get into the results themselves, the thing to bear in mind is that you could possibly have done this exact survey on 36,000 different people and got different results, that's just how statistics work. Also, just because the common threads within these 36,000 people suggest that, say, punkers are lazy, it's not clear weather there is any suggestion of cause and effect.

By which I mean, it's not like listening to punk MAKES you lazy. Or that only lazy people can enjoy punk rock. It's literally just that, of the 36,000 who have taken part in this survey, the ones who like punk have tended to be quite lazy. Which does make you wonder how they got around to filling the form in, really.

Here's what some other people who love the kind of music you love tend to be like as people:

Bollywood: Creative, Outgoing

Samba: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Blues: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

Funk: High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing and at ease

Jazz: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

Classical: High self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease

Opera: High self-esteem, creative, gentle

Easy-listening: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Country & Western: Hardworking, outgoing

Hip Hop: High self-esteem, outgoing

Reggae: High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

Dance: Creative, outgoing, not gentle

Disco: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle

Indie: Low self-esteem, creative, not hard working, not gentle

Punk: Lack self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not gentle

Rock 'n' Roll: High self-esteem, creative, hardworking, not gentle, at ease

Rock/Metal: Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, at ease

Pop: High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle, not at ease

Soul: High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease

Swing: High self-esteem, creative, at ease

Of course, most of the news coverage of this report is focussed on the 'hilarious' thought that people who are mainly into classical music and people who are mainly into metal have broadly similar personality types. Journalists are juxtaposing pictures of T-shirted long-hairs with professorial old gimmers, and raising a quizzical eyebrow for comic effect.

This is just journalistic fooey, as Professor North is quick to point out: "Aside from their age difference, they're basically the same kind of person. Lots of heavy metal fans will tell you that they also like Wagner, because it's big, loud and brash. There's also a sense of theatre in both heavy rock and classical music, and I suspect that this is what they're really trying to get at when they listen."

And let's not forget, both forms of music have been known to feature on-stage cannons (take a bow, Tchaikovsky and AC/DC).

But really, the people who should be most offended by the results of this survey are indie fans, a collective who are often thought to be quiet, studious, bookish and fey. According to the survey, they have NOTHING going for them, and it turns out they share almost exactly the same personality DNA as those lazy punkers.

These are the Top 5 things that I enjoyed the most about this academic work.

Thing 1: If you like the blues you basically have the perfect life. So what exactly have you got the blues about?

Thing 2: If you like funk, you have everything which people who like the blues have, only you're lazy. This is the exact opposite of the relationship between these two musical forms.

Thing 3: If you like pop you are not creative, but you have high self-esteem, so you probably think you are. As this is a survey, what is the difference?

Thing 4: Metallers, we congratulate you on your gentle ways. If only your dance cousins could take a leaf out of your book.

Thing 5: Does anyone else think the people who like country & western could use a few more apostrophes and adjectives? It just doesn't seem proper country enough. How about
Hard-workin', outgoin', truck-drivin', hard-drinkin', honky-tonkin', boot-scootin', horsey-ridin'...

If you would like to take part in this study, the website is ...

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    As self esteem and being at ease are not permenant traits, does that mean that my musical tastes change with how good I feel about myself this month? Of ourse not.

    This has more to do with other factors than tastes and personalitied alone.

    For example Rock/Metal fans are aparently Gentle. Could that have more to do with Rock/Metal's hey days being the 70's? Making most fans of the genre well into their 40's at least?

    Besides which, you tend to find that people are influenced by music anyway, so the music comes first, then the image, not the other way around.

  • Comment number 2.

    Two things:

    1: Rock/Metal's heyday is sort of ongoing. It may come and go from fashion, but it's still a massively popular form of music. Look at the racks in your local CD shop. I would argue that everyone has a teenage metal phase, and then they either choose to stick with it, or move on to other things.

    2: Psychologists would say you are only influenced by the music which suits your personality, otherwise we would all be avid Top 40 pop fans because that's the music we hear the most. But it's a chicken-egg nightmare to think about, really.

  • Comment number 3.

    I like how it would seem everyone either has or doesnt have up to only 6 personality traits.

    I'm an indie fan (mostly). is there no hope for me at all?

  • Comment number 4.

    Not unless you buck your ideas up, no!

    The six traits are probably a reduction of the answers given in the survey to provide statistically clear answers. The trouble with that is it basically pigeonholes people.

    Still, food for thought...

  • Comment number 5.

    Does that mean i'd have to change my musical taste then? Would my life be better if i liked disco? Surely not?!

  • Comment number 6.

    Wow...how good must your life be if disco cannot improve it?

    I am jealous!

  • Comment number 7.

    ....its terrible Mr McAlpine, im an aggressive, lazy, self conscious artist remember! not EVEN disco can save me.....

  • Comment number 8.

    haha! Good point, well made.

    Maybe you should try going metal first, then reggae, and then work up to disco over the course of a few months...

  • Comment number 9.

    thats quite a musical evolution! metal, reggae, disco.....not sure i could handle it. actually, i know i cant, i'm an indie kid.

  • Comment number 10.

    And therefore lazy.

    Tell me, what was your problem with this research again? ;-)

  • Comment number 11.

    i forget now......i couldn't be bothered to read the whole article....

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