The Impact of Music Preferences and Gender on Extraversion - Essay Example

? The Impact of Music Preferences and Gender on Extraversion: A Statistical Analysis The Impact of Music Preferences and Gender on Extraversion: A Statistical Analysis Introduction The music is considered as favorite activity of human beings as they are impressed by the rhythmical arrangements of composition and vocals (Rauschecker 2013). The musical arrangements are known to motivate and sadden humans of several age groups. The gender differences are found to be ineffective in terms of influencing the choices and popularity of musical genre (O'Neill & Boultona 1996). The pop and rock musical types are believed to be the most significantly and commonly heard sorts of symphonies in the modern era of the 21st century. The classical music however, is considered one type of music that is experiencing dying process. The featured type of music was one of the leading types in the past but with the passage of time, its popularity declined as modern techniques developed and people were attracted towards them in masses. The next generation nonetheless, finds classical music boring and they consider modern types of music as energetic and motivating (Finnas 1989). Still, the aging generation finds refuge from hectic work environment by listening to sad music. In general, humans are engaged in purchasing new and modern music. Furthermore, the people of developed nations state that they are not concerned with meaning of the songs but they listen to the rhythm and composition. People are living under economic pressures and therefore, they do not have much energy and time needed to understand meanings of songs and they just want to relax and get out of this challenging world for a while. The music is the only efficient way to do so because it provides entertainment in less time and humans can listen to music on the go as well. The music was taken as a hobby of an introvert but prior studies found that all humans with different personality types like music and therefore, the generality of the abovementioned claim is challenged (Leather, Beale, & Sullivan 2003). The humans attempt to sooth their nerves with the help of listening to music and symphonies are created in order to set emotions into specific kind of motion. The psychologists are famous for recommending music therapies so that depressed individuals can be treated. The music is used in history as a source of spreading religious messages throughout the world. The music is taken and identified as a psychological need of humans and therefore, according to recent research, it was found that stress could be alleviated amongst humans through listening music. However, it is a common belief that humans musical needs tend to change as a response to variation in the mood. For instance, an emotionally charged person will listen to fast music while, the saddened one is going to opt for classical music. Following is the detailed review of existing literature on the topic of the study: - Literature Review The humans switch between introversion and extroversion as a reaction to the current emotional state and the extroverts are famous for transforming into introverts when faced with sorrow and stress (Zelenski, Santoro, & Whelan 2012). Additionally, the introverts tend to become extroverts as they are exposed to happiness and joy. Thusly, it can be established that introverts listen to exciting music when happy and their extrovert fellows seek saddening music when exposed to sorrow and stress and therefore, it can be profoundly argued that emotional state of the individuals is going to predict their musical choices effectively. The classical music is dying out and therefore, it is being continually replaced with energetic and electronic music. The next generation of musicians is significantly engaged in remixing and remaking the traditional symphonies in the image that is acceptable for the youth (Ahn, Subramaniam, Fleischmann, Waugh, Walsh, & Druin 2012). The lovers of traditional music are left for wondering the online music stores to find their favorite works. Additionally, it is valuable to note that the modern works are not rated high on the scale of stimulating spiritual response in humans. The so-called modern music is focusing on providing meaningless entertainment whereas, the notion of providing food of thought via music has been deforming for significant number of past years. The industry of music has been known to respond to the changing customer preferences and tastes. The current outlook of the industry predicts minimal chances of revival of classical music in the developed parts of the world (Koelsch 2010). Nevertheless, the valuable fact must be shared that the developing and emerging economies of the globe are considered as major hubs of classical music and therefore, the art form is quite notably prevalent in the featured parts of the world. The classical music is however considered boring and less energetic by youth that are living all around the world. The classical music is associated with aged and people whose self-esteem is low. In reality, it is not the case because classical music is more generic in nature and therefore, it is identified as helping in smoothing the thought processes in humans. The ability to ponder and experience deep cognitions is low in the next generation and due to this reason, the youngsters find it difficult to listen old and traditional music as it tries to initiate a thinking process in the youth. The music on the other hand, is known to fill the role of a pet that was conventionally known as human’s best friend. Furthermore, the musical artist is responsible for providing company to a lonely traveler. The notion of lonely traveler is growing because people do not have sufficient time to socialize with each other and consequently, man is getting more and more isolated in the so-called place called the global village. The loneliness in the global village is growing and so does the demand for music. The humans are always requiring a certain level of noise around them and shouting cowboys that sell their work in the name of modern music fulfill this function quite effectively in the current times. The studies revealed that saddening people revert towards classical music but as soon as their worries get over, they switch to modern fast-paced music. Another important research revealed the fact that too much of the music of any kind is destructive because it is somehow famous for triggering suicidal and addictive tendencies in human beings. The basic and fundamental purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of extraversion and gender with choosing classical music. The extroversion is defined as a personality trait that is known to compel humans towards becoming socially active and engaged. The people who are high on extraversion are always known to seek social interaction and relations. Additionally, they are likely to take the life and its matters lightly and refrain from engaging into too many cognitive complexities. The extroverts are also famous for following the crowd, they are often found to be afraid and shy of carrying out a plan in isolation, and therefore, they are good at team management and development. The extroverts are always cheerful and they take life as an ice cream and tend to eat it as quickly as possible. The aforementioned types of people love to take charge of the situation and get things done by hook or crook. Given the energetic nature of extroverts, they always find rock and pop versions of music as attractive options. The extroverts are however, believed to be quite ruthless as they are notorious for making fun of other’s miserable conditions. However, the leadership is taken as a kingdom of introverts because they are the ones that always have long-term plans and visions. The extroverts are popular for becoming great followers due to their ability to get things done by following the plan. The extroverts are quite fond of deriving motivational energy from fast music, as they need a lot of energy in order to keep on following their energy packed lifestyle. Secondly, the extroverts have a profound ability and tendency to withstand stress due to their cheerful behavior. However, they are famous for hearing classical and sad songs as a part of their plan to fight out the depression (Dobbs, Furnham, & McClelland 2011). The differences in gender is also popular to cast a significant impact on music preferences and it is commonly argued that females are much more interested in listening to classical music than males. The males with introvert personality type on the other hand, are anticipated to favor sad and classical music because this type of symphonies helps them in exploring of their inside that is the ultimate purpose and objective of introvert’s life. Introverts and extroverts use the idea of music as a conformity tool for validating their own, private and separate ways of life. Nevertheless, all of the humans have a natural ability to behave as introvert or extrovert but the dominant dimensions of personality dictate the overall behaviors and attitudes of people. The personality types are like old leather that if worn for longer period, becomes an integral part of one’s person and soon after that, the self becomes unaware of attire’s presence. It also goes with extroversion and introversion because humans get used to behaving in a similar fashion that they literally forget about their abilities to exhibit any other kind behavior. In the light of above argument, psychologists argue that behavioral changes are very difficult to incorporate in one’s personality and therefore, the mental scientists are always engaged in finding new methods and techniques of reinforcing new attitudes and behaviors in humans. The males are treated as extroverts while females are believed to be introverts and because of these divides, assertive organizational roles are always known to come in the portion and domain of males. The sensitive roles such as teaching are always set aside for females. The females are expected to do the tedious works as their ability to divert attention to details is remarkable and furthermore, the males’ ability to take the holistic view towards an organization makes them effective leaders (Grant, Gino, & Hofmann, 2011). In the 21st century, females are growing on the scale of assertiveness and therefore, quite significant number of women surfaced as corporate leaders. Still, the featured change in professions is slow and because of this reason, males are leaders and females are followers in major number of cases. The females are not allowed to listen to loud music in the name of dignity, respect and honor while, they are not permitted to play in the open after crossing a certain age. The above-stated rules and regulations are prevalent in underdeveloped and developing parts of the world whereas, the developed and advanced nations are very generous in providing personal freedoms and liberties. The urbanized economy of America is one of the few nations that permitted females to pursue lesbian relations so that they can live the life in their own way. The females are following femininity by their own choice and nobody is enforcing it on them vehemently. The melting glass ceiling, submerging musical choices and intra-gender sexual relations are the names of practical manifestation of growing and enhancing private freedoms in developed parts of the world. However, the elementary objective of this study to evaluate the melting down of traditional musical choices for females and males as it was conventionally believed that males and females should listen to fast and classical songs respectively in order to conform to the societal norms of the community. Secondly, the common belief that females and males are having introvert and extrovert personalities correspondingly, will also be tested with the help of empirical data during the course of this valuable study. Additionally, the study will report its findings and results in a summary format in the upcoming sections. Following are the key hypotheses that will be put to test in the study: - Ho: There will be a significant main effect of music preference on extraversion where it is anticipated that classical music fans prefer an introverted personality type than extravert Hi: There will be a significant main effect of gender on extraversion where it is anticipated that females will score higher on classical music preference than males Hii: There will be a significant interaction effect of music preference and gender on extraversion where it is anticipated that female non-classical music fans will score higher on extraversion than female classical fans whilst male classical fans will score lower on extraversion than male non classical fans. Research Methodology This research project will be conducted with the help of running a two-way ANOVA test on the data that will be collected by distributing 40 questionnaires in 20 male and 20 female teachers of a local college. Furthermore, the sampling technique of convenient sampling will be used in order to derive respondents from the target population. Additionally, the questionnaire designed by Saucier (1994) will be used to measure extraversion in the sample. Data Analysis and Results This study ran a two-way ANOVA test on a normal dataset and following are the main outputs of the experiment: - In the light of above table, it can be established that male respondents are less interested in listening to classical music than female ones. Therefore, Hi is partially accepted. However, it is interesting to note that gender had no significant main effect on music preferences. Furthermore, there is no statistically significant impact of music preferences on extraversion and the belief that classical music lovers have introvert personality, has been proven wrong by the results of this investigation. Thusly, Ho is completely rejected. Additionally, there is no statistical proof found to support that the relationship between interaction of gender and musical preferences notably influence extroversion. Finally, participants in both gender-based groups who were in love with classical music scored higher on extroversion and therefore, the notion that stated that classical music is meant for introverts has been falsified. The Hii is also rejected. Following table presents the statistical side of the results: - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Dependent Variable Extroversion Source Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Corrected Model .128a 3 .043 .077 .972 Intercept 385.757 1 385.757 699.703 .000 Gen .088 1 .088 .160 .692 MP .036 1 .036 .065 .800 Gen * MP .099 1 .099 .180 .674 Error 19.847 36 .551 Total 751.000 40 Corrected Total 19.975 39 a. R Squared = .006 (Adjusted R Squared = -.076) Conclusion This paper studied the relationships of gender, musical preferences, and extroversion. The detailed examination revealed an interesting fact that females and males’ musical tastes are converging a great deal in the modern era of the 21st century and therefore, old traditional belief that classical music is meant for females and introverts is melting. The females are growingly becoming extroverts whereas, the males are transforming into introverts while, their musical preferences are currently converging a great deal in the modern era of the 21st century. References Ahn, J., Subramaniam, M., Fleischmann, K., Waugh, A., Walsh, G., & Druin, A. 2012. Youth identities as remixers in an online community of storytellers: Attitudes, strategies, and values . Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Vol 49 no. 1 , pp. 1-10. Dobbs, S., Furnham, A., & McClelland, A. 2011. The effect of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Applied Cognitive Psychology Vol 25 no. 2 , pp.307–313. Finnas, L. 1989. A Comparison between Young People's Privately and Publicly Expressed Musical Preferences. Psychology of Music Vol 17 no. 2 , pp.132-145. Grant, A., Gino, F., & Hofmann, D. 2011. Reversing the Extraverted Leadership Advantage: The Role of Employee Proactivity. Academy of Managemeent Journal Vol 54 no.3 , pp.528-550. Koelsch, S. 2010. Towards a neural basis of music-evoked emotions. Trends in Cognitive Sciences Vol 14 no.3 , pp.131–137. Leather, P., Beale, D., & Sullivan, L. 2003. Noise, psychosocial stress and their interaction in the workplace. Journal of Environmental Psychology Vol 36 no. 1 , pp.213–222. O'Neill, S., & Boultona, M. 1996. Boys' and Girls' Preferences for Musical Instruments: A Function of Gender? Psychology of Music Vol 24 no.2 , pp.171-183. Rauschecker, J. 2013. Processing Streams in Auditory Cortex. Neural Correlates of Auditory Cognition Springer Handbook of Auditory Research Vol 45 no. 1 , pp 7-43. Saucier, G. 1994. Mini-Markers: A Brief Version of Goldberg's Unipolar Big-Five Markers. Journal of Personality Assessment Vol 63 no. 3 , pp.506-516. Zelenski, J., Santoro, M., & Whelan, D. (2012). Would introverts be better off if they acted more like extraverts? Exploring emotional and cognitive consequences of counterdispositional behavior. Emotion, Vol 12 no. 2 , pp. 290-303. Read More