Personality, Gender, Age, and Uses of Music as Predictors of Music Preferences

This study examines how one's music preferences are related to one's personality traits, gender, age, and uses of music. Previous research has indicated that these variables are related to preferences for certain genres of music, such as blues, rock, and hip-hop music. This study will ask U.S. residents via the Amazon Mturk service to fill out the Big Five Short Form, The Short Test of Music Preferences (STOMP), the Uses of Music Inventory, and demographic questions. Additionally, the participants will be asked to listen and rate thirteen different covers of the song, Yesterday,  by the Beatles. Each cover song represents one of the genres assessed on the STOMP. Some of the predictions for this study include: Openness to Experience will be related to Intense and Rebellious (alternative, rock, and heavy metal) music, women will prefer Upbeat and Conventional (pop, country, religious, and soundtracks) music more than men, individuals in middle adulthood will prefer pop, country, religious, and folk music more than individuals in early adulthood, and individuals who have an emotional use for music will prefer Reflective and Complex (blues, classical, jazz, and folk) music due to its negative affect.