Examining the Relationship of Childhood Music Exposure and Personality Traits Exhibited in Adulthood

There is a correlation between the type of music a person listens to and their dominant personality traits (Fricke & Herzberg, 2017; Schafer & Mehlhorn, 2017). There are four dimensions of music preference: reflective and complex, intense and rebellious, upbeat and conventional, and energetic and rhythmic (Rentfrow, Goldberg, & Levitin, 2011). Music that can be considered intense/rebellious has a negative correlation with agreeableness and conscientiousness, though there is a positive correlation with openness (Schafer & Mehlhorn, 2017). Music that is complex/reflective, conventional/upbeat, and energetic/rhythmic all demonstrate positive correlations with extraversion, agreeableness, and openness, but a negative correlation with conscientiousness (CR and ER) and openness (CU) (Nave et al., 2018). Given the existing correlations between musical preferences and personality type, I hypothesize that listening to intense/rebellious music as a child will result in higher levels of openness, but lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness as an adult. I also hypothesize that listening to complex/rhythm-based music as a child will lead to higher levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and openness. Finally, I hypothesize that listening to conventional music as a child will lead to higher levels of conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, but lower levels of openness. The 50 participants of this study were recruited from social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. All participants completed a two-part survey, which included the Short Test of Music Preference (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003), which was revised to test childhood music exposure, and the Big Five Personality Inventory. Results are expected to demonstrate the influence of childhood music exposure on personality traits exhibited in adulthood. This study is expected to support past research that identified a correlation between music preference and personality type, while further emphasizing the importance of early exposure. keywords: childhood, music, personalit