If you've seen Silence of the Lambs or A Clockwork Orange, youyou might presume that a fondness for classical music could hint at psychopathic tendanceies. But a new study has revealed that actually psychopaths are no fonder of Bach or Brahms than anyone one else. It's lovers of rap and heavy mental you need to watch.
A New York University study has dismantled the myth about the relationship between psychopathy and classical music. In fact, it supports the hypothesis that psychopaths aren’t inclined toward any artist or musical genre. Instead, they show a preference for specific songs. The investigation gives us clues as to what these favorite songs could be.
The experiment compared the musical tastes of certain individuals with their scores on the Levenson Self-Report personality test. The researchers were surprised to discover that both factors may be more related than they previously thought.
The research carried out on 200 volunteers from various ethnic and economic groups who listened to 260 songs. After the participants chose their favorites, the scientists considered their choices alongside their results on the well-known psychopathy scale.
However, I should mention that the study’s author, Pascal Wallisch, has warned that its conclusions may not be definitive. This is because the population sample was too small.
He did, however, make some of his findings known. The songs “No Diggity by Blackstreet, and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, were
two of the most listened to in the studio. Therefore, these could be said to be clear examples of the favorite music of psychopaths.
On the other side of the coin were songs like “My Sharona”, by The Knack, and “Titanium” by David Guetta & Sia. These songs were least liked by those with psychopathic tendencies, according to Wallisch.
Clearly, I'm not suggestion that you can be diagnosed on the basis of a musical test - and not just because I think No Diggity is a proper banger. But as an anecdotal aside, it's a fairly entertaining thought.
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