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[EN VIDÉO] A soap bubble that dances to the music No need for brushes to paint with music, it’s possible with soap! Researchers from the Matter and Complex Systems laboratories and the Interdisciplinary Physics Laboratory presented a device for observing the effect of sound on soap films: several physical phenomena create spectacular and fascinating patterns.
” Music is the universal language of humanity. This famous phrase is attributed to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a 19th century American poet.and century. A beautiful twist that becomes a scientific reality over the course of research. The study conducted by David Greenberg, a neuroscientist and musician, with his colleagues at the University of Cambridge seems to confirm the maxim uttered by Longfellow. She concludes that musical preferences bring people together under the same personality traits, regardless of their nationality.
” We were surprised at how much the patterns between music and personality are reproducible throughout the world. People can be divided by geography, language, and culture, but if an introvert in one part of the world likes the same music as introverts elsewhere, that suggests music could be a very powerful bridge. Music helps people understand each other and find common ground said David Greenberg.
Lovers of the same style of music share common character traits, regardless of nationality
The scientists played different styles of Western music to 350,000 people living in 53 different countries on six continents. They completed a standard personality questionnaire in which they rated themselves on five central traits, also called Big Five : openness, conscientiousness, friendliness, neuroticism andextroversion. The 23 musical genres submitted to all participants were also classified into five categories: soft like soft pop or R&B (mellow), simple as country (unpretentious), complex like classical music or jazz (fancy), intense like rock or metal (intense), and modern like rap or pop (contemporary).
Personality traits are correlated with musical tastes. Scientists have been able to predict that extraversion is associated with listening to music modern with catchy and dancing rhythms. On the other side of the spectrum, people who define themselves as very conscientious do not like rock or metal. The case of neurotic individuals is more nuanced: We thought that neuroticism would probably have followed one of two paths, either preferring sad music to express their loneliness or preferring upbeat music to change their mood. In fact, on average, they seem to prefer more intense musical styles, perhaps reflecting inner angst and frustration. “, explains David Greenberg. These observations hardly vary according to the nationality of the people, but also according to their gender, their age or other socio-economic factors.
Human personality is complex and cannot be reduced to one main character trait. Our musical tastes also evolve. The observations made here, which are averages, are a first step in the analysis of the links between personality and music. It will surely be refined in future studies. While borders, language or color of skin can separate humans, the music seems to bring them together.
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