James brought this article to my attention, and I have to say, I was quite impressed with it, and I felt quite validated by it. Check it out!
Scientific study shows that intelligent kids listen to heavy metal!
This article really speaks to me, especially about metal being a stress reliever, the catharsis of listening to metal, and the feelings of alienation being represented in the music. Definitely worth a read!
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4 comments:
The results of the study are definitely hard to judge from the reports, as we have neither the raw data nor any particular detailed analysis. I would love to have meaningful studies that explore the connection between musical preferences and personality traits or social environments, because I believe that the researchers (it isn't clear to me how many studies there actually are from the reports) are really on to something. However, I believe it would be helpful and sensitive to treat metal in more detail, as the subgenres appeal to quite different kinds of folks. At the very least, I'd differentiate extreme metal (plus thrash and grindcore) from the more melodic stuff (including doom, prog and such) and alternative metal/metalcore.
(Repeat because I have no idea if the first time got through.)
I find it difficult to judge the results of the study (I'm not even sure how many studies there are really involved) because we have neither the raw data nor any particularly detailed analyses. I'd love to have more meaningful studies that explore the connections between musical preferences and personality traits, social environments and the like, because I believe that the researchers are on to something, but I believe it would be helpful and sensible to treat the different metal subgenres separately because they appeal to quite different kinds of people according to my experience, or at least split them up into, say, extreme metal (plus thrash and grindcore), the more melodic stuff (including doom, prog and the like) and alternative metal/metalcore (although I fear that doesn't quite account for the difference for those who prefer very accessible metal vs. those with more avant-garde tastes).
@ Almagest: just so you know, the comments on posts over 14 days old automatically go to comment moderation, and I have to approve them before they go up. It's a spam guard thing, but that's why your first comment didn't show up right away like the ones on the other posts did.
Thanks for the insight, Allyson! :-)
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