MUSICAL PREFERENCES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND THE CORRELATION OF THESE PREFERENCES WITH AGGRESSIVENESS

Abstract

Current research findings indicate that there are strong connections between individuals' musical preferences and their various personality characteristics. The close relationship between an individual's personality and his/her musical likes and preferences makes us think that these preferences interact with behaviors, which are an extension of the individual's personality traits. This interaction shows itself not only in positive dimensions but also in negative ones. Aggressiveness is a part of personal characteristics and individual behaviors. This study was carried out to discover university students' musical preferences within the framework of various demographic, socio-cultural and musical variables and the correlation between these preferences and aggressive behaviors. Individual and relational screening models were utilized in this study. The study was carried out with 308 students studying at different faculties of Selcuk University. As the data collection tools, the researchers used 'personal information form,' intended for discovering learners' musical preferences and the correlation between these preferences and various variables and 'aggression scale' intended for determining the level of aggressiveness. According to the findings of the study, music type preferences of the learners and their families are similar. Students reported that both musical factors and lyrics were influential in their preferences and they prefer the music types which they find intimate. It is seen that the students had different mean scores for different music types in relation to aggressiveness dimensions. While oral aggressiveness, rage, hostility and indirect aggressiveness do not differ based on preferred type of music, physical aggressiveness significantly differ based on preferred type of music. Key words: University students, music preferences, personality characteristics, aggressiveness