Popular music preferences of elderly people.

Abstract

A basic premise in music therapy practice is that most adults prefer music of their young adult years to music of other life periods, and that preferred music is more likely to promote participation in music therapy activities than nonpreferred music. It is also quite commonly assumed that elderly adults tend to prefer sedative to stimulative musical experiences. In order to test these assumptions about elderly persons' musical preferences, a study was conducted (N = 60) to determine: (a) whether or not elderly people tend to prefer music that was popular in their young adult years to music that was popular later in their lives; and (b) whether or not elderly people prefer stimulative to sedative music. Results of the study indicated that elderly persons strongly prefer popular music of their young adult years to popular music of life periods after young adulthood (p < .001). Results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in preferences for sedative or stimulative music. However, the raw data showed that elderly persons tend to prefer stimulative to sedative music in all age categories. The study supports the music therapy premise that adults prefer music of their young adult years, but refutes the notion that elderly persons tend to prefer sedative to stimulative music. If music preference is a factor in successful music experiences for elderly adults, then popular music of young adult years may more likely promote successful experience than popular music of later life periods.