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Heavy metal and classical music lovers not so different

Categories: Teens & tweens, That's entertainment

A girl listening to music at a libraryAre you tired of telling your heavy-metal-loving kids to "turn that noise down" and wondering how they could have turned out so utterly different from you as you settle in to listen to the Brahms Hungarian Dances or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata? Well, actually, they may not have turned out differently at all, according to a new study done by Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.

The study found a definite link between peoples' personalities and their musical preferences. And among those personalities, those of heavy metal fans and classical music lovers were surprisingly similar. The study looked at more than 36,000 people in six countries to identify the personalities that go with each genre of music. It turns out that people have more in common with those in other countries who like the same type of music than they do with neighbors who like different styles of music.

"We have always suspected a link between music taste and personality," said Adrian North, the professor behind the study. "This is the first time that we've been able to look at it in real detail. No one has ever done this on this scale before." So what does this say about people like me who enjoy just about every type of music? Split personality perhaps?

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