Listen to heavy metal? You may have low self-esteem: Psychologist reveals …

  • Study found that most metal fans have a strong need to be individual
  • The lower self-esteem was linked to negative attitudes towards authority
  • Earlier research found that metal fans have many personality traits in common with those who enjoy classical music

By
Ellie Zolfagharifard


PUBLISHED:

15:24 GMT, 11 November 2013


|

UPDATED:

15:25 GMT, 11 November 2013

Heavy metal music fans are often labelled as angry and unruly - but how close is this to the truth?

A study by Westminster University has attempted to find out by digging deep into what makes metal aficionados tick.

Psychologist Viren Swami asked 219 women and 195 men living in the UK to fill out surveys about their personality after listening to and rating 10 heavy metal tracks.

Slipknot

People with a strong preference for music such as Slipknot were more likely to have lower self-esteem

The research, published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, focused on contemporary metal music characterised by heavy guitar riffs, double-bass drumming, complex rhythms and extreme tempos.

By matching music preference to the personality traits, Professor Swami found that ‘openness to experience’ was a major factor in enjoying heavy metal.

US metal group Anthrax

Metal heads have a higher-than-average need for uniqueness, and lower-than-average levels of religiosity

TRAITS OF A HEAVY METAL FAN

The University of Westminster found that heavy metal fans have 4 main personality traits:

- Open to new experiences

- Low self-esteem

- A need to be individual

- Lower-than-average religiosity

Perhaps more surprising however, was the fact that those with a strong preference for metal were more likely to have lower self-esteem.

Metal heads also had a higher-than-average need for uniqueness, and lower-than-average levels of religiosity.

‘It is possible that this association is driven by underlying attitudes towards authority, which may include religious authorities,’ said the authors of the study.

‘The catharsis afforded by heavy metal may, in turn, help boost self-worth and promote positive self-evaluations among those with otherwise low self-esteem.

‘Rather than stereotyping fans as deviant, antisocial, or violent, it may be more fruitful to understand the psychological needs that contemporary heavy metal fill for some individuals,’ the researchers conclude.

Metallica lead singer James Hetfield and bassist Robert Trujillo

The research focused on contemporary metal music such as tracks by Metallica which are characterised by heavy guitar riffs, double-bass drumming, complex rhythms and extreme tempos

A separate study by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh found that lovers of heavy metal and classical music have very similar personality traits.

Unlike the Westminster University study, it found that both types tend to be creative, at ease with themselves and introverted.

Like classical lovers, metal fans verge on the obsessive about their music.

They have divided the genre into ever smaller sub-groups such as death metal, thrash metal, Christian metal, glam metal and neo-classical metal.

The Scottish study - based on online interviews as far afield as China and Chile – also revealed that many of the stereotypes about other musical tastes hold true.

Jazz fans, for instance are creative, outgoing and chilled out.

Country and Western fans are hard-working, reggae fans are laidback, punk fans are aggressive and creative, while fans of indie bands lack self-esteem.


Comments (22)

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Dave Ninetynine,

Darlington - UK,

5 minutes ago

I love metal, and I think I'm awesome (as does everyone else)... WTH is low self esteem?

Chris30,

York, United Kingdom,

21 minutes ago

And people who listen to chart music are sheep who daren't not listen to it for fear of not fitting in with their peers. See, I can do sweeping generalisations too!

firefly,

antwerpen,

22 minutes ago

it's because of their need for individuality they all dress alike, and since most of them flirt with satanism and revolt against conventional christianity i wouldn't say they are less religious then average, most of them come from christian families but felt misunderstood or suffocated there, so they react against it by listening to something antithetic to their upbringing, something their parents wouldn't approve of.

bikerbabe12,

dundee, United Kingdom,

23 minutes ago

seen slipknot seen metallica and play that mostly and its super duper cheery for me................yeha

Newtons 3rd Law,

Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom,

28 minutes ago

m/ MOTORHEAD!!!! m/

Dimitri123,

swansea, United Kingdom,

36 minutes ago

Listening to heavy metal won't make you have low self esteem. It attracts people with low self esteem because that is who it is aimed at DUH!

Evelle,

Nottingham, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

You can't really make such a wide generalisation with this kind of thing. I flit between different genres quite a bit, so what traits do I have? I don't really buy it, then again I never do with these types of studies. Oh well.

BEX,

Kent, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

m/ Metallica rule!!!!! m/

Karezza,

Lervish, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

U2 fans have low IQs, they are ugly and they never wash.

Valentina Rose,

London, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

Haha my ex listened to heavy metal. His self esteem was so low he had to boost it by sleeping around with other girls. Maybe there is some truth to it, he was a sad little loser in the end.

Totellthetruth,

Up North,

26 minutes ago

Someone is bitter and evidently has low self esteem... don't blame metal for your relationships shortcomings.

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