Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine listener response to music as a function of the personality variables measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Undergraduate nonmusic majors (N = 328) who were enrolled in music appreciation courses indicated characteristic responses to music on the Music Listener Response Scale (MLRS) (after Hedden, 1973). The MLRS contained statements that focused on responses to music that were classified as associative, cognitive, physical involvement, or enjoyment. Subjects responded to statements on a scale that ranged from “all of the time” to “none of the time.” Pearson product-moment correlations were determined between the MIMS and the Myers-Briggs variables. Significant (p < .001) correlations were found between the MLRS and sensing-intuition for the entire sample and subgroups of male and female subjects. A significant (p < .01) correlation was found between judgment-perception and the MLRS for female subjects. MBTI scores were used to identify 16 subgroups according to the 16 possible combinations among the variables. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for the MLRS composite with Myers-Briggs type as the independent variable having 16 levels. The overall F test was significant [F(15, 312) =3.06, p < .05] and accounted for 13% of the variance in the MLRS.
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