THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSICAL TRAINING, FAMILIARITY, PERSONALITY AND MUSIC PREFERENCES AMONG MALAYSIAN STUDENTS

This study examined the extent to which musical training, familiarity, and personality predict music preferences among Malaysian secondary school students. Subjects were 381 16-year-old Malaysian secondary school students from Pasir Gudang, Johor divided into two groups, i.e. those with musical training and those without musical training. The subjects listened to forty music excerpts from eight genres, including Malaysian Pop, Western Pop, Malaysian Hip-Hop, Western Hip-Hop, Malaysian R&B, Western R&B, Malaysian Rock, and Western Rock. Only vocal excerpts were utilised, with tempos ranging from 140 to 180 beats per minute. Subjects completed three questionnaire sections. Section A was demographic information; Section B consisted of the music preference inventory (MPI) and familiarity rating scale; and Section C was the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Results showed that musical training had a strong influence on music preference. Subjects with musical training obtained higher mean scores for each music genre preference. Familiarity was also strongly correlated with music preferences. Each of the Big Five personality dimensions was also positively correlated with every music genre preference. In conclusion, musical training, familiarity, and personality play a crucial role in music preference decisions.