Researchers have reportedly uncovered a connection between an individual’s musical preferences and their moral values. Scientists at Queen Mary University of London and ISI Foundation in Turin, Italy, analyzed data indicating that music possesses the ability to influence perceptions of the world and behavior.
To conduct the study, machine learning techniques were employed to identify the narrative, moral valence, attitude, and emotions of each song. The research drew correlations between an individual’s musical choices and their moral compass.
Charalampos Saitis, a senior author of the study and a lecturer in digital music processing at Queen Mary University of London, emphasized the study’s compelling evidence that music preferences can serve as a window into an individual’s moral values.
The study enlisted over 1,400 participants who completed psychometric questionnaires evaluating their moral values. Participants also shared details about their favorite artists through Facebook page likes. Acoustic and lyrical features were extracted from the top five songs of each participant’s preferred artists, and algorithmic analysis predicted their moral values based on these features.
Text-processing techniques were applied to scrutinize narrative, moral values, sentiment, and emotions in lyrics. Spotify-provided audio features were used to better understand encoded information in participants’ musical preferences.
Results revealed that pitch and tone were critical predictors for values related to care and fairness, while sentiments and emotions expressed in lyrics were more effective in predicting traits associated with loyalty, authority, and purity.
Lead author Vjosa Preniqi, a doctoral student at Queen Mary’s, commented that the findings demonstrate music’s profound impact as a medium that reflects and shapes individuals’ moral sensibilities. The study concludes that music transcends mere entertainment, becoming a powerful influence on moral values.
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