More science, coming at'cha! According to a study published in Plos One, researchers have found that empathetic people preferred more mellow, low-energy music, whereas people who seek to analyze patterns in the world enjoy punk, heavy metal and more complex music overall.
Researchers came to this conclusion by recruiting 4,000 participants and testing them in various ways to come up with a conclusion.
First, they were asked to complete self-reporting questionnaires with statements designed to assess whether they were "empathizers" or "systemizers" overall. For example, people were asked whether they were interested in the design and construction of car engines and separately whether they were good at predicting how people were feeling.
Participants were then subjected to 50 short pieces of music spanning 26 different styles, and asked to give each a rating between one and 10. People who scored highly on empathy were more likely to be drawn to R&B, soft rock and folk. In contrast those who score more highly on systemizing tended to like music by heavy metal bands and more complex, avant-garde jazz.
I'd like to see this taken one step further and see where the crossroads are between these two types, or how much of one personality type is in the other. Just for kicks! Personally, I like a pretty wide variety of stuff, so it really depends on my mood. I wonder if being in the mood for one type of music means that you're leaning toward one of these two moods one day?
