The Unexpected Genre Of Music That’s Linked To High IQ

Tuning In

The music we like says a lot about us. It's a type of personality profile that can give us a look at a person's preferences, outlook, and sometimes even aesthetics. Of course, you can't understand someone's entire self solely based on the music they enjoy, but it's a quick and easy way to get an idea of what someone might be like.

However, there are some other connections to be made between someone's musical preferences and the details of their personality, some that might be rather surprising.

Levels Of Intelligence

You can potentially link somebody's IQ to the type of music they like. Well, there's one studied case of it, anyway.

The study, published by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and authored by Dr. Stuart Cadwallader, found that people with higher IQs are more likely to turn to one genre of music when they need to destress, but it's not the genre you're thinking of. Many people associate jazz or classical music with intelligence, but the reality could not be more different.

A Surprising Pick

It's heavy metal music.

The study surveyed 1,057 students at the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth in the U.K., meaning children ages 11-18 who are in the top 5% academically made up their demographic.

The generally preferred genre among these students was rock, but over one-third had heavy metal in their top five, with 6% of students listing it as their favorite genre. However, when asked about music that helps them deal with stress, heavy metal was the top billing.

An Escape From It All

Not only that but classical music and jazz were the least popular genres among these same students.

But what makes metal so popular?

Dr. Cadwallader said that the young people surveyed enjoy the more complex nature of the music, as well as the deeper, sometimes political themes that are explored in the metal genre more so than mainstream music. There's also the idea that young, gifted students may feel an alienating difference between themselves and the rest of society, another topic that's covered a lot within metal and shared among those in alternative music subcultures.

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Finding Familiarity

Some students also said that they prefer to get their frustrations out physically by jumping or thrashing around, both things that heavy metal facilitates rather well.

Dr. Cadwallader vouched for music's ability to be a refuge for these hard-working students, "Perhaps the pressures associated with being gifted and talented can be temporarily forgotten with the aid of music. As one student suggests, perhaps gifted people may experience more pressure than their peers and they use the music to purge this negativity."

Under The Surface

These findings are fascinating as they dispel a few stereotypes all at once. There's the one already discussed, the idea that intelligent people greatly prefer classical or jazz music, but it's also the idea that heavy metal and other alternative music genres breed angry, rebellious, or even unintelligent people.

So, yes, while music can give us a loose idea of what someone's personality might be like, you should never just leave it there. There is so much more to learn about every person you meet and every genre of music you hear. Dig deep into both!

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