What does your musical preference reveal about your moral values?

Yes, people’s musical preferences can reveal a lot about who they are.

A recent study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE and conducted by researchers at Queen Mary University of London in conjunction with the ISI Foundation in Turin, Italy, revealed an intriguing connection between musical preferences of people and their moral values.

Using advanced machine learning techniques, researchers delved into analyzing the lyrics and sonic characteristics of 1,480 participants’ favorite songs.

Are there links between musical taste and personal values?

Surprisingly, scholars discovered that specific elements of songs – such as musical pitch, timbre, feelings and emotions expressed in the lyrics – offered clues about individual moral values, such as care, justice, loyalty, purity and authority.

The study involved analyzing the top five songs from each participant’s favorite artists, obtained through likes on the website. Facebookusing the Like Youth research application.

The analysis of the lyrics was carried out with the help of VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner), while moral valence was assessed using the Moral Strength tool.

Regarding the melody, the Spotify API provided information about the timbre and volume of each song.

The study explores the complex relationship between music, emotions and behavior – Image: Getty Images/Reproduction

Vjosa Preniqi, a researcher at Queen Mary University and lead author of the study, highlighted that the results could influence future music-based interventions and treatments, promoting positive moral development.

According to her, the research revealed music not just as entertainment, but as a powerful medium that reflects and influences people’s moral sensibilities.

Although the results bring fascinating discoveries about the relationship between music and morality, it is important to highlight that the study does not establish judgments about musical genres and was based only on songs in English for the analyses.

The study therefore opens doors to a deeper understanding of the impact of music on our moral perception, inviting us to rethink the relationship between the sounds we love and the values ​​we defend.