Sensation seeking, music preference, and psychophysiological. reactivity to music

The personality construct sensation seeking (SS), as defined by Zuckerman, can be used as an explanation for behavioural phenomena that are widespread but little understood, such as the preference for arousing music styles. Embedded in a psychobiological theory of personality, SS is closely related to a number of biological variables. We hypothesized that participants with high levels of SS would prefer aggressive and arousing music to peaceful and relaxing music and would show attenuated psychophysiological reactivity to aggressive and arousing music. Fifty-three healthy participants (age: M = 26.5, SD = 4.04; 26 male, 27 female) took part in the study. SS was assessed using the German version of the Sensation Seeking Scale V (SSS V) Heart rate, electrodermal activity, skin temperature, and pulse volume amplitude were measured throughout the course of the whole study. After a baseline period, two musical stimuli that were carefully selected and rated in a pre-study as peaceful and relaxing (Renaissance music = RM) vs. aggressive and arousing (heavy metal = HM), respectively, were presented on two different days via headphones for 10 minutes in a randomized order. Participants with high SS scores felt significantly less activated after HM than participants with low scores. Although there was a significant effect of music (RM vs. HM) on psychophysiological reactions, SS did not influence this relationship. We therefore conclude that SS seems to be associated with the psychological experience of aggressive and arousing music, but has no physiological correlate.