Music and adolescent identity

This paper reports four studies which investigated the function of musical preference as an identifying 'badge' by which adolescents express their own selfconcepts and make judgements of others. Studies 1 and 2 indicated that older and younger adolescents, respectively, hold normative expe...

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Main Authors: North, Adrian, Hargreaves, David
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 1999
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44043
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author North, Adrian
Hargreaves, David
author_facet North, Adrian
Hargreaves, David
author_sort North, Adrian
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper reports four studies which investigated the function of musical preference as an identifying 'badge' by which adolescents express their own selfconcepts and make judgements of others. Studies 1 and 2 indicated that older and younger adolescents, respectively, hold normative expectations about the values and characteristics of fans of particular musical styles. Study 3 showed that 13-14- and 18-19-year-olds hold normative expectations which influence their perception of thelikely social consequences (e.g. having fewer friends) of being a fan of particular musical styles. The final study investigated hypotheses generated by the results of Studies 1-3. It demonstrated a positive relationship between adolescents' musical preference, self-concept, self-esteem, and normative expectations of the 'typical' fans of musical styles. This study also indicated that adolescents favour people who like the same musical style as they do, without necessarily denigrating those who do not. In conjunction, these studies provide empirical support for the notion that musical preference actsas a 'badge of identity' during adolescence, which predicts several other aspects of lifestyle and attitude.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-440432017-09-13T14:04:52Z Music and adolescent identity North, Adrian Hargreaves, David This paper reports four studies which investigated the function of musical preference as an identifying 'badge' by which adolescents express their own selfconcepts and make judgements of others. Studies 1 and 2 indicated that older and younger adolescents, respectively, hold normative expectations about the values and characteristics of fans of particular musical styles. Study 3 showed that 13-14- and 18-19-year-olds hold normative expectations which influence their perception of thelikely social consequences (e.g. having fewer friends) of being a fan of particular musical styles. The final study investigated hypotheses generated by the results of Studies 1-3. It demonstrated a positive relationship between adolescents' musical preference, self-concept, self-esteem, and normative expectations of the 'typical' fans of musical styles. This study also indicated that adolescents favour people who like the same musical style as they do, without necessarily denigrating those who do not. In conjunction, these studies provide empirical support for the notion that musical preference actsas a 'badge of identity' during adolescence, which predicts several other aspects of lifestyle and attitude. 1999 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44043 10.1080/1461380990010107 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle North, Adrian
Hargreaves, David
Music and adolescent identity
title Music and adolescent identity
title_full Music and adolescent identity
title_fullStr Music and adolescent identity
title_full_unstemmed Music and adolescent identity
title_short Music and adolescent identity
title_sort music and adolescent identity
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44043