Psychology

The Soundtrack of Recklessness: Musical Preferences and Reckless Behavior among Adolescents

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Adolescents with various musical preferences were compared. Adolescents who preferred hard rock or heavy metal music reported higher rates of reckless behavior, including driving while intoxicated, driving over 80 miles per hour, sex without contraception, sex with someone known only casually, drug use, shoplifting, and vandalism. Preferences for hard rock or heavy metal music were also associated with higher levels of sensation seeking, negative family relationships, and, among girls, low self-esteem. In regression analyses, sensation seeking was related to reckless behavior, whereas the relation between reckless behavior and musical preferences was no longer significant, except for sex without contraception. It was concluded that adolescents who are high in sensation seeking are attracted to hard rock and heavy metal music as well as to reckless behavior perhaps because of the high intensity of sensadon provided by these ewperiences. © 1992, SAGE PUBLICATIONS. All rights reserved.

Publication Title

Journal of Adolescent Research

Publication Date

1992

Volume

7

Issue

3

First Page

313

Last Page

331

ISSN

0743-5584

DOI

10.1177/074355489273003

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