In recent research published in the journal Poetics, scholars Brianna N. Mack and Teresa R. Martin explored the relationship between music preferences and political partisanship. The findings suggest that music preferences can act as markers of political identity, reflecting broader societal trends where cultural consumption is increasingly intertwined with political polarization.
The motivation for Mack and Martin’s study stems from a series of incidents where musicians objected to their music being used by political figures or parties, asserting their rights to control the association of their artistic work with political ideologies. This series of objections raised questions about whether music preferences could indeed reflect deeper political leanings.
“The original interest started with Martin in my research methods course Fall 2020,” explained Mack, an assistant professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University. “She proposed the topic (relationship between music preferences and party identification) as the subject of her final paper in the course. I thought it was a very interesting idea because I often wondered if party polarization was seeping into non-political aspects of life like TV show preference and clothing choices and I enjoy the novelty of pop-culture/politics discussions.”
“I encouraged her to meet with a professor (Sean Kay) in the department who had written a book exploring the impact rock n’ roll had on politics to get his thoughts. Dr. Kay was excited about the topic and encouraged us to consider exploring the project for real. Unfortunately, Dr. Kay died suddenly two weeks after said meeting. We both resolved to do the project in his memory. To that end, Martin ran a pilot study in my public opinion course Fall 2021; I was her honors thesis advisor 2022-2023 and we worked on this project while she worked on her thesis.”
Utilizing an online survey distributed via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (mTurk) platform, the researchers collected responses from 588 participants. The survey was conducted between October 27 and November 15, 2022. Participants in the study were asked a series of questions aimed at gathering demographic information, including age, gender, and racial background, along with detailed inquiries about their political ideologies, party affiliations, and music preferences.
To delve deeper into the nuances of music preferences, the survey employed a two-step process for identifying favorite genres. Initially, respondents were asked to list the three genres they listened to most frequently. Subsequently, they were required to pinpoint the single genre they favored above others. The researchers also assessed perceptions of various music genres as “American music.”
The researchers observed a strong correlation between country music preferences and Republican Party identification. Respondents who listed country music — both old and new — as their preferred genre were more likely to identify with Republican ideologies. This association underscores the cultural and ideological alignment between the themes commonly found in country music, such as traditional values, rural life, and patriotism, and the political beliefs and values espoused by the Republican Party.
Conversely, there was a negative correlation between Democrats and country music, indicating that individuals who identify as Democrats or hold liberal views are less likely to prefer country music.
“While we expected conservatives and Republicans to prefer country music, we did not expect to see that same genre repel Democrats and liberals,” Mack said. “Neither of us are music scholars so we could not identify what is it about country music (if there’s something about the lyrics or musical arrangement) that creates that attraction/repellent for Republicans/Democrats, but we believe it boils down to party stereotypes and the demographics and trends that are associated with each party.”
On the other hand, genres like pop and rap/hip-hop were more popular among respondents who identified as Democrats. But Mack and Martin found that genres such as pop and rap/hip-hop were not as strongly correlated with Democratic Party identification as initially hypothesized. Instead, there was a noticeable preference among Democrats for classic rock and alternative genres.
The findings indicate that “even music is political and that there is a relationship between their music preferences and their partisanship,” Mack told PsyPost. “While future research (Martin’s) will ultimately determine the order of the relationship i.e. music preference influences partisanship or vice versa, the very fact a relationship exists should encourage the average person to reflect on their music tastes and their political behavior.”
Interestingly, both Republicans and Democrats identified similar genres as “American music,” including old country, new country, blues, rap, R&B, and jazz. This consensus suggests that, despite political differences, there is a shared cultural understanding of American music’s diverse landscape. However, the genres identified as American music did not always align with respondents’ personal music preferences, indicating a distinction between cultural recognition and individual taste.
But the study, like all research, includes some limitations. The sample, derived from a crowdsourcing platform, may not perfectly represent the broader population. Furthermore, the cross-sectional nature of the study means that it can only reveal associations rather than causal relationships between music preferences and political partisanship.
Future research, the researchers suggest, should aim to delve deeper into these dynamics, exploring how these relationships evolve over time and how music might actively shape political attitudes rather than merely reflecting them.
The study, “Party rocking: Exploring the relationship between music preference, partisanship, and political attitudes,” was published February 2024.