Musical Taste and Ingroup Favouritism

Abstract

Musical taste is thought to function as a social `badge' of group membership, contributing to an individual's sense of social identity. Following from this, social identity theory predicts that individuals should perceive and behave more favourably towards those perceived to share their musical taste than towards those who do not. The findings of two studies supported these predictions. The first showed that stereotypes of the fans of different musical styles demonstrate ingroup favouritism, and the second study used the minimal group paradigm to show that individuals allocate greater rewards to those believed to share their musical taste. This suggests that those who share our musical taste are likely to be considered ingroup members, and should be subject to ingroup favouritism.