Varied Musical Experiences and Openness of University Students in Turkey and the United States

BULUT M. H., Fung C. V., Lehmberg L. J., Kındap Tepe Y., Hernly P., ÖZGÜL Y., ...More

SAGE Open, vol.12, no.4, 2022 (SSCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 12 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/21582440221139468
  • Journal Name: SAGE Open
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Keywords: applied psychology, area studies, arts & humanities, curriculum, education, educational psychology, experimental psychology, foreign languages, higher education, humanities, international education, language studies, music, personality, psychology, social psychology, social sciences
  • Ondokuz Mayıs University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The personality trait of openness has been shown to contribute to a person’s ability to function effectively. Additionally, scholars have suggested that openness to experience and foreign language experience were related to music preference. Extending from earlier scholarship, this study examined the relationship between openness to experience and the various types of musical and language experiences reported by undergraduate music majors in Turkey and the United States. Participants (N = 380) were surveyed using the Openness to Experience domain of the NEO-PI-R and an author-designed survey with questions about participants’ musical backgrounds and interests, foreign language abilities, age, and sex. Results showed that U.S. students rated significantly higher in four of the five dimensions of the Openness domain than their Turkish counterparts (Wilks’λ =.57; F(5, 374) = 55.37, p <.001). Factor analysis results showed that (a) experiences in foreign languages, (b) listening to Turkish traditional, pop, and folk music, and (c) listening to American (pop and folk) and Western classical music cumulatively explained 68.49% of the variance in openness. Correlation analyses suggested that listening to Western classical, American folk, and American pop music was associated with higher openness scores, and listening to Turkish traditional, folk, and pop music was associated with lower openness scores. Additionally, the number of foreign languages participants studied correlated with four of the dimensions. Results suggest that both groups could benefit from increased, broader, and deeper exposure to different musical genres from diverse cultures.