A preliminary study by a New York University team seems to show a link between musical preferences and psychopathic traits ad identified by the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale. Contrary to stereotypical psychopaths like Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Lecter, there is no particular fondness for classical music. In the study where 200 people listened to 260 songs, those with the highest psychopath scores were among the greatest fans of R&B group Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Fans of The Knack’s “My Sharona” and Sia’s “Titanium” were among the least psychopathic. Intrigued by the results so far, the researchers plan to launch a major study involving thousands of people across the psychopathy spectrum. The goal is to determine if it may be possible to identify psychopaths by their playlists.
