music and life.

It's an easily intuited truth that music for my generation is as much about proclaiming your sense of self as it is about melodies and lyrics. This creates a situation where the newness and obscurity of a band is, unfortunately, sometimes its most admirable quality.

This phenomena has been studied by psychologists from various angles.

Most people's music preferences fall into one of four broad categories: "reflective and complex," "intense and rebellious," "upbeat and conventional" and "energetic and rhythmic," according to a 2003 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The categories include various genres of music. "Reflective and complex," for example, covered classical, jazz, blues and folk, while "upbeat and conventional" covered country, religious, soundtrack and pop. They correlated significantly with a variety of personal traits. People who listen to "reflective and complex" music were shown to be more open to new experiences, and have a higher verbal ability, self-perceived intelligence and political liberalism, while people who listen to "upbeat and conventional" music score highly on extraversion, self-perceived physical attractiveness, athleticism and political conservatism.

People also use music to inform others about themselves. This was the subject of a more recent study from last year that showed people's perception of you can change based on what's on your iPod.

It's just so interesting how, now more than ever due to the omnipresence of media and music, what you listen to defines you. It changes how people see you. It changes how you feel. It changes how you act. It's a powerful, powerful tool.

So this is why depressed teens shouldn't listen to Bright Eyes.
And why people straining to stay true to their moral compass should avoid T-Pain.
And why Nickelback should be locked up for life.