MUSIC MAKES THE PEOPLE COME TOGETHER: SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC LISTENING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS CULTURES By Diana Boer A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Victoria University of Wellington 2009 ii ABSTRACT Music is important in most people‟s lives independent of their cultural origin. Music can foster bonds between people and communicate values and identity. This thesis examined the social psychological functions of music across cultures. It investigated two social functions in detail: music preferences as expressions of personal and cultural values, and the social bonding function of shared music preferences. Furthermore, this thesis explored how these social functions relate to personal and cultural functions of music. This broader perspective offered an integration of the social functions into a holistic topography of musical functions. Six cross-cultural studies were conducted with the overarching objective to advance research on social functions of music preferences in cross-cultural contexts. Studies 1 and 2 explored the associations between music preferences and personal and cultural values drawing on Attitude-Function Theory and Expectancy- Value Theory. Study 1 revealed that preferences for global music styles (such as Rock, Pop and Classical music) were consistently associated with personal value orientations across four cultures and across two value measurements. Study 2 explored the tendency of societies to appreciate global music styles in association with their cultural values. Findings of a multicultural study and a meta-analysis confirmed that cultural values were related to societal music appreciation. Studies 1 and 2 advance our understanding of people‟s musical choices based on personal and cultural values. Studies 3 and 4 tested a novel model illuminating social bonding through shared music preferences. The model proposes that the value-expressive function of music preferences plays a crucial role in musical social bonding. Two studies supported the model empirically. A dyadic study among roommates in Hong Kong (Study 3) demonstrated that roommates who shared music preferences had similar value orientations, which contributed to perceived similarity between roommates leading to interpersonal attraction. The social perception experiment (Study 4) among German Metal and Hip-hop fans showed that shared music preference with a musical ingroup member was a robust vehicle for social bonding. In both studies, musical social bonding was facilitated by value similarity. Studies 5 and 6 offered holistic psychological investigations situating and relating individual, social, and cultural functions of music as perceived and used by culturally diverse samples. While the multicultural qualitative Study 5 identified a iii variety of personal, social and cultural functions of music, the quantitative Study 6 aimed to measure a selected number of these functions. Both studies revealed that the social bonding function of music was closely related to the value-expressive function. The social bonding function represented the centre of a holistic topography of musical functions. Its importance was independent of cultural background and socio- demographic variables in the present samples indicating universal characteristics. The findings of this thesis contribute novel perspectives to contemporary music reception research as well as cross-cultural psychology. Using an explicit cultural- comparative approach beyond previous mono-cultural social psychological research on music it advances our understanding of music in a global context. It revealed that people use music similarly across cultures for expressing values, for social bonding and for multiple other functions. This thesis underscores that music is a powerful prosocial resource. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The last three years have been an amazing experience for me, personally, academically, socially, and culturally. I would like to express by sincere gratitude to many people, without whom this thesis wouldn‟t have reached this point and without whom my PhD journey wouldn‟t have been as exciting and genial as it was. First, I would like to thank my primary supervisor Dr Ronald Fischer for sharing his astonishing enthusiasm for music, cross-cultural research, and stats. Our shared passion for my research made me feel supported and motivated the whole way through. Thanks also to my second supervisor Prof James H. Liu, who was there for me and provided comments at times when it was crucial. Many thanks to Pip Collie for proofreading my thesis with so much patience. Her comments improved the readability a lot and she discovered those little German words that sneaked into my thesis without my noticing. Thanks also to Jessie Wilson for late notice proofreading. The help of many staff members at VUW receive my gratitude. Their advice helped me numerous times: Ngaire Lavery and Jebi Jayapalan, Barry Lewis, Maria Goncalves-Rorke, Belinda Tuari and Shona de Sain. Thanks also to VUW for the financial support by awarding the PhD scholarship and the PhD submission scholarship. My gratitude goes to Prof Luanna H. Meyer and Prof Ian M. Evans who believed in me and supported my academic potentials early on. For inspiring discussions I would like to thank Prof Klaus-Ernst Behne, Prof Michael H. Bond, Prof Marilynn B. Brewer, Prof Charles T. „Chuck‟ Hill, and Dr Juniper Hill. Many thanks to Dr Mark Tarrant (Keele University, UK), Dr Kevin D. Lo (University of Auckland, New Zealand) and Dr Marc Wilson (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) for examining this thesis. I‟m not sure how I can thank the people at the cross-cultural lab CACR and their partners enough. You are my NZ family, my friends, my colleagues, my multicultural committee, my advisors in statistical, emotional and cultural issues. I cannot possibly image a better group of people to work, live and travel with. My dear friends in NZ and Germany have been encouraging and supporting me. Thanks a lot for feeding me during my late hours at uni. Thank you also for sharing your new musical discoveries with me and inviting me to concerts and festivals that inspire me and broaden my musical horizon. My Oxfam trailwalker team needs special mentioning because the trailwalker experience was possibly among the most extreme experiences in my life (the PhD comes very close after). I am more than happy that you walked with me, pushed me beyond physical boundaries I never thought were possible and for helping me to help a great charity in their work in the world‟s poorest regions. v For the help I received in my research and data collection, I would like to thank over 2000 participants for spending their time and sharing their musical experiences with me. Thanks also to Joel W. Pauling for writing a java-script for quasi- randomization for the online data collection. My great gratitude goes to my collaborators and colleagues for their tremendous help in collecting data and translating the questionnaires. Without your help this research wouldn‟t have been possible (in alphabetical order): Krupskaya M. Anonuevo, Dr Eveline Maria Leal Assmar, Ivih Katrina Barretto, Prof Allan Benedict I Bernardo, Christine Böcher, Prof Michael H. Bond, „Professor Krause‟ aka Dr Carla Crespo, Ma. Socorro Diego-Mendoza, Prof Maria Cristina Ferreira, Jimena de Garay Hernández, Ma. Luisa González Atilano, Prof Valdiney V. Gouveia, Katja Hanke, Dr Jesus Hernandez, Jason Lam, Eva Lo, Geraldine Lopez, Vivian Lun, Bro. Dennis Magbanua, Luz Moreno, Caesar Pacalioga, Dr Ronaldo Pilati, Sandra Schmidt, Marcus Schrameyer, PD Dr Micha Strack, Melanie Vauclair, Dr Jay Yacat, and Dr Markus Zenger. Finally, I would like to thank my family who provided the actual inspiration for my research on music. Thanks to my dad who made my life musical from the day I was born. Thanks to my mum whose optimism and positive approach to life inspires and guides me. Thanks to my grandmas (and grandpas who are not with us anymore) for their love and open ears and for cooking my favourite food whenever I am around (this is the best German food one can imagine). Thanks to my brother Andi, his wife Cora and their wonderful children Amanda, Emilia and Victor. Your warmth, craziness (in a good sense) and openness teach me what is important in life. Now, I would like to express the greatest gratitude to Katja. Thank you so much for being part of my life. It was the music that brought us together. Without you I wouldn‟t be where I am today – not emotionally, spiritually, geographically, nor academically. Ich liebe Dich! And on the very last note I would like to thank Madonna, who‟s song „Music‟ inspired the title of this thesis. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my brother Andi. When I was 4 or 5 years old I realised that you are the coolest brother in the whole world. This hasn‟t changed a bit. You inspire my development by providing musical and intellectual inspiration. Thank you! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................xiii LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................