Popular music preferences of elderly people

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1977; 14: 180-189.

Abstract: Determined the preferences of 60 elderly persons (65-95 yrs old) for popular music of the past. Results indicate that the elderly strongly prefer the popular music of their young adult years to music of their later life stages. There also seems to be a tendency for them to prefer stimulating to sedative music in all age categories. (14 ref) ABSTRACT 2: A basic premise in music therapy practice is that most adults prefer music of their young adult years to music of other life periods, and that preferred music is more likely to promote participation in music therapy activities than nonpreferred music. It is also quite commonly assumed that elderly adults tend to prefer sedative to stimulative musical experiences. In order to test these assumptions, a study was conducted (N=60) to determine (a) whether or not elderly people tend to prefer music that was popular in their young adult years and (b) whether or not elderly people prefer stimulative to sedative music. Results of the study indicated that elderly persons strongly prefer popular music of their young adult years to popular music of life periods after young adulthood (p<.001) Results also indicated that there were no statitically significant differences in preferences for sedative or stimulative music. However, the raw data showed that they tend to prefer stimulative to sedative music in all age categories.

Note: popular music preferences; 65 95 yr olds; therapeutic implications

Keyword(s): Music therapy; aesthetic preferences; music ; aged. musical-preference, popular-music, elderly, older-adults.

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