Psychologist Says: iPod Most Played Songs More Telling Than Bedroom

9:37 am, November 27th, 2008, Nicole Martinelli

If a woman plays soft jazz when you come over but the top 25 played songs on her iPod are death metal, she’s not showing her true self.

The warning comes from psychologist Sam Gosling, author of “SNOOP: What Your Stuff Says About You.”

In this guide for men who want an excuse to pry, Gosling reckons her playlists will reveal whether you’ve hooked up with a potentially dangerous harpy and haven’t noticed yet.

His advice:
“Look for variety not quantity. Also note the differences between the music on her iPod’s top 25 most played list vs. the music she has playing when you visit. Jazz, classical or blues suggests openness; country, pop and soundtracks suggest she is more extraverted and possibly nicer.”

The book offers a charts to use while you snoop to guage for extravertedness, neuroticism and agreeableness. On page 186 (via Amazon reader) he maintains that a peek on a the “most played” tunes on an iPod is “more telling than a bedroom visit.”

Intriguing. But it would take some serious sleuthing and expertise to understand someone from playlists. For example I’ve got a nano that just offers rowdy gym music while an older pod is entirely loaded up with wonky non-fiction audio books. Where’s that on the neurotic scale?

(Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to Balladist on Flickr).
Via Houston Chronicle

Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPod, iPod Touch | Comment on this article

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About the author

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. Since 1999, she's been tapping away at zoomata. You can also find her on Facebook, Linked in and Twitter.

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5 comments

I think you can tell a lot about a person by their Top 25 list. This isn’t just for dating: I picked on a friend because one of Britney’s songs was her top song in the listing. She blushed, which said a lot.

NewtonPoetry, on November 28th, 2008 at 8:17 am

um, Creepy. Although this is an interesting “what does my playlist say about me” exercise, and I’m a firm believer in “show me your iPod, I want to learn more about you”. But this seems like a super stalker-esque “while you’re peeing, I’m going to snoop around your computer” thing.

xJane, on November 28th, 2008 at 9:46 am

Or maybe she is just smart enough to know that Miles Davis is far more romantic than Nine Inch Nails. I would be more worried if she was playing metal than something more intimately inclined like jazz or classical. And I would be impressed that she was open to variety, spontaneity, and subtlety, ESPECIALLY if her most played were metal songs and I walk into John Coltrane.

Good grief. Talk about jumping to conclusions.

Joe

Joseph Futral, on November 29th, 2008 at 6:33 am

Get a life