Researchers in Canada have studied the role music plays in people’s relationship status. According to the study, the lyrics of the songs people listen to show what they think about a relationship.
In the study, people were divided into 4 groups in terms of attachment style. These included “anxious”, who fear rejection and seek reassurance in relationships; “reserved”, who are uncomfortable being too intimate; “confident”, who have an optimistic outlook; and “mixed”, who have confusing expectations.
In the study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Staff Relationships, 570 participants were asked to sing their favorite songs. Their attachment style to a relationship and personality traits were also determined.
Approximately 7 thousand songs were then categorized according to these 4 groups.
The songs chosen by the participants were analyzed according to their attachment styles by examining the lyrics.
The findings showed that individuals in the “anxious” group preferred songs with lyrics full of anxiety, such as Adele’s famous song Someone Like You. Confident people listened to songs like The Beatles’ Love Me Do.
“I’m interested in the role music plays in people’s lives. Lyrics are important, so pay attention to them,” said Ravin Alaei, who led the study.
“They can also reveal things about your experiences in relationships that you may not have realized,” said psychologist Alaei, who argued that the lyrics of people’s favorite songs can reflect their thoughts and feelings.
Here are some of the songs mentioned in the study:
Timid Songs
Beyoncé, Irreplaceable
Chris Brown, say goodbye
N’Sync, Bye Bye Bye
Michael Jackson, Billie Jean
TLC, Scrubs
Rihanna, Take a Bow
The Weeknd, The Hills; Heartless
Anxious songs
Adele, Someone Like You
The Police, Every Breath You Take
Miley Cyrus, Wrecking Ball
Adele, hi.
U2, One
Seether, Broken
No Doubt, Speech
Bruno Mars, When I Was Your Man
Drake, Hotline Bling
Confident songs:
Sonny & Cher, I Got You Babe
Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You
The Beatles, Love Me Do
Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud
Plain White Ts, I Love You
John Legend, All of Me
Michael Bublé, We Haven’t Met Yet
Beach Boys, Wouldn’t It Be Nice
Bryan Adams, (Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Etta James, finally.
Justin Bieber, Holy
Mixed songs
Carrie Underwood, Before He Cheated
Gotye, Somebody that I Used to Know
Taylor Swift, Bad Blood
Sam Smith, I’m Not the Only One
Ne Yo, So Sick
Bonnie Raitt, I Can’t Make You Love Me
Adele, Rolling in the Deep
Rihanna ft. Drake, Work
Eminem ft. Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
