Love Eminem’s music? You may have psychopathic tendencies

A study found that fans of Eminem’s song Lose Yourself or Blackstreet’s No Diggity are more likely to have psychopathic tendencies than those who listen to classical music.

If you are a fan of Eminem’s music, than there is some bad news for you. A new study compared volunteers’ tastes in music with their scores on a personality test to see if there was any correlation between music preference and psychopathic traits. The researchers played 260 songs for 200 people and found that those with the highest psychopathic scores were big fans of Eminem’s Lose Yourself and Blackstreet’s No Diggity, according to News.com.au.

The participants who were fans of The Knack’s My Sharona and Sia’s Titanium had the lowest psychopathic scores. The study is attempting to find a way to easily identify psychopaths without them knowing, which researchers say could help make sure they don’t get to a position where they can abuse others, whether physically or emotionally. Approximately one per cent of the general population fits the description of a psychopath and about one in five prisoners are identified as having the psychological disorder.

The participants were all young and educated but came from different ethnic and economic groups. Researchers had them take the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, a widely accepted personality test developed in 1995 designed to identify psychopathy. The study’s lead author, Pascal Wallisch, stressed that the study was preliminary but hopes the initial findings will serve as a launch pad for a much larger study, where they can interview thousands of diagnosed psychopaths about their taste in music.

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