Audience Personality and the Selection of Media and Media Genres

Abstract

The impact of personality characteristics (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism) on audiences' use of movies, television, and radio, and on genre preferences within these media was explored. Extraversion was associated positively with in-home movie viewing and with listening to urban, jazz-classical, and pop-rock music. Neuroticism was associated positively with pop-rock music listening. Psychoticism was associated negatively with watching romance and comedy films, but this relation was moderated by an interaction in that the impact of Psychoticism was most powerful among those who were also high in Neuroticism. Follow-up analyses evaluating the impact of personality within groups defined by gender and race were also carried out. The results point to the potential of incorporating audiences' perceptions of the gratifications offered by particular media into further research. These perceptions, which are likely to vary across audience groups, may contribute to how personality factors are expressed in media behavior.