The Short Test Of Music Preferences (STOMP)

Abstract

The Short Test Of Music Preferences (STOMP), often utilized in its revised format (STOMP-Revised), is a widely recognized psychometric instrument designed to rapidly assess an individual’s musical taste across major dimensions. Developed by Rentfrow and Gosling, the scale moves beyond simple genre preference to identify underlying psychological factors that structure musical choices. The instrument consists of 23 distinct music genres rated on a 7-point Likert scale, which are then aggregated into four robust dimensions: Reflective & Complex, Intense & Rebellious, Upbeat & Conventional, and Energetic & Rhythmic. The STOMP is primarily employed in psychological research to establish connections between musical preferences and broader measures of personality, cognition, and social behavior.

Keywords

music preference, STOMP, psychometrics, personality, genre, musical taste, Rentfrow, Gosling, four-factor model

Authors

Peter J. Rentfrow, Samuel D. Gosling

Purpose

The primary purpose of the STOMP is to provide a concise and reliable measure of an individual’s dispositional musical preferences. Unlike scales that focus on specific behaviors (e.g., how often one listens to music), the STOMP aims to capture the fundamental evaluative attitudes toward various musical genres. This allows researchers to use music preference as a proxy or indicator variable in studies relating to individual differences.

The development of the STOMP was crucial for establishing a standardized, cross-cultural framework for studying musical taste, moving away from idiosyncratic or culturally bound genre lists. By condensing preferences into four core dimensions, the scale facilitates hypothesis testing regarding the psychological functions and social roles of music listening.

Construct

The STOMP measures the psychological construct of structured musical preferences. This construct is defined by four orthogonal dimensions, often referred to as the R-I-U-E model, which account for the majority of variance in genre preferences. These dimensions are believed to reflect deeper psychological needs, values, and traits.

• Reflective & Complex (RC): Preferences for genres typically characterized by dynamic variation, intellectual depth, and instrumental complexity (e.g., Classical, Jazz).
• Intense & Rebellious (IR): Preferences for genres characterized by high energy, loud volume, distortion, and themes of anger or alienation (e.g., Heavy Metal, Punk).
• Upbeat & Conventional (UC): Preferences for genres that are often widely popular, simple in structure, and associated with cheerfulness or relaxation (e.g., Pop, Country).
• Energetic & Rhythmic (ER): Preferences for genres defined by strong rhythmic patterns, danceability, and high physical energy (e.g., Rap/Hip-hop, Funk).

Validity

The STOMP demonstrates strong evidence of construct validity, particularly through its consistent association with established Big Five personality traits. For instance, the Reflective & Complex dimension is often positively correlated with Openness to Experience, while the Upbeat & Conventional dimension typically correlates positively with Extraversion and Conscientiousness.

Further validation studies have confirmed the scale’s ability to predict non-musical behaviors, such as self-views, intellectual ability, and socio-political attitudes, reinforcing its utility as a measure of underlying psychological differences. The consistent recovery of the four-factor structure across diverse samples and cultures supports its cross-cultural validity, although minor variations in genre clustering may occur depending on cultural specificity.

Reliability

The STOMP exhibits acceptable to strong internal consistency (reliability) across its four dimensions, typically measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Studies generally report alpha values ranging from 0.70 to 0.85 for the Reflective & Complex and Upbeat & Conventional dimensions, which include a larger number of items. The Intense & Rebellious and Energetic & Rhythmic dimensions, having fewer items in the revised version, sometimes show slightly lower, but still adequate, reliability scores. Test-retest reliability has also been established, demonstrating the stability of an individual’s broad music preferences over time.

Factor Analysis

The structure of the STOMP is derived from extensive multivariate statistical analysis, primarily using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on large samples of participants’ genre ratings. This analysis consistently identified four primary, relatively independent factors underlying the 23 genre preferences.

Subsequent Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) has supported this four-factor model (R-I-U-E) as providing a good fit to the data, confirming that these dimensions are the most parsimonious way to categorize the broad spectrum of musical tastes measured by the instrument. This robust dimensional structure is the foundation upon which the scale’s scoring system is built.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory based on preference ratings

Format: 7-point Likert scale (ranging from 1=Dislike Strongly to 7=Like Strongly)

Language Available: English (Original), various translations available in academic literature (e.g., German, Spanish, Chinese)

Population Group: General population; frequently used with college students and adults

Age Group: Adolescents (16+) and Adults

Population Details: Requires basic familiarity with contemporary music genres.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their preference for 23 specific genres. Scores are calculated by summing the preference ratings for genres loading onto each of the four dimensions (Reflective & Complex, Intense & Rebellious, Upbeat & Conventional, Energetic & Rhythmic).

Keywords

musical genres, psychometrics, psychological testing, R-I-U-E model, music and personality, assessment scale

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not consistently provided in original documentation (Please refer to Rentfrow or Gosling’s institutional profiles for current ORCID data.)

Affiliation Email addresses: Please refer to institutional websites for current contact information (e.g., University of Cambridge for Rentfrow; University of Texas/University of Melbourne for Gosling).

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed to the primary authors’ current academic affiliations.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The STOMP scale is generally considered to be in the public domain for non-commercial academic research purposes, facilitating its widespread use in psychological studies globally. No formal fee is typically required for academic use. The foundational research leading to the STOMP and its four-factor structure was published primarily in 2003 (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003), making this the generally accepted test year for the original model. Subsequent revisions (STOMP-Revised) refined the genre list and factor loadings based on later data.

Reference’s

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The do re mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1236–1256.

The original source material for this entry points to additional resources available via the following link: http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/gosling/tipi%20site/tipi.htm

Items of the the Short Test Of Music Preferences (STOMP)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• Alternative
• Bluegrass
• Blues
• Classical
• Country
• Dance/Electronica
• Folk
• Funk
• Gospel
• Heavy Metal
• International/Foreign
• Jazz
• New Age
• Oldies
• Opera
• Pop
• Punk
• Rap/hip-hop
• Reggae
• Religious
• Rock
• Soul/R&B
• Soundtracks/theme song

Music preference dimensions scoring:

• Reflective & Complex: 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15
• Intense & Rebellious: 1, 10, 17, 21
• Upbeat & Conventional: 5, 9, 14, 16, 20, 23
• Energetic & Rhythmic: 6, 8, 18, 19, 22