Musical Preferences of Croatian and Bosnian Students

Snjezana Dobrota, Martina Glavas and Cubric Dubravka
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split

Abstract

The paper investigates whether the preferences of primary school students from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina differ with regard to gender and age, and whether there is a connection between familiarity of music and preferences for music fragments. As part of the research, a general data questionnaire and an assessment scale were used to examine the preferences of music fragments in a sample of 253 participants, second, third, seventh and eighth grade primary school students from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results show the existence of differences in the preferences of classical music with regard to gender and age, with female students, compared to male students, and younger students, compared to older male students, showing higher preferences for classical music. A significant interaction of gender and age on classical music preferences was found. Furthermore, the results show that students do not differ in their preferences for world music, while a difference is observed with regard to age, with younger students, compared to older students, showing greater preferences for this musical style. A significant interaction of gender and age on world music preferences was found. And, finally, it was confirmed that students show higher preferences of known musical fragments compared to musical fragments unknown to them. The obtained results represent a significant contribution to the study of musical preferences from the aspect of music psychology and music pedagogy. Key words: musical preferences, world music, classical music, music teaching.

Presentation