Understanding the relationship between personality and movie-watching preferences in university students : a quantitative study

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate in a university population in Malta whether there is a link between one’s personality and movie preferences. Based on what literature has revealed about both dimensions of the study, it was decided that the Big Five factor model would be used to assess personality and that data would be collected regarding one’s movie-watching frequency, context, motivation, genre and type. An online questionnaire was distributed among university students in order to collect the data, using the International Personality Item Pool as a personality test and a specially designed section to inquire about movie preferences. The data, collected from 239 respondents, was then inputted in a statistical analysis software for analysis. High scorers on Openness were found to watch movies for their value and to prefer arthouse over mainstream movies, as were high scorers on Extraversion. Several other significant correlations were found between Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism and Openness and several genres of movies, confirming the relationship between personality and the movies one chooses to watch. These results, while very revealing, indicated a big need for future research on this link.