After the age of 16 (for them) and the age of 19 (for them) music never tastes the same again. Those sounds of adolescence shape us for life.
Many of us had already noticed this phenomenon, but now science confirms it. The music we fell in love with at 16 really has a different flavor.
A new study from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland has concluded that the deepest connections with music are formed during adolescencemore specifically at 16 for males and 19 for females.
According to research in September, the team of researchers analyzed responses from almost 2,000 participants from 84 countries. He asked them to nominate a song with personal meaning. Crossing the ages of the respondents with the release dates of the songs they selected, the scientists noticed the pattern: boys reach their peak emotional connection to music three years before girls.
The differences seem to be linked to the different way in which boys and girls consume music in adolescenceexplain the authors of the study. For many boys, the age of 15 to 17 is marked by the search for independence and the affirmation of identity. Music becomes a symbol of emancipation and self-expression, like a personal connection with the artist or band: it’s as if that music was made for us to listen to. This song is so rooted in this young boy’s identity that it emotionally ‘traps’ him for life.
In the case of women, the relationship with music tends to be more emotional and social. Music seems to work as a means of understanding, both for themselves and for others, and these deeper connections take longer to consolidate, which may explain the delay of a few years in the musical “peak”.
Over time, these patterns remain. Men, who are more nostalgic, tend to frequently return to the music that marked their youth, while women remain more receptive to new sounds.
At age 60, many men still find the greatest emotional impact in songs they heard as teenagers; Women tend to mix old memories with recent discoveries in their playlists.
So, feel more sorry for your father the next time he complains that “the old music was good”. From his perspective, it is and will be like that.
