I recently stumbled upon an interesting article about research showing that most of the brightest people around listen to heavy metal as their music of choice to help relieve the stress and pressure that comes with being bright and talented; among those pressures is a form of anit-socialism. The study says that “more than 1,000 of the brightest five per cent of young people will come as relief to parents whose offspring, usually long-haired, are devotees of Iron Maiden, AC/DC and their musical descendants.”
Stuart Cadwallader from the University of Warwick, England said, “There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading. I think that is an inaccurate stereotype. There is literature that links heavy metal to poor academic performance and delinquency but we found a group that contradicts that.
“We are looking at a group with lower than average self-esteem that does not feel quite as well adjusted. They feel more stressed out and turn to heavy metal as a way of relieving that stress.
“Participants said they appreciated the complex and sometimes political themes of heavy metal music more than perhaps the average pop song. It has a tendency to worry adults a bit but I think it is just a cathartic thing. It does not indicate problems.”
A total of 1,057 students out of a told of 120,000 from the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth were surveyed. All of the students in the academy are in the top fifth percentile.
— Alex
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
