People who listen to heavy metal music during their youth are statistically more likely to be “significantly happier” and “better adjusted currently” than their peers, a new study has revealed.
The research, a study called Three Decades Later: The Life Experiences and Mid-Life Functioning of 1980s Heavy-Metal Groupies, Musicians & Fans, was published in the Self & Identity periodical, a psychology journal.
Researchers carried out interviews with 377 people, 154 of whom identified as heavy metal fans during the 1980s. While these music fans were found to have had led “traumatic and risky ‘rock-and-roll’ lives,” they also scored better than their peers at having a sense of identity. They also had a notably stronger sense of community, which helped bolster their ability to combat any “negative outcomes” of their lifestyles.
"Fans and musicians alike felt a kinship in the metal community, and a way to experience heightened emotions with like-minded people," the researchers claim.
The results of the work stand sternly in contrast with the widely-held opinions in British society regarding heavy metal music and its fandom, particularly during the 1980s, when bands were often forced to go to court to defend their music.
