Ambrose Leung

Music Preferences and Civic Activism of Young People.

This study examines the relationship between music preferences and civic activism among 182 participants aged 14–24 years. Our analyses show that participants who regularly listened to certain music genres such as classical, opera, musicals, new age, easy listening, house, world music, heavy metal, punk, and ska were significantly more likely to be engaged in civic activism than those who preferred other music genres. Previous literature had shown that political expression was associated with certain music genres, but our analysis provides empirical evidence that music genres associated with political expression are related to actual participation in civic activities, not just ideology. Discussion revolved around the importance of clustering music genres and music as part of youths’ lifestyles in the context of civic activism.

Music preferences and young people's attitudes towards spending and saving

We aimed to find patterns among young peoples music preferences in relation to their attitudes towards saving or spending money. Previous research found that certain music genres (e.g. rap and dance) are associated with impulsive behaviour and a pleasure-seeking lifestyle. Other music genres (e.g. classical and oldies) are associated with more adult-approved lifestyles, such as doing well in school. Our hypotheses predicted that those who regularly listened to ‘adult-approved’ music would be likely to save money. In contrast, youths who listened to ‘anti-authority’ music were expected to be more likely to spend their money impulsively. Using data collected from 178 individuals aged 14–24 through self-report surveys, principal component analysis was used to group music genres that measure the same underlying preference. Then regression analysis was applied to examine the relationship between music preferences and attitudes towards saving or spending money. Results revealed that participants who listened to hip-hop, rap, rhythm and blues, dance, house, electronic, industrial, techno and trance (many are anti-authority types of music) reported a tendency to spend money. Those who favoured classical, opera, musicals, big band, world music, oldies, contemporary rock and alternative music (many are adult-approved types of music) were more likely to save money.

Delinquency, schooling, and work: time allocation decision of youth

This paper examines the possible factors that affect the time allocation decision of youth between delinquency, schooling, and work. Based on a joint decision model, evidence from Montreal shows that influences from different social institutions such as family, church, school, peers and the workplace are important determinants of how young people decide to spend their time on various activities. The findings provided here take into account the joint decision nature of the problem and therefore provide more precise estimates than those of the existing literature.