Do you enjoy listening to music? What kind of music do you love? Researchers at the University of Westminster have looked at 80 guests on the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs(《荒岛唱片》). The show invites celebrities like well-known actors and film stars to choose eight songs that they would take with them to a desert island. There are no people living on it.
The researchers found that half of the songs that were chosen were linked to important memories from when the show's guests were between the ages of 10 and 30. Catherine Loveday, who led the study, and other researchers call this time the "self-defining (自我定义)period", as they think it is when people develop their sense of self.
The study found that the most common reason (17%) guests had for choosing a song was that it reminded them of someone like a parent, partner or friend. The second most common reason(16. 2%) was that the song was connected to a period of time. The third most popular reason (12. 9%) was the song's connection to life-changing moments, like finding a partner or going to college.
Loveday said the songs people listen to when they are between 10 and 30 also often influence their taste in music for years to come.
The researchers are now working on a new study that lets people create and share their own Desert Island Discs experience. Through an online survey, people are asked to choose eight songs, a book, and one luxury(奢侈品)that they would take with them to a desert island.