Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop
Style Preferences and
Externalizing Problem
Behavior
Youth & Society
Volume 39 Number 4
June 2008 435-452
© 2008 Sage Publications
10.1177/0044118X07308069
http://yas.sagepub.com
hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com
A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study
Maarten H. W. Selfhout
Marc J. M. H. Delsing
Tom F. M. ter Bogt
Wim H. J. Meeus
Utrecht University, Netherlands
This study examines (a) the stability of Dutch adolescents’ preferences for
heavy metal and hip-hop youth culture styles, (b) longitudinal associations
between their preferences and externalizing problem behavior, and (c) the
moderating role of gender in these associations. Questionnaire data were
gathered from 931 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18 years in two
waves with a 2-year interval. Results suggest that preferences for heavy metal
and hip-hop youth culture styles are moderately stable over a 2-year period.
Preference for the hip-hop style was found to predict later externalizing problems in both boys and girls. Preference for the heavy metal style predicted
later externalizing problems exclusively in boys. Adolescents’ externalizing
problems did not predict later preferences for hip-hop or heavy metal.
Keywords: heavy metal; hip-hop; youth culture style preferences; externalizing problem behavior; adolescents
C
ontemporary ethnographic and empirical studies provide compelling
evidence that adolescent peer culture is made up of a disparate set of
youth cultural groups (Bennet, 2001; Hebdige, 1979) or crowds (Brown &
Lohr, 1987; Brown, Mory, & Kinney, 1994). Some of these youth cultural
groups are crystallized around shared preference for specific pop-musical
Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to Maarten H. W. Selfhout, Research Centre
Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands;
phone: 0031 64 714 29 94; fax: 0031 30 253 77 31; e-mail: m.h.w.selfhout@fss.uu.nl.
435
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Youth & Society
genres (Miranda & Claes, 2004). Over the past decades, adolescents’ affiliation with two of these youth cultural styles, heavy metal and hip-hop, has
raised concern among educators, health professionals, and parents. The
potentially harmful effects of the louder, brasher varieties of hip-hop and
heavy metal were widely publicized and debated in public media. Research
among American, Canadian, and Australian adolescents has addressed this
issue and indeed provided some empirical evidence for the link between music
preferences, youth cultural orientations, and adolescent adjustment (Miranda
& Claes, 2004; Urberg, Degirmencioglu, Tolson, & Halliday-Scher, 2000).
However, the modeling of the development of the association between
youth cultural affiliations and problems is hampered by the fact that nearly
all research in this field is made up of cross-sectional studies. Our line of
inquiry extends previous research by examining the full reciprocal longitudinal associations between adolescents’ youth cultural style preferences
and externalizing problems in a large Dutch sample of adolescents.
Music plays an important role in the lives of adolescents (Zillmann &
Gan, 1997), and shared music preference is one of the key elements in the
formation of youth culture groups (Miranda & Claes, 2004; ter Bogt, 2004).
Some youth cultures even derive their names from a specific music genre,
for example, “rockers,” “punks,” “metal kids,” and “ravers.” These musical youth
cultures are believed to provide adolescents with values, beliefs, and social
identities (Arnett, 1995; Bennet, 2001; Tarrant, North, & Hargreaves, 2001).
Apart from the potentially positive aspects of adolescents’ identification
with certain music subcultures, it has been argued that certain subcultures
may have deleterious effects on adolescents’ adjustment. In particular, adolescents’ preferences for heavy metal and hip-hop have raised considerable
concern, as some of the subgenres of these broad musical styles frequently
refer to controversial issues such as violence, suicide, Satanism, lewd sex,
rebellion, and substance use (Christenson & Roberts, 1998; Lacourse,
Claes, & Villeneuve, 2001).
Research on links between adolescents’ youth culture style preferences
and adjustment suggests that preferences for heavy metal and hip-hop may
indeed be associated with a range of problem behaviors (Miranda & Claes,
2004; Urberg et al., 2000). U.S., Canadian, and Australian research have
found that heavy metal fans report more hostile attitudes (especially against
women), delinquency, aggression, drug and alcohol use, and reckless
behavior than other adolescents (Arnett, 1991, 1993; Martin, Clarke, &
Pearce, 1993; Scheel & Westefeld, 1999; Singer, Levine, & Jou, 1993; Took
& Weiss, 1994; Urberg et al., 2000). For example, Martin et al. (1993)
found that Australian heavy metal fans reported higher levels of risk-taking
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behaviors and delinquency than their pop-oriented peers. Several studies
performed in these same countries found that rap fans also exhibit more
externalizing behavior such as drug use, engagement in unsafe sex, aggression,
and delinquency than other adolescents (Ballard & Coates, 1995; Miranda
& Claes, 2004; Took & Weiss, 1994; Urberg et al., 2000). For example,
Miranda and Claes (2004) reported that a preference for rap music among
Canadian adolescents predicted several types of delinquency, even when
statistically controlling for frequency of violent media consumption and
delinquency of peers.
Youth Culture Preferences Precede Externalizing Behavior
Several theoretical perspectives can be found in discussions about mechanisms behind associations between youth culture style preferences and
externalizing problems. One line of reasoning is that adolescents’ youth
culture style preferences influence their behaviors. According to the
sociocognitive perspective, a preference for music styles with antisocial
content activates antisocial schemas, which may in turn lead to actual antisocial behavior (Hansen, 1995; Miranda & Claes, 2004). In support of the
sociocognitive hypothesis, several experimental studies have revealed that
exposure to heavy metal and hip-hop music and music videos may increase
the prevalence of several externalizing problems (Barongan & Hall, 1995;
Hansen & Hansen, 1990; Johnson, Jackson, & Gatto, 1995; Wester, Crown,
Quatman, & Heesacker, 1997). For example, Johnson et al. (1995) found
that males exposed to violent rap music videos expressed more acceptance
of the use of violence than those who had seen nonviolent videos or no
videos at all.
Several other processes have been proposed to account for the effect of
adolescents’ youth cultural style preferences on their behaviors. First, there
may be a tendency for someone to conform to the perceived deviant
lifestyle and behavioral characteristics of the youth culture style with which
he or she most identifies, regardless of whether this person actually interacts with members of that crowd (Sussman et al., 1994). Second, if adolescents are actual members of a clique (i.e., friendship group) embedded
within a certain youth culture style group, they may conform to perceived
group norms (Brown et al., 1994). Third, the desire to be affiliated with a
certain youth culture style may guide adolescents toward deviant behaviors
(Brown et al., 1994).
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Externalizing Behavior Predicts Youth Culture
Orientation and Choice of Peers
Another line of reasoning is that effects run the opposite direction, from
adolescents’ adjustment to their youth culture style preferences. According
to the sociocognitive perspective, deviant behaviors tend to guide adolescents toward preferences for nonmainstream youth cultures (Miranda &
Claes, 2004). Roe (1995) argued that academic problems and deviant behaviors
in Swedish adolescents might result in a preference for music with antisocial
themes. Several U.S. studies have also suggested that adolescents with more
problems may indeed choose to affiliate themselves with nonmainstream
youth cultures and peers facing or acting out the same types of problems
(Arnett, 1991; Bleich, Zillmann, & Weaver, 1991; Carpentier, Knobloch, &
Zillmann, 2003; Dollinger, 1993; Gardstrom, 1999; Hansen & Hansen,
1991; McNamara & Ballard, 1999). For example, Gardstrom (1999) found
that juvenile delinquents consider their preference for deviant music to mirror
reality, rather than cause their deviant behavior. From the sociocognitive
perspective, it is thus hypothesized that attitudinal and behavioral patterns
that tend to be problematic propel young people toward music that reflects
these ideas and behaviors.
This Study
A major limitation of most studies that have investigated associations
between adolescents’ cultural preferences and their adjustment is their use
of cross-sectional designs. Consequently, little is known about the stability of
adolescents’ cultural preferences over time. Furthermore, a cross-sectional
design does not allow definite conclusions to be drawn on the direction of
effects between youth culture preferences and adolescents’ adjustment. An
isolated cross-sectional correlation may indicate that youth culture preferences influence problem behavior (e.g., the sociocognitive perspective), that
problem behavior influences youth culture preferences (e.g., the psychosocial
perspective), or that both are bidirectionally related. Studies examining full
reciprocal associations over longer periods of time are more suitable for
determining the nature of the relationships between youth culture preferences
and adolescents’ externalizing problem behavior. In this study, a cross-lagged
panel design (see Method section) was used to examine the stability of adolescents’ cultural preferences over time and the longitudinal associations
between them and adolescents’ externalizing problem behavior.
A second limitation of studies performed to date is that links between youth
culture style preferences and externalizing problems have been investigated
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almost exclusively in North American and Australian adolescents. The extent
to which the findings of these studies apply to other cultural contexts is
unclear. This study has used data from a sample of adolescents living in the
Netherlands, which can be used to cross-culturally test the generalizability
of these associations.
A final limitation of previous research is that most studies did not
systematically investigate gender differences. U.S. and Canadian studies
suggest that females may be a small, vulnerable group in nonmainstream
youth cultures, because it is more socially acceptable for boys to prefer
deviant musical youth cultures (Lacourse et al., 2001; ter Bogt, 2003). For
example, Lacourse et al. (2001) found that Canadian female heavy metal
fans reported feeling more alienation and anomie and had a higher risk of
suicide than their male peers. Accordingly, the final aim of this study was
to examine the moderating role of gender in longitudinal links between
youth culture style preferences and externalizing problems.
Research Questions
In summary, this study sought to answer the following questions:
1. How stable are Dutch adolescents’ preferences for the heavy metal and
hip-hop youth culture styles over time? It has been suggested that youth
culture style is a relatively stable feature of adolescent life (e.g., ter Bogt,
2000), and it was therefore expected that at least moderate (ß > .40, see
Cohen, 1988) stability would be found for adolescents’ style preferences
over a 2-year period.
2. To what extent do Dutch adolescents’ preferences for youth culture styles
predict later externalizing problem behavior, and to what extent does externalizing problem behavior predict later preferences for youth culture
styles? Based on the empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives
above, two contrasting hypotheses could be formulated, because different
paradigms take different temporal sequences into account in modeling
associations between youth culture style preferences and problem behavior:
Youth culture style preferences may predict externalizing behavior or
externalizing behavior may predict youth culture style preferences.
3. What role does gender play in longitudinal links between Dutch adolescents’ cultural styles and externalizing problem behavior? Previous research
(e.g., Lacourse et al., 2001) has suggested that girls in nonmainstream
groups may be particularly at risk of developing problem behaviors, and
therefore the effects of preferences for both nonmainstream youth culture
styles on externalizing problems were expected to be more pronounced
for girls.
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Method
Procedure
Data from this study came from 12 schools participating in two waves
of the CONAMORE 2001-2006 longitudinal study (CONflicts And
Management Of Relationships; Meeus et al., 2002). The time interval
between the first and second wave was 2 years. Parents and students received
a letter describing the aims of the study and giving information about the
option of not participating. If students elected to participate, they were
required to provide written informed consent. Less than 1% decided not to
participate. Written informed consent was also obtained from all of the participating schools. Participants completed a series of questionnaires in their
classrooms after school hours. Research assistants who attended administration of the questionnaires gave verbal instructions about completing
them; written instructions were also included. Students absent on the day of
testing were not assessed. Participants received €10 for completing the
questionnaires.
Participants
The sample of 931 adolescents included 52.3% boys and 47.7% girls,
who were between 11 and 18 years of age (M = 13.65, SD = 2.06). The
majority were Dutch (87.4%, N = 814), and 12.6% were ethnic minorities
(N = 117); 23.9% of the adolescents were enrolled in high schools preparing
them for lower level tertiary education or lower level jobs, and 76.1% were
in high schools preparing them for college or university education. The
educational levels of the fathers and mothers of the adolescents were as
follows: 23.1% and 31.2% had finished only primary or high schools, 36.2%
and 39.4% had finished lower secondary education, and 40.6% and 29.4%
had finished college or university education, respectively.
Subject Attrition
Of the original 1,007 adolescents, 931 completed the questionnaires in
both waves (92%). No differences were found between the attrition and the
nonattrition groups with regard to gender, age, youth culture style preferences,
or externalizing problem behavior.
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Measures
Self-report measures pertaining to adolescents’ youth culture style preferences and externalizing problems were administered.
Youth Culture Style Preferences
Adolescents’ youth culture style preferences were assessed on the basis
of two measures pertaining to crowd identification and musical preferences.
Adolescents’ crowd affiliation was assessed by means of the Peer Crowd
Identification Questionnaire (PCIQ; ter Bogt, 2000). The PCIQ includes 10
items related to contemporary youth subcultures in the Netherlands.
Participants were asked to indicate on 5-point Likert-type scales the extent
to which they identified with each of the crowds listed (1 = not at all like
me, 5 = completely like me). In this study, only responses on the items
“heavy metal fans” and “hip-hop fans” were analyzed, whereas the other
items served to disguise the purpose of the study. Previous studies have
shown that self-identification of crowd membership is as valid a measure of
affiliation patterns as traditional reports based on a select group of expert
adolescent participants (Urberg et al., 2000).
Musical preferences were assessed with the Musical Preference Questionnaire
(MPQ; Sikkema, 1999). The MPQ includes 11 items related to well-known
musical genres. Participants were asked to indicate on 5-point Likert-type
scales the extent to which they liked each of the 11 genres listed (1 = very
bad, 5 = very good). Only the items “heavy metal” and “hip-hop” were used
in this study. The other items again served to disguise the purpose of the
study. Correlations between PCIQ and MPQ items measuring heavy metal
were .45 and .48 at Wave 1 and Wave 2, respectively. Correlations between
PCIQ and MPQ items measuring hip-hop preferences were .46 and .42 at
Wave 1 and Wave 2, respectively.
Externalizing Problem Behavior
Adolescents’ externalizing problem behavior was assessed with three
measures pertaining to adolescents’ direct and indirect aggression and
delinquency. Direct and indirect aggression were assessed with two scales of
the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scales (DIAS; Björkqvist, Lagerspetz, &
Österman, 1992): direct (5 items; e.g., I kick someone) and indirect (12 items;
e.g., I tell bad or false stories about someone) aggression. Participants were
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asked to indicate on 4-point scales how often they display the behavior
described when they are mad at someone in their class (1 = never, 4 = very
often). A total score for each type of aggression was computed by adding
up responses to the items. Good validity and reliability have been reported
for the DIAS (Björkqvist et al., 1992). Delinquency was measured with a
questionnaire used and tested in a previous study (Baerveldt, Van Rossem,
& Vermande, 2003). Participants were asked to indicate on 4-point scales
how many times they had committed 23 minor offenses, such as shoplifting, petty theft, vandalism, and unarmed fights, in the previous 12 months
(1 = never, 2 = once, 3 = two or three times, 4 = four times or more). A total
score was computed by adding the responses to each item. In this sample,
reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) was .90 and .87 for indirect aggression, .87
and .83 for direct aggression, and .89 and .85 for delinquency, for the first
and second waves, respectively.
Strategy for Analysis
Figure 1 shows the general cross-lagged model used to determine the
stability of youth culture style preferences as well as the effects of youth
culture style preferences on externalizing problems and vice versa. An
important feature of the cross-lagged panel design is that one controls for
the initial correlation between the two variables, while estimating the crosslagged and stability effects (i.e., effects of variables on themselves over
time). Due to its strengths, the design was classified as “quasi-experimental”
in the well-known evaluation by Campbell and Stanley (1966).
Scores on the scales for direct and indirect aggression and delinquency
were used as indicators of a latent variable representing adolescents’ externalizing problem behavior. Scores on the PCIQ item “heavy metal fans”
and the MPQ item “heavy metal” were used as indicators of a latent variable representing a heavy metal style preference. Scores on the PCIQ item
“hip-hop fans” and the MPQ item “hip-hop” were used as indicators of a
latent variable representing a hip-hop style preference. The loadings of the
indicators of the youth culture style preference variables and the externalizing problem behavior variable at Wave 1 were constrained to be equal to
the corresponding loadings at Wave 2. Separate models were specified for
each of the three youth culture style preference variables. The Amos
(Arbuckle, 1997) structural equation modeling (SEM) program was used to
test the two models. Multiple group analyses were performed to test for
gender differences. Missing data were imputed using the relative means
substitution approach developed by Raaijmakers (1999).
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Figure 1
General Cross-Lagged Model for the Bidirectional Effects
Between Adolescents’ Youth Culture Style Preferences
and Externalizing Problem Behavior
E1
E2
T1 Indirect
Aggression
T1 Direct
Aggression
E3
T1 Delinquency
E4
E5
T2 Indirect
Aggression
T2 Direct
Aggression
T1 Youth Culture
Style Preferences
E7
T2 Delinquency
T2 Externalizing
Problems
T1 Externalizing
Problems
T1 Crowd
Identification
E6
T2 Youth Culture
Style Preferences
T1 Musical
Preference
E8
T2 Crowd
Identification
T2 Musical
Preference
E9
E10
Results
All factor loadings in all models were significant and all indicators
loaded highly (i.e., loadings of .40 or more) on the latent constructs. Table
1 shows the standardized estimates for the initial correlations, stability
paths, and cross-lagged paths for the heavy metal and hip-hop models. The
goodness-of-fit indices and the root mean square errors of approximation of
the two models were more than .95 and less than .03, respectively, indicating that all models provided an excellent data fit.
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0.51**a
0.57**
0.38**a
0.49**
0.18**b
–0.01
0.47**
0.40**
0.14**
–0.03
0.03b
–0.02
0.15*
Girls
(N = 444)
0.11*
Boys
(N = 487)
0.17**
Total
(N = 931)
0.14**
0.02
0.46**
0.68**
0.28**
Total
(N = 931)
0.14**
0.02
0.46**
0.68**
0.28**
Boys
(N = 487)
Hip-Hop Model
0.14*
0.02
0.46**
0.68**
0.28**
Girls
(N = 444)
Note: Corresponding superscripted letters indicate significant (p < .05) differences between paths for boys and girls. T1 = Wave 1; T2 = Wave 2.
T1 correlations
Heavy metal T1–externalizing problems T1
Hip-hop T1–externalizing problems T1
Stability paths
Externalizing problems T1-T2
Youth culture style preferences T1-T2
Cross-lagged paths
Heavy metal T1–externalizing problems T2
Externalizing problems T1–heavy metal T2
Parameter
Heavy Metal Model
Table 1
Standardized Maximum Likelihood Estimates for Final Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop Models
Selfhout et al. / Youth Culture Style Preferences
445
Stability of Youth Culture Style Preferences
and Externalizing Problems
As can be seen in the first column of Table 1, heavy metal (.40) and hip-hop
(.68) style preferences were moderately stable over a 2-year period.
Adolescents’ externalizing problem behavior was also found to be moderately stable in both models (.46 and .46, respectively).
Longitudinal Links Between Youth Culture Style
Preferences and Externalizing Problems
Significant positive cross-sectional correlations at Wave 1 were found
between heavy metal/hip-hop style preferences and externalizing problems,
indicating that adolescents with stronger preferences for either the heavy
metal or hip-hop style report more externalizing problems (correlations = .17
and .28, respectively; see first column of Table 1).
With regard to the effects over time between youth culture style preferences and adolescent problem behavior, the results of Models 1 (heavy
metal) and 2 (hip-hop) showed that, when controlling for the initial correlations between style preferences and problem behavior and the stabilities
of both, heavy metal (.14) and hip-hop (.14) style preferences both significantly (p < .01) predicted externalizing problems 2 years later. In the opposite direction, from externalizing problems to later heavy metal or hip-hop
style preferences, no significant longitudinal links were found.
Boys Versus Girls
To examine whether the longitudinal associations between youth culture
style preferences and adolescent problem behavior were different for boys
and girls, a series of multiple group analyses was performed. Models were
run in several steps for this. We first specified multiple group models in
which the initial correlation between youth culture style preferences and
externalizing problems and their stabilities was either set to equal (restricted
model) or unequal (unrestricted model) across gender groups. Next, the paths
from youth culture style preferences at Wave 1 to externalizing problems at
Wave 2 were allowed to differ across groups. Finally, the paths from externalizing problems at Wave 1 to youth culture style preferences at Wave 2
were allowed to differ across groups. Chi-square difference tests were used
to compare the fit of the restricted and unrestricted models. Table 2 shows
that several gender differences were found. Allowing the initial correlation
between youth culture style preferences and externalizing problems and
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Table 2
Model Comparisons
Model Comparison Tests
χ
df
Δχ2
Δdf
p(d)
105.60
64
95.36
61
10.24
3
p < .05
90.98
60
4.38
1
p < .05
90.83
59
0.15
1
p > .05
123.53
64
118.75
61
4.78
3
p > .05
123.09
63
0.44
1
p > .05
122.91
63
0.63
1
p > .05
2
Model
Heavy metal model
Total restricted
T1 correlation and stability
paths different
Heavy metal T1–externalizing
problems T2 different
Externalizing problems T1–heavy
metal T2 different
Hip-hop model
Total restricted
T1 correlation and stability
paths different
Hip-hop T1–externalizing
problems T2 different
Externalizing problems
T1–hip-hop T2 different
Note: T1 = Wave 1; T2 = Wave 2.
their stabilities to differ across groups significantly improved the fit of the
heavy metal model (Δχ² = 10.24, Δdf = 3, p < .05 for the heavy metal model).
Examination of the critical ratios of differences revealed that externalizing
problem behavior was more stable for girls (.51 and .52, respectively) than
for boys (.38 and .40, respectively) in the heavy metal model (see second and
third columns of Table 1). No gender differences were found for the initial
correlations between youth culture style preferences and externalizing
problems nor for the stabilities of the former.
Unrestricting the path from a heavy metal style preference at Wave 1 to
externalizing problems at Wave 2 significantly improved the fit in Model 1
(Δχ² = 4.38, Δdf = 1, p < .05). As can be seen in the second and third
columns of Table 1, a heavy metal style preference predicted later externalizing problems for boys (.18; p < .01) but not for girls (.03). No other significant gender differences were found.
Effects of Age, Ethnicity, and Educational Level
To control for possible age, ethnicity, and educational level differences
in the associations between youth culture style preferences and adolescent
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problem behavior, three additional multiple group analyses were performed. Unrestricting Wave 1 correlations, stability paths, and cross-lagged
paths one by one did not result in significant improvement of fit when
examining younger (11 to 14 years of age, n = 652) versus older (15 to 18
years of age, n = 279) adolescents (Δχ² = 8.41, Δdf = 5, p > .05 for restricted
vs. fully unrestricted models), Dutch (n = 814) versus ethnic minorities
(n = 117; Δχ² = 9.56, Δdf = 5, p > .05 for restricted vs. fully unrestricted
models), and lower educated (adolescents in lower level tertiary education
or lower level jobs, n = 223) versus higher educated (adolescents in high
schools preparing them for college or university education, N = 708) adolescents (Δχ² = 6.37, Δdf = 5, p > .05 for restricted vs. fully unrestricted
models). Thus, these results indicate that there were no effects of age, ethnicity, and educational level on the associations between youth culture style
preferences and adolescent problem behavior.
Discussion
This study examined the stability of Dutch adolescents’ preferences for
heavy metal and hip-hop youth culture styles and the longitudinal associations of these preferences with externalizing problem behavior. In line with
our first hypothesis, the stability paths of the youth culture style preferences
were found to be of moderate magnitude. These findings suggest that, as proposed by other authors (Bennet, 2001; Christenson & Roberts, 1998; ter
Bogt, 2000), adolescents do not change their youth culture affiliation regularly and that their preferences are relatively stable over time. These results
also imply that youth cultures may be serious risk factors, if adolescents’
youth culture preferences really do have an effect on their behavior, because
these affiliations persist over time (Brown et al., 1994; ter Bogt, 2003).
With regard to our second hypothesis on the temporal sequencing of music
and problem behavior, cross-lagged modeling indicated that preferences for
both heavy metal and hip-hop predicted later externalizing problem behavior,
whereas there were no significant associations found between adolescents’
externalizing problem behavior and later preferences for heavy metal and
hip-hop. The same pattern was found for younger and older adolescents,
Dutch and ethnic minority adolescents, and lower and higher educated adolescents. Consequently, our findings support the aforementioned sociocognitive perspective (see Hansen, 1995) and other views in which adolescents’
cultural orientations precede problem behavior rather than result from it.
Adolescents with relatively strong preferences for heavy metal or hip-hop
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may be more frequently exposed to music and videos with antisocial content,
which may make them behave more defiantly and activate more antisocial
cognitive schemas (Miranda & Claes, 2004). Strong preferences for heavy
metal and hip-hop may also lead to externalizing problems through modeling
processes and conformity to group norms (Arnett, 1991; Hussong, 2002; La
Greca, Prinstein, & Fetter, 2001). For example, the peer socialization hypothesis
suggests that adolescents more deeply embedded in a deviant peer context
have more peer models, encouragement, and rewards for exhibiting problem
behavior (Dishion, Spracklen, Andrews, & Patterson, 1996).
No support was found for the psychosocial perspective: Adolescents’
externalizing problems did not predict later heavy metal and hip-hop youth
culture style preferences. Our results fail to provide evidence for Roe’s
(1995) and Arnett’s (1995) proposition that adolescents’ cultural style preferences are a function of their own personal characteristics. Our findings
seem to indicate that deviant behaviors in adolescents do not tend to guide
them toward preferences for youth culture styles that are supposedly associated with antisocial themes (i.e., heavy metal and hip-hop).
Partial support was found for the moderating role of gender in bidirectional associations between preferences for youth culture styles and externalizing problem behavior. However, heavy metal style preferences had an
unexpected stronger effect on externalizing problems for boys than girls,
suggesting that girls in the Netherlands who prefer heavy metal may be a
less vulnerable group for developing externalizing problems than boys who
prefer this music. No evidence for a moderating role of gender was found
in bidirectional associations between hip-hop style preferences and externalizing problems. A possible explanation for these findings may be that a
milder variety of heavy metal has recently become very popular in the
Netherlands, specifically among girls (ter Bogt, 2000). Gothic metal with
representatives such as Marilyn Manson may be a controversial genre in the
United States (Wright, 2000). In the Netherlands, however, gothic metal,
rooted in the new wave music and heavy metal of the eighties, combines
fairy tales with horror stories in clips and lyrics in a musical base that mixes
melodic elements from symphonic rock and folk music with the heavy guitarbass-and-drum-driven sound of older metal. Girls in the Netherlands may be
more attracted to these popular, more mainstream subgenres of heavy
metal, which may be relatively harmless, whereas boys may prefer the more
deviant categories of heavy metal, possibly putting them at risk for developing problem behaviors. Although hip-hop also has its popular, more
mainstream subgenres (ter Bogt, 2003), some of the male and female hip-hop
fans may prefer the same “deviant” subgenres of hip-hop, accounting for the
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449
fact that boys’ and girls’ adjustment was found to be just as strongly predicted by hip-hop preferences. In line with these findings, it has been
argued that hip-hop values and attitudes can be very easily adopted by both
male and female fans, whereas male fans seem primarily attracted to the
more extreme heavy metal scenes (Mulder, ter Bogt, Raaijmakers, &
Vollebergh, in press).
Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, although the longitudinal nature of these analyses allows more definite conclusions to be
drawn on the direction of effects than cross-sectional designs, no claim can
be made of definite causal effects. Our type of modeling does not rule out the
alternative explanation that a third variable accounts for the relationship
between adolescents’ youth culture style preferences and externalizing problem behavior. Ter Bogt (2004) has suggested a more extensive model that
conceptualizes youth culture orientations as a mediator between personality
characteristics and adolescent externalizing behavior. Children scoring high
on traits such as sensation seeking may be attracted to music styles and youth
culture affiliations that reflect their activity level, curiosity, and need for arousal
at the start of adolescence (see Bleich et al., 1991; Carpentier et al., 2003).
High-energy music and the associated youth cultures geared to adventurousness and excitement can disproportionately appeal to these young people.
Basic personal characteristics, later cultural preferences, and membership of
peer groups that occasionally break social rules in seeking sensation may
result in (collective) externalizing behavior in adolescent development. In this
developmental sequence model, popular youth cultures function as a bridge
between personality and highly prevalent externalizing behaviors that are
specific to middle and late adolescence. Second, although this study is unique
in the sense that almost all other studies concerning youth culture style preferences and problem behavior have focused exclusively on U.S., Canadian,
and Australian adolescents, the results can only be generalized to Dutch adolescents in medium-sized towns and surroundings. Finally, this study made
no distinctions between preferences for different subgenres of heavy metal
and hip-hop. These styles can be divided into a number of subtypes (ter Bogt,
2000) and preferences for more extreme types of heavy metal and hip-hop
may show stronger relationships with later externalizing problem behavior
(see Lacourse et al., 2001; Miranda & Claes, 2004).
In spite of the above limitations, this study represents one of the first
attempts to disentangle the effects that adolescents’ youth culture style preferences and externalizing problems exert on one another. Furthermore, the
magnitudes of cross-sectional associations between hip-hop and heavy
metal preferences and problem behavior found in our study are similar to
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Youth & Society
those found in studies performed in English-speaking countries (Lacourse
et al., 2001; Miranda & Claes, 2004), suggesting that our longitudinal associations may also apply to these countries. Our findings suggest that the
youth culture style preferences of adolescents are relatively stable over
time. In addition, our results at least indicate that adolescents’ cultural preferences precede externalizing problems, rather than the other way around.
Future studies should examine longitudinal links between personality,
youth culture style preferences, and externalizing problems across different
cultural contexts, incorporating a wider variety of subgenres to gain more
insight into the intricate interplay of risk factors for problem behavior.
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Maarten H. W. Selfhout, MA, a PhD student, is working at the Research Centre Adolescent
Development, Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. His current research interests include
the development of friendships in adolescence and the role of media use in well-being.
Marc J. M. H. Delsing, PhD, is working as an assistant professor at the Research Centre
Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. His research focuses on
adolescent peer crowds, family relationships, and adolescent problem behavior.
Tom F. M. ter Bogt, PhD, is working as an assistant professor in the Department of General
Social Sciences, Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. His research focuses on youth culture, pop music, and substance use in adolescence.
Wim H. J. Meeus, PhD, is a professor and the head of the Research Centre Adolescent
Development, Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. His research program examines personality, identity, and social relationships in adolescence.
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