Although fans of heavy metal do not always report greater feelings of anger than fans of other genres of music, their propensity to act aggressively may still be elevated. Rubin et al. (2001) found that heavy metal fans reported more aggression and disregard for women than fans of other genres (except for rap music), even when self-esteem and anger were controlled. Studies of adolescents aged 12–16 years also showed a trend towards increased aggressive behaviour in fans of rock music including heavy metal than in fans of other genres (e.g., pop, dance, hip-hop, jazz, classical) (Mulder et al., 2007; ter Bogt et al., 2013). Collapsing genres (e.g., heavy metal, punk) into a broad “rock” category may have obscured differences between fans of those genres. Nonetheless, the self-report data warrant corroboration using experimental methods that evaluate causal links between heavy metal music listening and acts of aggression.
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