I’m a consultant psychiatrist: This is what the King’s music reveals about his character

King Charles is launching a personal playlist of music for Commonwealth Day, and his collection reportedly includes music icons Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue, and Grace Jones, but also more contemporary talent such as Davido and RAYE. For psychologists like me, musical preferences can suggest personality type – so has the King accidentally also divulged hitherto unknown aspects of his character? Charles has referred to the emotional role music plays in his life, emphasising its ability to, “comfort us in times of sadness…” He also declared that listening to music lifts his spirits and brings back important memories: “In other words, it brings us joy.”

But this emphasis on how melody affects mood raises the question of whether His Majesty needs cheering up a lot? In which case, has the playlist revealed that he can really get quite low at times? This would be entirely normal of course, and popular music has often been referred to as the “poor man’s psychotherapy”. Psychologists have long known more emotionally volatile people use music to adjust their emotions. So has the King essentially admitted that he can be quite moody?

Although we may feel we have already formed a strong impression of the kind of character the King is, psychological research suggests that if we listen to his musical preferences we may be able to develop an even deeper understanding of just who he is. The full tracklist, with more royal commentary, will be revealed on Monday to mark Commonwealth Day. It inevitably provides a unique opportunity for all of us to play amateur psychologist, and see if we can better figure out the King.

Recording the radio broadcast for Apple Music in his office at Buckingham Palace, Charles shared anecdotes from his encounters with some of the artists and revealed his chosen songs – all of which formed the soundtrack to his life.

We all have instincts that we can ‘read’ people from their favourite tunes, and this is why dating apps and websites usually ask about music preferences. Psychologists have also established that music preferences reflect more detail than practically any other personal information about someone’s personality.

Using psychological research, you can deduce that the more complex the music in a playlist, the more likely the listener’s personality will be open-minded. Thus jazz and classical music is linked to emotions such as longing, amazement, spirituality and peacefulness. Their appearance on a playlist tells you the listener is more drawn to these emotions. Equally, studies have found that the more religious tend to enjoy classical music, while those who listen to a lot of ‘country’ music have been found to be more likely to be politically conservative.

Openness to Experience is revealed by enjoying a range of very different kinds of music, as opposed to mining the same genre. This feature separates the more imaginative and creative people from the more ‘down-to-earth’ and conventional. ‘Open’ people – perhaps like the King whose reported choices so far range from reggae to pop – are more intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty and more aware of their feelings. However, they are also more prone to ‘serious’ moods, including melancholy, which matches what many suspect of Charles.

The more energetic the music, such as dance and hip-hop, the more extravert our listener. Extraverts are more likely to try new social opportunities, and prefer nights out rather than more introverted activities such as curling up with a book. Fans of these types of music have strong needs for emotional arousal and are keen to get rid of negative emotions fast – as opposed to dwelling or ruminating on negativity. A lot of Techno and Latin American in a playlist, reveals the listener seeks out emotions such as being disinhibited, excited, active, agitated, energetic, and fiery. Those with harder Rock music have been found to enjoy evoking emotions such as aggression, anger, rage, irritation, and revolt. While a playlist dominated by more calming tunes reveals a psychological tendency towards more negative emotions.

The more romantic the music, the more the listener reveals their tendency towards an ‘agreeable’ personality – the tendency for instance to be friendly and kind. A recent psychology study of social media site X, formerly Twitter, found users with self-reported mental disorders listen to more music with negative emotions such as anger and sadness. If you want to be a psyche sleuth as you examine the King’s playlist, my tips are this: focus on how many different genres of music are represented; the language of the lyrics and whether one genre appears to dominate.

Psychologists have increasingly found a high preponderance of so-called ‘dark side’ personality features in modern leaders, including selfishness, self-absorption, manipulativeness and cruelty. Those more prone to the ‘dark side’ character traits have also been revealed to not like listening to music as much. Given how much he has emphasised the role melody plays in his life, the King has already revealed an appealing lack of a ‘dark side’. Perhaps we should be more grateful for this than we are, and so we should all pay more attention to the mood music?

In the meantime, I for one am intrigued to see the King’s choices in more detail.

• Dr Raj Persaud is a Harley Street Consultant Psychiatrist and author of The Mental Vaccine for -19, published by Amberley