Do you ever listen to the songs that your parents like? Chances are that you don’t. You probably think the music that they like is old and dull and that the songs on your playlist are much cooler.

你是否听过父母那辈爱听的歌曲?答案很有可能是否定的。你或许会认为他们喜欢的音乐过时又无聊，而自己歌单上的歌曲要酷多了。

But here is what scientists found recently: people’s music tastes change as they age, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. So it is likely that your own musical preferences will follow a similar path to your parents’, whether you like it or not.

但据《人格与社会心理学》杂志发布的一份研究表示，科学家们近期发现，人们的音乐品味会随着年龄而改变。所以不论你喜欢与否，你自己的音乐喜好很有可能在走父母的老路。

We used to think that culture and personality are the only factors that affect one’s music choice. But researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, gathered data from more than 250,000 people over the past 10 years. They noticed that as people age, their social circumstances change, and so does their music taste.

过去，我们认为只有文化和性格才能影响个人的音乐选择。但英国剑桥大学的研究人员在过去的十年间收集了超过25万人的数据，他们发现随着人们年龄增长，其身处的社会环境会发生变化，而音乐品味也会有所改变。

There are three musical periods that people pass through as they mature – “intense” , “contemporary” and “sophisticated”.

随着人们日渐成熟，他们会经历“热情”、“时下流行”以及“成熟”三段音乐时期。

The first period comes in the teenage years, during which people like intense music such as punk and rock because teenagers tend to be aggressive and want to establish their identities as independent individuals.

第一段时期发生在青少年时代，人们喜欢朋克以及摇滚等热情的音乐，因为十几岁的青少年都有股冲劲，想要让自己成为独立的个体。

But as people move into early adulthood, their lifestyle changes – they socialize more and want to build close relationships with others. As a result, they become more fond of contemporary music, such as pop and R&B, which is usually uplifting and danceable and played at parties where people hang out together and chat.

但随着人们到了成年人早期，他们的生活方式发生了变化 —— 他们更加频繁地社交，想要和他人建立起亲密关系。因此，他们变得更喜欢当代音乐，如流行音乐与节奏布鲁斯等。这些音乐往往振奋人心、适合跳舞，通常会在人们一起玩乐闲聊的派对上播放。

When middle age comes, things have settled down for most people. This period will be dominated by more “sophisticated” music, such as jazz and classical, as well as more catchy music like country, folk and blues.

随着中年时代的到来，大多数人都已安定了下来。更加“成熟”的音乐，如爵士乐、古典乐以及乡村音乐、民谣、蓝调等更为朗朗上口的音乐在这一时期成为了主流。

“For many, this life stage is frequently exhausted by work and family, and there is a requirement for relaxing, emotive music,” Jason Rentfrow, a research member, told The Telegraph.

“对于不少人而言，这一人生阶段常常为工作和家庭所累，所以需要一些放松又动情的音乐，”研究人员之一的Jason Rentfrow在接受《每日电讯报》采访时表示。

But you must be thinking: “Aren’t there old people who are still into rock music?”

但你一定在想：“难道上年纪的人就没有喜欢摇滚的吗?”

Of course there are. But Rentfrow explained that their reasons for listening to rock music may have changed. “We use music for different reasons,” he said, and thus at that age people may listen to remind themselves of their youths.

这样的人当然存在。但Rentfrow解释称，他们听摇滚乐的原因或许已经有所不同。“我们听音乐有着各种各样的理由，”他表示。因此，那个年纪的人听摇滚乐或许是为了追忆青春。