Researchers at The University of Leicester have explored what an individual's taste in music says about their lifestyle.

Among the perhaps obvious findings is the news that fans of hip-hop and dance music are among the biggest drug takers of the 2,500 people surveyed. Fans of hip-hop were also the most likely to have attended a fee-paying school, and also had the most sexual partners over the past five years.

Those with a penchant for the blues were the most likely to have received a driving penalty, while fans of musicals were found to be the most mild-mannered of those questioned. They hardly got drunk, and comprised the group most likely to undertake charity work.

The university's findings are published in the scientific journal Psychology of Music. Results showed that fans of every type of music available for selection had tried drugs at some time or other, with over 25 per cent of those preferring classical music having smoked cannabis. They were also the richest group, though, so we guess they could afford the habit.

Dr Adrian North, who was in charge of the research, said:

"It comes out in the study that fans (of hip-hop and dance) score worse in various behaviours, such as criminality, sexual promiscuity and drug use. It was shown that this had nothing to do with their ethnic backgrounds. The behaviour was linked purely to musical taste in its own right."