The Empathising-Systemising Split in Musical Tastes

Well, I guess this answers my previous question...

Your taste in music says a lot about how you think, according to new study

Whether you prefer Jeff Buckley or Metallica, Vivaldi or Queen reveals a lot about the way you think, according to a new University of Cambridge study.

Over the past decade, researchers have examined how musical preferences reflect age and personality. For example, studies have shown that fans of the blues, jazz, classical and folk tend to be open to new experiences, while those who prefer pop, soul, funk and electronic music are more likely to be extraverted and "agreeable".

This latest study, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, looked at how "cognitive style" – classified as scoring highly on "empathy" (the ability to recognise and react to others' thoughts and feelings) or "systemising" (an interest in understanding the rules that underpin systems like car engines, music or the weather) - influences musical taste.
...

Strong empathisers tended to prefer "mellow" music like R&B/soul, soft rock and adult contemporary, while strong systemisers favoured "intense" genres like punk, heavy metal and hard rock, the researchers discovered.

Norah Jones.  Photo: Frank W. Ockenfels

Cognitive style influenced musical preferences even within genres, according to the findings. For example, empathisers preferred mellow, unpretentious jazz; systemisers preferred intense, complex and avant-garde jazz.

The study also found also that strong empathisers preferred music that was sad and depressing (as opposed to animated and fun), had emotional depth (relaxing and thoughtful, as opposed to cerebral or complex) and low energy (gentle and sensual, as opposed to tense and thrilling).

Systemisers preferred the opposite, that is, music that was high energy, complex and animated.

Probably a lot of truth in that actually.  And to think, all this time, I assumed that the type of people who listened to the likes of Norah Jones just weren't into music all that much, and so, listened to safe boring stuff.

Note: There is also a male/female dimension to this split, as the study goes into, though this article doesn't touch on it for some reason.