People who like easy-listening music are likely to be talkative and energetic, while opera lovers are more insightful and imaginative, according to scientists.

Two major studies conducted by psychologists from Cambridge and top US universities have found your personality type can be accurately predicted from your musical tastes - and vice versa.

Those with extrovert personalities for instance - who are more comfortable making small talk than introverts - showed a preference for music categorised as “uncomplicated, relaxing, and acoustic.”

Finding correlations in this field has been hampered in the past by respondents tending to be younger - and therefore more likely to share a narrow band of tastes - and because respondents used their own definitions of the genres they enjoy.

But in these worldwide, online studies of more than 20,000 respondents, more than half those surveyed were over 22, and they were presented with 25 unfamiliar musical excerpts pre-categorised by musicologists.

The surveys differentiated personality types on the “big five” model used by scientists for 50 years: openness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness.

The team, led by Dr Jason Rentfrow, reader in personality and individual differences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge found ‘open’ personalities liked ‘sophisticated’ music - defined as “inspiring, complex and dynamic” - but were less impressed with slow, mellow music.