In tune with this line of thinking, researchers at University of Cambridge wanted to determine how individual differences in music preferences are differentiated by cognitive type, based on the link between empathy [the ability to identify with other’s mental states] and systemizing [responding to behavior based on set rules] – the Empathizing-Systemizing Theory (ES). In other words, does the music that makes your soul happy predict your thinking style?

Listening to music involves abilities such as reacting emotionally (affective reactivity) and interpreting how details relate to the whole (intellectual interpretation). These abilities may overlap with the ES theory, such that empathizing is used when relating emotionally to others and systemizing might come into play when deconstructing particulars in music and relating them to an overall theme.

Testing musical preferences however, is problematic. When asked how you respond to a particular genre of music, the answer is never accurate. Sure you like rock music, but does that encompass ‘soft rock’ like the tunes of Billy Joel and Elton John or ‘hard rock’ such as the musical stylings of AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses? Or both? What if based on the culture of your upbringing, you were never exposed to Elton John? The genre-based methodologies make it difficult for researchers to accurately capture information about individual preferences.

Solution? MUSIC.

Mellow (romantic, sad, slow) – soft rock, R&B

Unpretentious (soft, acoustic, relaxing) – country, folk, singer/songwriter

Sophisticated (complex, dynamic, intelligent) – classical, avant-garde, jazz

Intense (distorted, loud, aggressive) – punk, heavy metal, power pop

Contemporary (percussive, electric) – rap, electronica, Latin

The MUSIC model, cleverly named after the first letter of each dimension label, reflects both sonic and psychological attributes which leads to an accurate observation of an individual’s musical preference. It follows that those who enjoy music with emotional depth will have a high empathy score and those who prefer music with cerebral aspects will fall into the systemizing category.

All participants in the study received empathy and personality trait questionnaires, along with 50, 15 sec snippets of songs which they rated on degree of liking.

Results revealed that across genres, empathy levels correlated with Mellow music (R&B, soft rock) and negatively correlated with Intense music (punk, heavy metal). Plainly,