ֱ̽ of Cambridge - David Greenberg /taxonomy/people/david-greenberg en Females perform better than males on a ‘theory of mind’ test across 57 countries /research/news/females-perform-better-than-males-on-a-theory-of-mind-test-across-57-countries <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/news/yuri-levin-paaakl05ldm-unsplash.jpg?itok=oM3rNs4r" alt="Two women hugging" title="Two women hugging, Credit: Yuri Levin (Unsplash)" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Researchers found that females, on average, score higher than males on the widely used ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test, which measures ‘theory of mind’ (also known as ‘cognitive empathy’). This finding was observed across all ages and most countries.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽reseach, published today in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> (<em>PNAS</em>), is the largest study of theory of mind to date.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>A fundamental part of human social interaction and communication involves putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, to imagine another person’s thoughts and feelings. This is known as ‘theory of mind’ or ‘cognitive empathy’.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>For decades, researchers have studied the development of theory of mind, from infancy to old age. One of the most widely used tests with which to study theory of mind is the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (or Eyes Test, for short), which asks participants to pick which word best describes what the person in the photo is thinking or feeling, just by viewing photos of the eye region of the face.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽Eyes Test was first developed in 1997 by Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen and his research team at Cambridge, and was revised in 2001, and has become a well-established assessment of theory of mind. It is listed as one of two recommended tests for measuring individual differences in ‘Understanding Mental States’ by the National Institute of Mental Health in the US.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Over the decades, many independent research studies have found that females on average score higher than males on theory of mind tests. However, most of these studies were limited to relatively small samples, without much diversity in terms of geography, culture, and/or age. To address these shortcomings, a team of multidisciplinary researchers led by Cambridge ֱ̽ and with collaborators in Bar-Ilan, Harvard, Washington, and Haifa Universities, as well as IMT Lucca, has merged large samples from different online platforms to analyse data from 305,726 participants across 57 countries.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽results showed that across the 57 countries, females on average scored significantly higher than males (in 36 countries), or similar to males (in 21 countries), on the Eyes Test. Importantly, there was no country where males on average scored significantly higher than females on the Eyes Test. ֱ̽on-average sex difference was seen across the lifespan, from 16 to 70 years of age. ֱ̽team also confirmed this on-average sex difference in three independent datasets and on non-English versions of the Eyes Test, spanning eight languages.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr David M. Greenberg, the lead scientist on the study, a Zuckerman Scholar at Bar-Ilan and Honorary Research Associate at Cambridge, said: “Our results provide some of the first evidence that the well-known phenomenon – that females are on average more empathic than males – is present in wide range of countries across the globe. It’s only by using very large data sets that we can say this with confidence.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Although this study cannot discern the cause of this on-average sex difference, the authors discuss on the basis of prior research that this may be the result of both biological and social factors.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge ֱ̽, and senior author on the study, said: “Studies of on-average sex differences say nothing about an individual’s mind or aptitudes, since an individual may be typical or atypical for their sex. ֱ̽Eyes Test reveals that many individuals struggle to read facial expressions, for a variety of reasons. Support should be available for those who seek it.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽researchers also showed that, in addition to sex, ‘D-scores’ (the difference between a person’s drive to systemize and their drive to empathize) are a significant negative predictor of scores on the Eyes Test. This adds to an earlier study led by Greenberg in 2018 of over 650,000 participants, also published in PNAS, which found that D-scores accounted for 19 times more of the variance in autistic traits than did sex or indeed any other demographic variable. Thus, D-scores appear to play a more important role than sex in aspects of human cognition.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr Carrie Allison, Director of Applied Research at the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge ֱ̽, and a member of the team, said: “This study clearly demonstrates a largely consistent sex difference across countries, languages, and ages. This raises new questions for future research about the social and biological factors that may contribute to the observed on-average sex difference in cognitive empathy.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.yourbraintype.com">Take the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em><strong>Reference</strong><br />&#13; Greenberg, D. M., Warrier, V., Abu-Akel, A., Allison, C., Gajos, K. Z., Reinecke, K., Rentfrow, P. J., Radecki, M. A., &amp; Baron-Cohen, S. (2022). <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022385119">Sex and age differences in ‘theory of mind’ across 57 countries using the English version of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test</a>. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; 26 Dec 2022; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022385119</em></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Females, on average, are better than males at putting themselves in others’ shoes and imagining what the other person is thinking or feeling, suggests a new study of over 300,000 people in 57 countries.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Our results provide some of the first evidence that the well-known phenomenon – that females are on average more empathic than males – is present in wide range of countries across the globe</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote-name field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David Greenberg</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/women-hugging-each-other-paAaKl05ldM" target="_blank">Yuri Levin (Unsplash)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Two women hugging</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; ֱ̽text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ֱ̽ of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.  All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our <a href="/">main website</a> under its <a href="/about-this-site/terms-and-conditions">Terms and conditions</a>, and on a <a href="/about-this-site/connect-with-us">range of channels including social media</a> that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/public-domain">Public Domain</a></div></div></div> Mon, 26 Dec 2022 21:00:32 +0000 cjb250 236231 at Musical preferences unite personalities across the globe /stories/musical-preferences-unite-personalities-worldwide <div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Research involving more than 350,000 participants from six continents has found that links between musical preferences and personality are universal. ֱ̽study suggests that music could play a greater role in overcoming social division.</p> </p></div></div></div> Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:00:00 +0000 ta385 229791 at Over half a million people take part in largest ever study of psychological sex differences and autistic traits /research/news/over-half-a-million-people-take-part-in-largest-ever-study-of-psychological-sex-differences-and <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/news/people.jpg?itok=zDDGHyql" alt="Crowd at a party" title="Crowd at a party, Credit: Mario Purisic on Unsplash" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Working with the television production company Channel 4, they tested over half a million people, including over 36,000 autistic people. ֱ̽results are published today in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽Empathising-Systemising theory predicts that women, on average, will score higher than men on tests of empathy, the ability to recognize what another person is thinking or feeling, and to respond to their state of mind with an appropriate emotion. Similarly, it predicts that men, on average, will score higher on tests of systemising, the drive to analyse or build rule-based systems.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽Extreme Male Brain theory predicts that autistic people, on average, will show a masculinised shift on these two dimensions: namely, that they will score lower than the typical population on tests of empathy and will score the same as if not higher than the typical population on tests of systemising.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Whereas both theories have been confirmed in previous studies of relatively modest samples, the new findings come from a massive sample of 671,606 people, which included 36,648 autistic people. They were replicated in a second sample of 14,354 people. In this new study, the scientists used very brief 10-item measures of empathy, systemising, and autistic traits.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Using these short measures, the team identified that in the typical population, women, on average, scored higher than men on empathy, and men, on average, scored higher than women on systemising and autistic traits. These sex differences were reduced in autistic people. On all these measures, autistic people’s scores, on average, were ‘masculinised’: that is, they had higher scores on systemising and autistic traits and lower scores on empathy, compared to the typical population.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽team also calculated the difference (or ‘d-score’) between each individual’s score on the systemising and empathy tests. A high d-score means a person’s systemising is higher than their empathy, and a low d-score means their empathy is higher than their systemising.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>They found that in the typical population, men, on average, had a shift towards a high d-score, whereas women, on average, had a shift towards a low d-score. Autistic individuals, on average, had a shift towards an even higher d-score than typical males. Strikingly, d-scores accounted for 19 times more of the variance in autistic traits than other variables, including sex.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Finally, men, on average, had higher autistic trait scores than women. Those working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), on average, had higher systemising and autistic traits scores than those in non-STEM occupations. And conversely, those working in non-STEM occupations, on average, had had higher empathy scores than those working in STEM.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the paper, the authors discuss how it is important to bear in mind that differences observed in this study apply only to group averages, not to individuals. They underline that these data say nothing about an individual based on their gender, autism diagnosis, or occupation. To do that would constitute stereotyping and discrimination, which the authors strongly oppose.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Further, the authors reiterate that the two theories are applicable to only two dimensions of typical sex differences: empathy and systemising. They do not apply to all sex differences, such as aggression, and to extrapolate the theories beyond these two dimensions would be a misinterpretation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Finally, the authors highlight that although autistic people on average struggle with ‘cognitive’ empathy – recognizing other people’s thoughts and feelings – they nevertheless have intact ‘affective’ empathy – they care about others. It is a common misunderstanding that autistic people struggle with all forms of empathy, which is untrue.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr Varun Warrier, from the Cambridge team, said: “These sex differences in the typical population are very clear. We know from related studies that individual differences in empathy and systemising are partly genetic, partly influenced by our prenatal hormonal exposure, and partly due to environmental experience. We need to investigate the extent to which these observed sex differences are due to each of these factors, and how these interact.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr David Greenberg, from the Cambridge team, said: “Big data is important to draw conclusions that are replicable and robust. This is an example of how scientists can work with the media to achieve big data science.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr Carrie Allison, from the Cambridge team, said: “We are grateful to both the general public and to the autism community for participating in this research. ֱ̽next step must be to consider the relevance of these findings for education, and support where needed.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the <a href="https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/">Autism Research Centre</a> at Cambridge who proposed these two theories nearly two decades ago, said: “This research provides strong support for both theories. This study also pinpoints some of the qualities autistic people bring to neurodiversity. They are, on average, strong systemisers, meaning they have excellent pattern-recognition skills, excellent attention to detail, and an aptitude in understanding how things work. We must support their talents so they achieve their potential – and society benefits too.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>This study was supported by the Autism Research Trust, the Medical Research Council, Wellcome, and the Templeton World Charity Foundation., Inc. It was conducted in association with the NIHR CLAHRC for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em><strong>Reference</strong><br />&#13; Greenberg, DM et al. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1811032115">Testing the Empathizing-Systemising theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism in half a million people.</a> PNAS; 12 Nov 2018; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811032115</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>If you'd like to complete these measures and participate in studies at the Autism Research Centre please register <a href="https://www.cambridgepsychology.com/">here</a>. </em></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Scientists at the ֱ̽ of Cambridge have completed the world’s largest ever study of typical sex differences and autistic traits. They tested and confirmed two long-standing psychological theories: the Empathising-Systemising theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Big data is important to draw conclusions that are replicable and robust. This is an example of how scientists can work with the media to achieve big data science</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote-name field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David Greenberg</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/silhouette-of-people-standing-on-mirror-during-golden-hour-jG1z5o7NCq4" target="_blank">Mario Purisic on Unsplash</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Crowd at a party</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; ֱ̽text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ֱ̽ of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.  All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our <a href="/">main website</a> under its <a href="/about-this-site/terms-and-conditions">Terms and conditions</a>, and on a <a href="/about-this-site/connect-with-us">range of channels including social media</a> that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/public-domain">Public Domain</a></div></div></div> Mon, 12 Nov 2018 20:00:52 +0000 cjb250 201102 at Opinion: Musical genres are out of date – but this new system explains why you might like both jazz and hip hop /research/discussion/opinion-musical-genres-are-out-of-date-but-this-new-system-explains-why-you-might-like-both-jazz-and <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/discussion/160805music.jpg?itok=kl8N5Zlf" alt="CD Album Covers Wallpaper" title="CD Album Covers Wallpaper, Credit: Heath Alseike" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time in history when genre labels were used to classify music, but the fact is that over the past century, and certainly still today, genre labels dominate. Whether organising your iTunes library, receiving music recommendations from apps like Spotify, or buying CDs at a record store, genre is the first way in which we navigate the music we like.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>However, technological advances have now put millions of songs at our fingertips through mobile devices. Not only do we have access to more music than ever before, but more music is being produced. Places like <a href="https://soundcloud.com/">SoundCloud</a> have made it possible for anyone to record and publish music for others to hear. With this increased diversity in music that we are exposed to, the lines separating genres have become even more blurred than they were previously.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Genre labels are problematic for several reasons. First, they are broad umbrella terms that are used to describe music that vary greatly in their characteristics. If a person says they are a fan of “rock” music, there is no way of knowing whether they are referring to ֱ̽Beatles, Bob Dylan, or Jimi Hendrix — but all three vary greatly in style. Or if a person tells you that they are a fan of pop music, how do you know if they are referring to Michael Jackson or Justin Bieber?</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Genre labels are also often socially driven with little to do with the actual characteristics of the music. They are labels stamped onto artists and albums by record companies with the intent of targeting a particularly type of audience or age group.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Beyond genre</h2>&#13; &#13; <p> ֱ̽fundamental problem is that genre labels often do not accurately describe artists and their music – they simply do not do them justice. A more accurate way to label music would be based solely on their actual musical characteristics (or attributes). Such a labelling system would also likely better account for diversity in a person’s music taste.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Recently, my team of music psychologists addressed this problem by developing a scientific way to create a basic classification system of music that is based on its attributes and not social connotations. ֱ̽team included expert in musical preferences, Jason Rentfrow (Cambridge), best-selling author and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin (McGill), big data scientists David Stillwell (Cambridge) and Michal Kosinski (Stanford), and music researcher Brian Monteiro. Our <a href="https://spp.sagepub.com/content/7/6/597">research</a> was published this month.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>We had more than 100 musical excerpts spanning over 20 genres and subgenres rated on 38 different musical attributes. We then applied a statistical procedure to categorise these musical attributes and discovered that they clustered into three basic categories: “Arousal” (the energy level of the music); “Valence” (the spectrum from sad to happy emotions in the music); and “Depth” (the amount of sophistication and emotional depth in the music). ֱ̽statistical procedure mapped each song on each these three basic categories. For example, Joni Mitchell’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5782PQO5is">Blue</a>” is low on arousal (because of the slow tempo and soft vocals), low on valence (because of the expressed nostalgia and sadness), and high on depth (because of the emotional and sonic complexity expressed through the lyrics and sonic texture).</p>&#13; &#13; <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/133076/area14mp/image-20160804-484-1kkihi5.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/133076/width754/image-20160804-484-1kkihi5.jpg" style="width: 100%;" /></a>&#13; &#13; <figcaption><span class="caption"> ֱ̽songs listed represent each of the three musical attribute clusters.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/can-your-personality-explain-your-itunes-playlist">Tricia Seibold | Stanford Business | http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/can-your-personality-explain-your-itunes-playlist</a></span></figcaption></figure><h2> </h2>&#13; &#13; <h2>Arousal, valence, depth</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Will people start walking around wearing T-shirts that say “I love Depth in music”, or list themselves as fans of positive valence on their Twitter profiles? I doubt it. But it might be useful if people began to use attributes to describe the music that they like (aggressive or soft; happy or nostalgic). People’s music libraries today are incredibly diverse, typically containing music from a variety of genres. My hypothesis is that if people like arousal in one musical genre, they are likely to like it in another.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Even though these basic three dimensions probably won’t become a part of culture, recommendation platforms, like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, and YouTube should find these dimensions useful when coding and trying to accurately recommend music for their users to listen to. Further, it is also useful for scientists, psychologists, and neuroscientists who are studying the effect of music and want an accurate method to measure it.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Our team next sought to see how preferences for these three dimensions were linked to the <a href="https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/personality-16/trait-perspectives-on-personality-79/the-five-factor-model-311-12846/">Big Five</a>. Personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). Nearly 10,000 people indicated their preferences for 50 musical excerpts and completed a personality measure. People who scored high on “openness to experience” preferred depth in music, while extroverted excitement-seekers preferred high arousal in music. Those who were relatively neurotic preferred negative emotions in music, while those who were self-assured preferred positive emotions in music.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="471" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5zLwT/1/" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="100%"></iframe></p>&#13; &#13; <p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p>So, just as the old Kern and Hammerstein song suggests, “ ֱ̽Song is You”. That is, the musical attributes that you like most reflect your personality. It also provides scientific support for what Joni Mitchell said in a 2013 <a href="http://www.jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=2600">interview</a> with CBC:</p>&#13; &#13; <blockquote>&#13; <p> ֱ̽trick is if you listen to that music and you see me, you’re not getting anything out of it. If you listen to that music and you see yourself, it will probably make you cry and you’ll learn something about yourself and now you’re getting something out of it.</p>&#13; </blockquote>&#13; &#13; <hr /><p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>Find out how you score on the music and personality quizzes at <a href="https://musicaluniverse.io/">www.musicaluniverse.org</a>.</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><strong><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-m-greenberg-204317">David M. Greenberg</a>, Music psychologist, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cambridge-1283"> ֱ̽ of Cambridge</a></em></span></strong></p>&#13; &#13; <p><strong>This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/"> ֱ̽Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/musical-genres-are-out-of-date-but-this-new-system-explains-why-you-might-like-both-jazz-and-hip-hop-63539">original article</a>.</strong></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em> ֱ̽opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the ֱ̽ of Cambridge.</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><img alt=" ֱ̽Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/63539/count.gif" width="1" /></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>David Greenberg (Department of Psychology) discusses the problems of labeling music by genre.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/99624358@N00/5506222889/in/photolist-9oyQep-nqndNS-qW5fw7-6XbeEt-wbMF19-j8ivqN-nyBe2L-ekd6yR-71KZpb-9sYpMm-aRn4Z8-6UpWRW-8drjdR-vKuzYC-tkPKDj-8HsrHc-dPsytx-dPycgj-dPyces-dPycio-dPycjY-dPsyE8-dPsyCp-dPycay-dPsyiz-dPybZ5-pLRjqt-pGTcxB-dPsyok-dPsypX-4JFqoE-dhKjPM-dPsyFP-9iAYTG-dPyc3u-5svNQu-Hf1Si-dmWDhJ-48CGjo-naYpy5-naYjr7-nEbhkL-npJjWg-naYmdU-9xup4B-bjkegg-aYpZt2-5CikTp-6MVqhS-bkBsqS" target="_blank">Heath Alseike</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">CD Album Covers Wallpaper</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; ֱ̽text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. For image use please see separate credits above.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/attribution">Attribution</a></div></div></div> Fri, 05 Aug 2016 10:58:22 +0000 Anonymous 177582 at Opinion: What your musical taste says about your personality /research/discussion/opinion-what-your-musical-taste-says-about-your-personality <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/discussion/151130headphones.jpg?itok=Tk1epgLS" alt="Headphones" title="Headphones, Credit: Jake Bellucci" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>We’re exposed to music for nearly 20% of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00434.x/abstract">our waking lives</a>. But much of our musical experience seems to be a mystery. Why does some music bring us to tears while other pieces make us dance? Why is it that the music that we like can make others agitated? And why do some people seem to have a natural ability to play music while others have difficulty carrying a tune? Science is beginning to show that these individual differences are not just random but are, in part, due to people’s personalities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>My colleagues and I <a href="https://journals.plos.org:443/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131151">have published</a> research showing that people’s musical preferences are linked to three broad thinking styles. Empathisers (Type E) have a strong interest in people’s thoughts and emotions. Systemisers (Type S) have a strong interest in patterns, systems and the rules that govern the world. And those who score relatively equally on empathy and systemising are classified as Type B for “balanced”.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Research from the <a href="https://journals.plos.org:443/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102251">past decade</a> has shown that 95% of people can be classified into one of these three groups and that they predict a lot of human behaviour. For example, they can predict things such as whether someone studies maths and science, or humanities <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608007000155">at university</a>. For the first time, we have shown that they can predict musical behaviour, too.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Matching music with thinking style</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>To study this phenomenon, we conducted <a href="https://journals.plos.org:443/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131151">multiple studies</a> with over 4,000 participants. We took data on these participants’ thinking styles and asked them to listen to and indicate their preferences for up to 50 musical excerpts, representing a wide range of genres. Across these studies, we found that empathisers preferred mellow music that had low energy, sad emotions, and emotional depth, as heard in R&amp;B, soft rock, and singer-songwriter genres. For example, empathising was linked to preferences for “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones and Jeff Buckley’s recording of “Hallelujah”.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> </p>&#13; &#13; <figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y8AWFf7EAc4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe></figure><p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the other hand, systemisers preferred more intense music, as heard in hard rock, punk and heavy metal genres. Systemisers also preferred music with intellectual depth and complexity as heard in avant-garde classical genres. For example, systemizing was linked to preferences for Alexander Scriabin’s “Etude opus 65 no 3”. Importantly, those who are Type B, had a tendency to prefer music that spans more of a range than the other two thinking styles.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> </p>&#13; &#13; <figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pPvfq5H8PgQ?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe></figure><p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p>In our <a href="http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~mas03dm/papers/Greenbergetal_PersonalityMusicalSophistication_2015.pdf">most recent study</a>, published in the Journal of Research of Personality, we found that people’s personality traits can also predict their musical ability, even if they don’t play an instrument. Our team worked with BBC Lab UK to recruit over 7,000 participants and assess them for five distinct personality dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism/emotionality stability. We also asked them to conduct various tasks that measured their musical ability, including remembering melodies and picking out rhythms.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>We found that, next to musical training, the personality trait of openness was the strongest predictor of musical sophistication. People who score highly for openness are imaginative, have a wide range of interests, and are open to new ways of thinking and changes in their environment. Those who score low on openness (or who are “closed”) are more set in their ways, prefer routine and the familiar, and tend to have more conventional values. We also found that extroverts who are often more talkative, assertive, and excitement-seeking had greater singing abilities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Furthermore, we could apply this even to people who did not currently play a musical instrument, meaning there are people who have a potential for musical talent but are entirely unaware of it.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Music therapy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>These new findings tell us that from a person’s musical taste and ability, we can infer a range of information about their personality and the way that they think.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>This research shows there are factors beyond our awareness that shape our musical experiences. We hope that these findings can be of help to teachers, parents, and clinicians. Based on information about personality, educators can ensure that children with the potential for musical talent have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. Music therapists can use information about thinking style to help tailor their therapies for clients, too.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>We are also interested in how knowledge gained from science can help children and adults on the autism spectrum who have difficulties with communication, as we recently wrote in the journal <a href="http://emusicology.org/article/view/4603">Empirical Musicology Review</a>. This could also help people process emotions after experiencing a psychological trauma and when grieving a loss. In fact, initial findings from our lab suggest that people who experienced a traumatic event in childhood engage with music quite differently in adulthood than those who did not experience a trauma.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>If you want to find out how you score on musical ability, preferences, and personality, you can take these tests at <a href="https://musicaluniverse.io/">www.musicaluniverse.org</a>.</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em><strong><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-m-greenberg-204317">David Greenberg</a>, PhD candidate, psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cambridge-1283"> ֱ̽ of Cambridge</a></span></strong></em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em><strong>This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/"> ֱ̽Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-your-musical-taste-says-about-your-personality-50492">original article</a>.</strong></em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><em> ֱ̽opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the ֱ̽ of Cambridge.</em></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>David Greenberg (Department of Psychology) discusses how musical preferences are linked to thinking styles.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakescreations/69953132/in/photolist-7bwCu-nFS9i-4AxJJ8-ajxehR-6uzLyN-85JmbR-6SaZxn-9EcvFd-dRgtid-cwojCE-6FppEQ-23PhGJ-5UPajj-3wtLvH-97yhR9-futssE-6SStz9-qgsSmJ-9UTLtC-5nmEWP-4yFWkV-26dZo5-aEJeeH-dXqp7o-7KgDdP-mKjEYS-of9sHy-ouwR5F-5bxcwv-pA8s75-fYci6X-2hYGMj-5V2qF2-vY16-fvbKPX-cgVsy7-5LUJok-8EYNAC-9MY1Gf-akBP6s-buprei-cxbPvS-baFQGB-4iJJEk-5WsnPW-32mn8S-fAcvjc-dUuhoN-2dZvSS-9xRJvS" target="_blank">Jake Bellucci</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Headphones</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; ֱ̽text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. For image use please see separate credits above.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/attribution-noncommerical">Attribution-Noncommerical</a></div></div></div> Mon, 30 Nov 2015 01:40:32 +0000 Anonymous 163442 at Musical tastes offer a window into how you think /research/news/musical-tastes-offer-a-window-into-how-you-think <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/news/deathangel.jpg?itok=0yvXRUjy" alt="Death Angel (cropped)" title="Death Angel (cropped), Credit: Damien Sisson DEATH ANGEL, Melbourne, Australia" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In a study published today in the journal <em>PLOS ONE</em>, a team of psychologists show that your thinking style – whether you are an ‘empathizer’ who likes to focus on and respond to the emotions of others, or a ‘systemizer’ who likes to analyse rules and patterns in the world—is a predictor of the type of music you like.<br /><br />&#13; Music is a prominent feature of everyday life and nearly everywhere we go. It’s easy for us to know what types of music we like and don’t like. When shuffling songs on an iPod, it takes us only a few seconds to decide whether to listen or skip to the next track. However, little is known about what determines our taste in music.<br /><br />&#13; Researchers over the past decade have argued that musical preferences reflect explicit characteristics such as age and personality. For example, people who are open to new experiences tend to prefer music from the blues, jazz, classical, and folk genres, and people who are extraverted and ‘agreeable’ tend to prefer music from the pop, soundtrack, religious, soul, funk, electronic, and dance genres.<br /><br />&#13; Now a team of scientists, led by PhD student David Greenberg, has looked at how our ‘cognitive style’ influences our musical choices. This is measured by looking at whether an individual scores highly on ‘empathy’ (our ability to recognize and react to the thoughts and feelings of others) or on ‘systemizing’ (our interest in understanding the rules underpinning systems such as the weather, music, or car engines) – or whether we have a balance of both.<br /><br />&#13; “Although people’s music choices fluctuates over time, we’ve discovered a person’s empathy levels and thinking style predicts what kind of music they like,” said David Greenberg from the Department of Psychology. “In fact, their cognitive style – whether they’re strong on empathy or strong on systems – can be a better predictor of what music they like than their personality.”<br /><br />&#13; ֱ̽researchers conducted multiple studies with over 4,000 participants, who were recruited mainly through the myPersonality Facebook app. ֱ̽app asked Facebook users to take a selection of psychology-based questionnaires, the results of which they could place on their profiles for other users to see. At a later date, they were asked to listen to and rate 50 musical pieces. ֱ̽researchers used library examples of musical stimuli from 26 genres and subgenres, to minimise the chances that participants would have any personal or cultural association with the piece of music.<br /><br />&#13; People who scored high on empathy tended to prefer mellow music (from R&amp;B, soft rock, and adult contemporary genres), unpretentious music (from country, folk, and singer/songwriter genres) and contemporary music (from electronica, Latin, acid jazz, and Euro pop). They disliked intense music, such as punk and heavy metal. In contrast, people who scored high on systemizing favoured intense music, but disliked mellow and unpretentious musical styles.<br /><br />&#13; ֱ̽results proved consistent even within specified genres: empathizers preferred mellow, unpretentious jazz, while systemizers preferred intense, sophisticated (complex and avant-garde) jazz.<br /><br />&#13; ֱ̽researchers then looked more in-depth and found those who scored high on empathy preferred music that had low energy (gentle, reflective, sensual, and warm elements), or negative emotions (sad and depressing characteristics), or emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful features). Those who scored high on systemizing preferred music that had high energy (strong, tense, and thrilling elements), or positive emotions (animated and fun features), and which also featured a high degree of cerebral depth and complexity.<br /><br />&#13; David Greenberg, a trained jazz saxophonist, says the research could have implications for the music industry. “A lot of money is put into algorithms to choose what music you may want to listen to, for example on Spotify and Apple Music. By knowing an individual’s thinking style, such services might in future be able to fine tune their music recommendations to an individual.”<br /><br />&#13; Dr Jason Rentfrow, the senior author on the study says: “This line of research highlights how music is a mirror of the self. Music is an expression of who we are emotionally, socially, and cognitively.”<br /><br />&#13; Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a member of the team, added; “This new study is a fascinating extension to the ‘empathizing-systemizing’ theory of psychological individual differences. It took a talented PhD student and musician to even think to pose this question. ֱ̽research may help us understand those at the extremes, such as people with autism, who are strong systemizers.”<br /><br />&#13; Based on their findings, the following are songs that the researchers believe are likely to fit particular styles:</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>High on empathy</h2>&#13; &#13; <ul><li>Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley</li>&#13; <li>Come away with me – Norah Jones</li>&#13; <li>All of me – Billie Holliday</li>&#13; <li>Crazy little thing called love – Queen</li>&#13; </ul><h2>High on systemizing</h2>&#13; &#13; <ul><li>Concerto in C – Antonio Vivaldi</li>&#13; <li>Etude Opus 65 No 3 — Alexander Scriabin</li>&#13; <li>God save the Queen – ֱ̽Sex Pistols</li>&#13; <li>Enter Sandman – Metallica</li>&#13; </ul><p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p>David Greenberg was funded by the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust and the Autism Research Trust during the period of this work.<br /><br /><em><strong>Reference</strong><br />&#13; Greenberg, DM, Baron-Cohen, S, Stillwell, DJ, Kosinski, M, &amp; Rentfrow, PJ. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131151">Musical preferences are linked to cognitive styles</a>. PLOS ONE; 22 July 2015</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p><strong>Professor Simon Baron-Cohen will be speaking at the <a href="https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/events/alumni-festival-2015/is-autism-a-disorder"> ֱ̽ of Cambridge Alumni Festival</a> on 26 September 2015.</strong></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Do you like your jazz to be Norah Jones or Ornette Coleman, your classical music to be Bach or Stravinsky, or your rock to be Coldplay or Slayer? ֱ̽answer could give an insight into the way you think, say researchers from the ֱ̽ of Cambridge.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Although people’s music choices fluctuates over time, we’ve discovered a person’s empathy levels and thinking style predicts what kind of music they like</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote-name field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David Greenberg</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gothicsanctuary/13906647763/in/photolist-nbTcT2-ovhMH5-nbTgUt-nbV67J-nbV5gA-n9QqAC-n9QvXL-n9Qonq-nbUXTq-n9QnGh-nbT4Ax-nbT56k-2U3yA-2U3BX-vvVcAT-vNp9ra-vvVcbK-86KS5z-vvMUYj-uRwVUD-vL6ewj-vL6e8J-vvMQxy-vvMPMf-aqiHpu-aqiH3y-n9QkTX-n9Qmww-n9QmxN-n9QoK8-nbUWA5-7XzYWV-7XA3F8-6yYMhN-6yYMMA-6yYMDQ-6yUFED-6yYMvY-4EYnT4-5wEggU-aqgiTk-c7Jgsj-aqgrHt-4EYnLz-4F3Cr3-4EYnqc-4F3DqC-4F3Dc7-4F3CQm-4EYnCp" target="_blank">Damien Sisson DEATH ANGEL, Melbourne, Australia</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Death Angel (cropped)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; ֱ̽text in this work is licensed under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. For image use please see separate credits above.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/attribution">Attribution</a></div></div></div> Wed, 22 Jul 2015 18:00:29 +0000 cjb250 155502 at