Replication of the music preference (MUSIC) model and evaluation of its association with personality and autistic traits

Music preferences have consistently been found to follow a five-factor structure (i.e., Mellow, Unpretentious, Sophisticated, Intense, and Contemporary, in short MUSIC), in the West. These factors are associated, in turn, with the Big Five personality traits. However, the stability of this structure and its association with personality in non-Western cultures are underexplored. Moreover, behavioral traits other than personality traits might relate to music preferences. High systemizing traits, as often seen in people with autism, tend to be associated with a preference for Intense music. However, whether this generalizes to autistic traits in the general population remains unclear. The current study therefore attempted to examine the five-factor MUSIC model and test its association with Big Five personality traits and autistic traits in an online study of Malaysians. A total of 444 participants, of whom 59.7% were of Chinese ethnicity, rated their preference for 50 brief musical excerpts and completed the Ollen Musical Sophistication Index, the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-28. The original MUSIC model was partially replicated with virtually identical Sophisticated and Intense factors. However, once age, gender, and musical sophistication were controlled for, most of the previously reported associations between Big Five personality traits and music preferences were not found. Instead of a positive association between autistic traits and Intense music, a negative association was found between autistic traits and Contemporary music. These findings partially support the validity of the MUSIC model in Malaysia and highlight the importance of undertaking research on music preferences in non-Western contexts.