A new study has found a correlation between higher testosterone levels and lower interest in classical music – but only in men. The study, led by Japanese researchers Hirokazu Doi and Kazuyuki Shinohara from Nagasaki University, found that men with higher levels of testosterone were less interested in “sophisticated music”, which in this study referred to classical, jazz and avant-garde music.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the link between biological predisposition and music preference,” the researchers wrote in their paper Negative correlation between salivary testosterone concentration and preference for sophisticated music in males, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

As part of the study, the researchers asked 37 male and 39 female participants – mostly in their early 20s – to listen to 25 short musical extracts and evaluate them on a scale from “Like Very Much” to “Don’t Like At All”. Before the test, the testosterone levels of each participant was measured using a saliva sample. The participants were also required to complete a questionnaire detailing demographic information and musical experience.

“The main finding was a significant negative correlation between testosterone level and a preference for sophisticated music including classical, jazz and avant-garde...