This study presents the Chinese adaptation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI), an instrument for measuring individual differences in musical ability and skilled musical behaviour. Its psychometric properties were examined with a Taiwanese sample. The Gold-MSI inventory was translated into Chinese following recommendations from the literature on cross-cultural test development. Subsequently, the psychometric properties of the Chinese Gold-MSI self-report inventory, including the Melody Memory Task and the Beat Alignment Perception Task, were evaluated using an online survey with 1,065 participants. Results of confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the original factor structure of the Gold-MSI inventory showed an acceptable fit with the data from the Chinese-speaking sample. In addition, the Chinese Gold-MSI inventory shows good reliability. The Melody Memory Task and the Beat Alignment Perception Task also have sufficient test-retest reliability. Finally, correlations between the Chinese Gold-MSI inventory and the Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence subscale of the Eight Multiple Intelligences Questionnaire as well as the two additional music tests provide evidence for convergent and divergent validity. Overall, the data suggest that the Chinese Gold-MSI has good psychometric properties. Percentile norms for the Gold-MSI inventory and the music tests from the present sample are reported for use in future studies. The present study thus makes a valuable contribution to cross-cultural research in music psychology by enabling the comparison between Chinese and Western studies of individual differences in musical ability.

Recent meta-analyses have confirmed the significance of three personality traits of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) in predicting academic achievement, namely, conscientiousness, emotional stability (neuroticism), and openness. However, there is little agreement on which FFM traits are relevant in predicting academic achievement in music. The underlying mechanisms for the observed correlations between personality traits and academic achievement are also unclear. Thus, by including self-theories as mediator variables, we examine the relationships between personality traits, academic achievement in music and their underlying mechanisms. We analyzed longitudinal data collected from secondary school students ( N = 564, Mage = 11.98) in Germany and the United Kingdom in 2017 and 2018. A series of path models were used to examine the effect of personality traits and self-theories on academic achievement in music and overall achievement, while controlling for previous achievement. Conscientiousness and agreeableness emerged as best predictors of the development of overall performance and achievement in music, respectively. Subjective theories about one’s own musicality (e.g., musical self-theories) affect academic achievement in music even when personality traits and previous achievements are accounted for. This study demonstrates that personality traits contribute to the development of musical self-theories that in turn affect the growth of academic achievement in music.

The present study has investigated the minimal-distance hypothesis in music (Langlois & Roggman, 1990; Repp, 1997) by replicating Repp's original study (1997) on the aesthetic quality of an averaged performance—compared to individual interpretations—of Robert Schumann's Träumerei (Op. 15, No. 7). Participants (N = 205) came from Germany and Taiwan and made up a convenience sample representing different degrees of musical sophistication. We used a 2 × 4 mixed methods design that compared the country of data collection (between factor) and the four selected interpretations (within factor). The dependent variable was a unidimensional construct describing the musical quality, which was developed with an exploratory factor analysis followed by a probabilistic item analysis. It was found that the evaluation of Taiwanese and German participants did not differ, but the ratings for the various interpretations successfully replicated Repp's results: The average performance was rated better than the individual performances, and the lowest rated performance from the original study was rated lowest in this replication as well (large effect size). The confirmation of this central effect in music perception research might be an incentive for further replication studies in music psychology.

The Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index has been translated into several European languages. In the East Asian area, a traditional Chinese language translation is available. Due to differences in written characters and language use in various Chinese regions, a translation using simplified Chinese would reach a wider audience in mainland China and other regions. Our study, therefore, aimed to validate the simplified Chinese version of the Gold-MSI (Gold-MSI-SC) to replicate psychometric properties and factor structures of the Gold-MSI and to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and factors of the Gold-MSI-SC in a mainland Chinese sample ( N = 64,555). Following the translation guidelines for intercultural research, the Gold-MSI-SC self-report questionnaire, two music listening tests, and the Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence subscale (M-RI) were included in the main study together with the demographic and SES-related questions. All subscales of the Gold-MSI-SC showed high internal consistency (Cronbachs’ ɑ = [.80–.91]) and good test-retest reliability ( rtt = [.842–.935]). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the original bi-factor structure was replicated with satisfactory fit (root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .053 and comparative fit index (CFI) = .888). Correlations between the Gold-MSI-SC and the music tests, as well as the M-RI, demonstrated strong convergent and discriminant validity; structural equation models revealed negative relationships between age and the Gold-MSI factors, while SES positively correlated with all of the subscales. The Gold-MSI-SC has thus been shown to be a reliable tool in assessing multidimensional musical behaviors in simplified Chinese and in supporting the measurability of musical sophistication in different cultures.

ZusammenfassungTeilhabe an Musikkultur stellt eine zentrale Zieldimension musikpädagogischen Lehrens und Lernens dar. Gleichzeitig werden der musikalisch-kulturellen Teilhabe positive Wirkungen auf die allgemeine Lebenszufriedenheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen zugesprochen. Ausgehend vom Capability Approach wird empirisch geprüft, inwiefern sich die Teilhabe an Musikkultur in formalen und informellen Kontexten auf die domänenspezifische Lebenszufriedenheit in Musik sowie auf die allgemeine subjektive Lebenszufriedenheit auswirken. Zusätzlich werden die Persönlichkeitsmerkmale (Big Five) als Prädiktoren mit einbezogen, da diese als relevant für die Einschätzung der individuellen Lebenszufriedenheit gelten. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass Teilhabe an Musikkultur in formalen (nicht aber informellen) Kontexten die allgemeine subjektive Lebenszufriedenheit nur indirekt über die domänenspezifische Lebenszufriedenheit in Musik positiv beeinflusst. Die Big Five-Persönlichkeitsfaktoren leisten einen zusätzlichen signifikanten Beitrag zur Aufklärung der Varianz allgemeinen und domänenspezifischen Lebenszufriedenheit.