Sex differences in music perception are negligible

Abstract

Since Darwin (1871), researchers have proposed that musicality evolved in a reproductive context in which males produce music to signal their mate quality. The extent to which evidence supports this contention, however, remains unclear. Related traits in many non-human animals are sexually differentiated, and while some sex differences in human auditory perception have been documented, the pattern of results is murky. Here, we study melodic discrimination, mistuning perception, and beat alignment perception in 360,009 men and 194,291 women from 208 countries. We find that, in contrast to other non-music human traits, and in contrast to non-human traits, there was no overall advantage for either sex, and the observed sex differences were minuscule (Cohen`s d: 0.009 - 0.11) and of inconsistent direction. These results do not provide compelling support for human music perception being a sexually dimorphic trait, and therefore it is unlikely to have been shaped by sexual selection.

Nocturnal selective pressures on the evolution of human musicality as a missing piece of the adaptationist puzzle

“…Indeed, both men and women tend to have basically the same musical capacities with some minor distinctions on how musicality is expressed ( cf. Mosing et al, 2015 ; Bertolo et al, 2023 ). Women are slightly better at recognizing familiar melodies ( Miles et al, 2016 ), at mistuning perception ( Bertolo et al, 2023 ), at music achievement ( Mosing et al, 2015 ), appreciating more music ( Hagen and Bryant, 2003 ; Varella et al, 2010 ), liking to sing more than men ( Varella et al, 2010 ; De Moor et al, 2013 ; Yan et al, 2021 ); even the complexity of songs across primates is female-biased ( Schruth et al, 2021 ).…”

“… Mosing et al, 2015 ; Bertolo et al, 2023 ). Women are slightly better at recognizing familiar melodies ( Miles et al, 2016 ), at mistuning perception ( Bertolo et al, 2023 ), at music achievement ( Mosing et al, 2015 ), appreciating more music ( Hagen and Bryant, 2003 ; Varella et al, 2010 ), liking to sing more than men ( Varella et al, 2010 ; De Moor et al, 2013 ; Yan et al, 2021 ); even the complexity of songs across primates is female-biased ( Schruth et al, 2021 ). Compared to women, men tend to enjoy playing musical instruments more ( Varella et al, 2010 ), tend to be slightly better in rhythmic discrimination task ( Mosing et al, 2015 ; Bertolo et al, 2023 ), and slightly better in melodic and pitch discrimination tasks ( Mosing et al, 2015 ); cross-culturally, music performers tend to be male ( Savage et al, 2015 ; Mehr et al, 2018 , 2019 ).…”

How music-induced emotions affect sexual attraction: evolutionary implications

“…The mutual mate choice model, which argues that sexual dimorphism is low among humans, although some sex differences remain, may help explain these results ( Miller, 2013 ). Thus, the absence of significant sex differences in basic music perception skills ( Bertolo et al, 2023 ) does not provide convincing evidence against sexual selection, since both sexes need to be able to perceive and evaluate aesthetic displays ( Miller, 2001 ; Varella, 2023 ). In general, the current empirical evidence seems to be in line with Darwin (1871) , who did not regard music as a sexual dimorphic trait.…”

How being perceived to be an artist boosts feelings of attraction in others

“…In accordance with Darwin’s line of thinking, we also anticipated that the enhancing effect would be strongest in cross-gender direction, while being weaker or even absent when participant viewed individuals of their own gender (Hypothesis 3a). It is worth noting that, in contrast to later authors 27 , Darwin himself did not propose a sexual dimorphism in musicality, where males would have superior abilities compared to females, as is often observed in the animal kingdom, such as in songbirds. In fact, Darwin even assumed the opposite: “Women are generally thought to possess sweeter voices than men, and as far as this serves as any guide, we may infer that they first acquired musical powers in order to attract the other sex.” [6, p.337].…”