Shared music taste beats personality match
A new study finds romantic partners share far more similar musical tastes than personality traits or values, with this shared preference modestly linked to
Romantic couples share much more similar musical tastes than they do personality traits or personal values, according to a new study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. A shared love for specific artists is modestly associated with better relationship quality.
Music preferences act as a reflection of an individual’s psychological makeup and personal identity. People routinely use music as a social signal. Past research indicates individuals use musical taste to size up potential partners and form initial bonds.
Julia Vigl and Marcel Zentner of the University of Innsbruck designed a project to test whether real couples share musical tastes more than personality and if this predicts happiness. "We know quite a lot about similarity between romantic partners in personality, values, and other personal characteristics, but much less about similarity in aesthetic preferences," Zentner told PsyPost. "Music seemed particularly interesting."
How the research was conducted
The researchers conducted three separate studies involving 309 couples, primarily from Germany and Austria. Participants independently rated preferences for musical genres and listed favorite and least favorite artists. They also completed standard assessments of personality, values, and relationship satisfaction.
To measure true couple similarity, the scientists compared real couples to pseudo-couples created by randomly pairing participants. This showed how much similarity was due to the romantic bond versus broader cultural trends.
Key findings across the studies
In the first study with 99 young couples, real pairs were far more alike in music preferences than random pairings. This overlap was much larger than similarity in personality or values. Sharing favorite artists was linked to a modest increase in relationship tenderness.
The second study with 99 couples of wider age and longer relationships confirmed the pattern. Couples showed higher similarity in musical preferences than in personalities. A small positive link between shared favorite artists and tenderness was found again.
The third study tested 111 couples and added measures for specific love components like intimacy and passion. Even when factoring in musical backgrounds, couples showed unusually high similarity in taste. Here, sharing least favorite artists was linked to a slight increase in feelings of love and satisfaction.
What the combined data shows
The researchers pooled data from all 309 couples for a combined analysis. This confirmed romantic partners are highly similar in musical tastes, far exceeding similarities in personality or values. Romantic partners tend to have significantly more similar music preferences than would be expected by chance, Zentner noted. We were surprised by how consistently the effect emerged.
The association between shared music and relationship happiness is fairly small. The difference between couples and randomly paired individuals was fairly substantial for music preferences, Zentner said. The association between music similarity and relationship quality, however, was smaller, so shared musical taste is not what makes or breaks relationships but it seems to help a little.
The studies were correlational, so they cannot determine cause. The findings might not fully reflect dynamics in conflicted couples. Zentner emphasized the results shouldn't discourage people whose partners have different favorite bands.
Future studies will investigate how this similarity emerges. The researchers are planning an online dating experiment and an 18-month longitudinal study of early couples.
