Measuring Musical Sophistication in Turkey: Psychometric Evaluation of the Turkish Gold-MSI

This study aimed to adapt the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) into Turkish and to examine its psychometric properties in an adult sample from Turkey. Musical ability is increasingly conceptualized as a multidimensional construct reflecting everyday musical engagement, skills, experience, and affective involvement. Following International Test Commission guidelines, the Gold-MSI was translated and culturally adapted using forward–backward translation and expert review. Data were collected from 1,278 adults aged 18–65 years. Confirmatory factor analyses using a diagonally weighted least squares estimator tested correlated, hierarchical, and bifactor models. Results supported a bifactor structure comprising a general musical sophistication factor and five specific subscales, with acceptable to good model fit. Internal consistency, assessed via Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega, was satisfactory, and test–retest analyses indicated strong temporal stability. The Turkish Gold-MSI thus provides a reliable tool for research on musical engagement and for future cross-cultural investigations in which measurement equivalence is appropriately evaluated.