Effects of Age, Gender, and Training on Musical Preferences of British Secondary School Students

The effects of age, gender, and musical training on preference ratings for 12 musical style categories were investigated in a sample of 278 British secondary school pupils drawn from the 11–12- and 15–16-year-old age-groups. There were no significant age x gender interactions, but a number of significant main effects were found. There was a general decline in liking with age, and this was particularly apparent for “serious” styles, although those “popular” styles for which the same effect was present showed considerably higher levels of liking at both age levels. Broadly speaking, girls expressed liking for a wider range of styles than did boys, especially “serious” ones, although this might be better expressed as a lower level of disliking. This could be attributable to girls' higher level of training a variable that was positively associated with liking for “serious” styles across the sample as a whole. The implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for further research are suggested.