Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI): Portuguese version and associations with socio-demographic factors, personality and music preferences

Abstract

The Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) was recently proposed as a self-report measure of musical skills and behaviors in the general population. Although it is becoming a widely used tool, relatively little is known about its correlates, and adaptations into different languages will be crucial for cross-cultural comparisons and to allow for use beyond the original validation context. In this study, we adapted the Gold-MSI for use with Portuguese speaking individuals and evaluated it with a Portuguese sample ( N = 408; age range = 17–66 years; 306 women). We demonstrate that the Portuguese version of the Gold-MSI has appropriate psychometric properties, including good internal consistency and very good test–retest reliability. This was observed for the five subscales and for the general musical sophistication index (α values ⩾ 0.82, r values ⩾ 0.84). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the expected underlying factor structure was also confirmed. In addition, we identified associations between individual differences on the Gold-MSI and socio-demographic factors (age, sex, education, socio-economic status), personality traits, and music preferences. The Portuguese Gold-MSI is freely available, and it offers a reliable and valid tool that can contribute to the refined assessment of musical sophistication in a range of research contexts.