The adaptation and validation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) in Italian: The Gold-MSI-IT

Abstract

The Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) measures a wide range of self-reported musical abilities and behaviors in the Western adult general population, regardless of musical expertise. This instrument has been validated in various languages, but an Italian version is lacking. The present study describes the Italian validation and adaptation of the Gold-MSI (Gold-MSI-IT) and investigates the effects of socio-demographic variables on scores of musical sophistication. Analyses of factor structure and internal reliability on an Italian sample ( N = 429, mean age = 31.08, SD = 11.68, 75.5% female) and analyses of test–retest reliability on a smaller sample ( N = 57, mean age = 34.68, SD = 10.80, 75% female) show that the Gold-MSI-IT conforms to a bifactor model, similarly to the original version, including an underlying General Musical Sophistication factor and five subfactors, and that our instrument has good internal consistency and good test–retest reliability. Additional tests showed gender differences in musical sophistication and that musical sophistication correlated with education but not with age. The study provides a reliable and stable tool to investigate individual differences in the Italian context and adds to our knowledge of musicality in the general population across countries.