Seems there are studies that suggest men who play extreme metal, want to impress other men. Is it so?
The study is centered around three existing models for explaining humanity’s drive to create art of all sorts (including music):
1) The mate attraction model, which proposes that humans (especially men, according to this theory) create art in order to attract potential mating partners,
2) The status-seeking model, which postulates that humans, both men, and women (but again, predominantly men), engage in creative cultural displays in order to impress members of the same sex (and occasionally those of the opposite one) in order to gain prestige, and…
3) …The cognitive byproduct model, argues that art in all its forms doesn’t serve a specific function.
Dudes who practice chords want to get laid more; dudes who play fast want to impress other dudes? Well…
After comparing all of these parameters against each other, the study certainly came up with some interesting findings.
“Significant positive correlations” were found between time spent playing chords, the number of lifetime sexual partners, and the desire to engage in casual sex. In short, dudes who spend more time playing chords want to get laid more, and a fair few of them succeed in that pursuit.
When it comes to aspects of “extreme metal” playstyle, a positive correlation was only found between the participants’ speed of playing and their overall intrasexual competitiveness score. Even then, the participants’ playing speed could only be used to successfully predict superiority enjoyment, but not inferiority frustration. […]
Research shows that heterosexual men who learn to play extreme metal guitar are mostly motivated to do so in order to impress other heterosexual men.
— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) October 2, 2022