Whether you prefer Jeff Buckley or Metallica, Vivaldi or Queen reveals a lot about the way you think, according to a new University of Cambridge study.

Over the past decade, researchers have examined how musical preferences reflect age and personality. For example, studies have shown that fans of the blues, jazz, classical and folk tend to be open to new experiences, while those who prefer pop, soul, funk and electronic music are more likely to be extraverted and "agreeable".

This latest study, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, looked at how "cognitive style" – classified as scoring highly on "empathy" (the ability to recognise and react to others' thoughts and feelings) or "systemising" (an interest in understanding the rules that underpin systems like car engines, music or the weather) - influences musical taste.

"Although people's music choices fluctuates over time, we've discovered a person's empathy levels and thinking style predicts what kind of music they like," said the Department of Psychology PhD student David Greenberg, who led the team of scientists. (Greenberg is also a trained jazz saxophonist.)

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"In fact, their cognitive style – whether they're strong on empathy or strong on systems – can be a better predictor of what music they like than their personality."

The scientists conducted several studies with more than 4000 people recruited through Facebook and Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants were asked to complete psychological questionnaires and then, at a later date, to rate 50 musical pieces. The researchers used library examples from 26 genres and subgenres to minimise the chances that participants would have any personal or cultural association with the music.

Strong empathisers tended to prefer "mellow" music like R&B/soul, soft rock and adult contemporary, while strong systemisers favoured "intense" genres like punk, heavy metal and hard rock, the researchers discovered.

Cognitive style influenced musical preferences even within genres, according to the findings. For example, empathisers preferred mellow, unpretentious jazz; systemisers preferred intense, complex and avant-garde jazz.

The study also found also that strong empathisers preferred music that was sad and depressing (as opposed to animated and fun), had emotional depth (relaxing and thoughtful, as opposed to cerebral or complex) and low energy (gentle and sensual, as opposed to tense and thrilling).

Systemisers preferred the opposite, that is, music that was high energy, complex and animated.

Jason Rentfrow, a senior author on the study, said the research highlighted how "music is a mirror of the self".

"Music is an expression of who we are emotionally, socially, and cognitively," he said.

The research may have implications for the music industry, as well as applications for clinicians working with people with autism, who are "extreme" systemisers, according to the authors.

High on empathy

• Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley
• Come Away with Me – Norah Jones
• All of Me – Billie Holliday
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen

High on systemising

• Concerto in C – Antonio Vivaldi
• Etude Opus 65 No 3 — Alexander Scriabin
• God Save the Queen – The Sex Pistols
• Enter Sandman – Metallica​