The music people hate says more than they think

Once upon a time, a carefully curated mixtape could be the ultimate romantic gesture.

But tucked among the love songs and thoughtfully chosen tracks might have been something more revealing about its creator - and potentially enough to put a budding romance on ice.

According to music psychology researcher Amanda Krause, what we dislike about another person's musical tastes can say as much about us as the songs we love.

And those musical prejudices can influence how we see others, the friendships we form and even our romantic prospects.

Dr Krause, a senior lecturer at James Cook University in Townsville, has spent much of her career exploring the psychology behind our everyday interactions with music.

Her latest research suggests the genres we reject are not simply those we find unpleasant to listen to, but can reflect our personalities, emotions and sense of social identity.

"We found that aversion to music is not simply the absence of enjoyment," Dr Krause says.

"Instead, it appears to have a distinct psychological structure shaped by emotion, complexity, social identity and personal taste."

The study examined the musical dislikes of 1078 people across Australia, China, Singapore and the United States, asking them to rate their preferences for 49 genres.

Researchers identified five factors underlying musical aversion, with immediate displeasure and a sense that certain music did not fit a person's identity or social world the strongest predictors of intense dislike.

In other words, someone might reject a genre not because of how it sounds, but because they don't identify with the kind of person they imagine listens to it.

Dr Krause says musical tastes can become a badge of identity, with people using them to signal where they belong, or crucially where they don't.

Some deliberately distance themselves from mainstream music, while others reject genres carrying cultural or social associations they find uncomfortable.

"It's a common sort of dating app question of what music do you like," Dr Krause tells AAP, describing how people read into a potential partner's playlists, CD collection or mixtapes.