Why men never move on from their teenage musical favourites, while women's tastes continue to develop

As we go through life, our tastes develop to encompass new dishes, destinations and the like.

But for men, when it comes to music the song remains the same.

A study suggests that men never really move on from the tunes they loved in their teenage years.

In fact, they form their strongest musical memories when they are just 16.

Women’s tastes, on the other hand, continue to develop and grow as they age, meaning they favour more recent hits, while chaps are stuck on the tunes they listened to during the most rebellious time of their lives.

Researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland asked nearly 2,000 people across 84 countries to select a piece of music that meant something to them.

The study found that the most emotionally resonant music tends to come from our teenage years, a trend they described as the ‘reminiscence bump’.

Dr Iballa Burunat, the lead author of the study, said: ‘Think of the adolescent brain as a sponge, supercharged by curiosity and a craving for reward, but without a fully developed filter. 

'And it’s because it’s still maturing that our strong emotional experiences, such as the songs we love, get absorbed more deeply and vividly, and leave a lasting impression.’

Analysis revealed that men typically connect most deeply with the songs heard at 16, while women peaked at around 19. 

But these musical memory patterns diverged dramatically as they aged.

By their 60s, women’s most meaningful music clustered around the music they’d heard in recent years, with their reminiscence bump becoming less dominant.

Men, however, showed remarkably stable musical preferences across their whole lifetimes. 

Even in their 60s, they had a strong emotional connection to music from their teenage years.

Writing in the journal Memory, the researchers said this may be because men often use intense music for rebellion and identity formation in their teens.

From 14 to 17, many gravitate towards intense, rebellious genres such as rock and metal to establish their independence, align with peer groups and signal a shift from their parents.

Dr Burunat, said: ‘For men, music from adolescence becomes a lasting anchor for personal meaning.

‘For women the connection to music tends to shift. 

'They commonly use music as a flexible tool for emotional expression and social bonding throughout their lives.’