Pauline Degrave

A French translation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index, an instrument to assess self-reported musical skills, abilities and behaviours

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to translate into French the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) (Müllensiefen, D., Gingras, B., Musil, J., & Stewart, L. (2014). The musicality of non-musicians: An index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population. PLOS One, 9(2), e89642) – an inventory to assess self-reported musical skills, abilities and behaviours -, to examine the internal consistency and to confirm the factor structure of this new French translation. The Gold-MSI has been translated into French in different steps and completed online by 795 persons, out of which data from 750 persons have been analysed. Measures of internal consistency reveal that the French version of the Gold-MSI has high levels of internal consistency (α = .80–.95; ω = .86–.96; Guttman λ6 = .80–.97). Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis shows a good structure index (RMSEA = .063; SRMR = .066; CFI = .884) and confirms the underlying factor structure. These findings support the use of the French version of the Gold-MSI as a reliable instrument to measure the level of different musical facets. The French translation, which is freely available in supplementary material, can contribute to research about musical skills and behaviours in French-speaking regions.