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Humans share acoustic preferences with other animals.

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Title: Humans share acoustic preferences with other animals.
Authors: James, Logan S. (AUTHOR), Woolley, Sarah C. (AUTHOR), Sakata, Jon T. (AUTHOR), Hilton, Courtney B. (AUTHOR), Ryan, Michael J. (AUTHOR), Mehr, Samuel A. (AUTHOR)
Source: Science. 3/19/2026, Vol. 391 Issue 6791, p1246-1249. 4p.
Subjects: Animal communication, Musical perception, Convergent evolution, Biological evolution, Animal sexual behavior, Comparative studies, Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882
Abstract: Many animals produce courtship sounds, and receivers prefer some sounds over others. Shared ancestry and convergent evolution may generate similarities in preference across species and underlie Darwin's conjecture that some animals "have nearly the same taste for the beautiful as we have." In this study, we show that humans share acoustic preferences with a range of animals, that the strength of human preferences correlates with that in other animals, and that humans respond faster when in agreement with animals. Furthermore, we found greatest agreement in preference for adorned, ancestral, and lower-frequency sounds. Humans' music listening experience was associated with preferences. These results are consistent with theories arguing that biases in processing sculpt acoustic preferences, and they confirm Darwin's century-old hunch about the conservation of aesthetics in nature. Editor's summary: Humans have well-known affinities for pleasant sights and sounds such as flowers and music. Other animals also display such preferences, notably when choosing a mate. Humans and other animals' shared histories and preferences for certain stimuli suggest that these preferences may be conserved, a phenomenon Darwin called a shared "taste for the beautiful." James et al. tested for the presence of such shared preferences for sounds and found that human participants preferred sounds that the nonhuman animal receivers preferred and with the same strength. This was true across multiple different taxa, including birds, frogs, and amphibians. —Sacha Vignieri [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Humans share acoustic preferences with other animals.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Science%22">Science</searchLink>. 3/19/2026, Vol. 391 Issue 6791, p1246-1249. 4p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Animal+communication%22">Animal communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Musical+perception%22">Musical perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Convergent+evolution%22">Convergent evolution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Biological+evolution%22">Biological evolution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Animal+sexual+behavior%22">Animal sexual behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Darwin%2C+Charles%2C+1809-1882%22">Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882</searchLink>
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  Data: Many animals produce courtship sounds, and receivers prefer some sounds over others. Shared ancestry and convergent evolution may generate similarities in preference across species and underlie Darwin's conjecture that some animals "have nearly the same taste for the beautiful as we have." In this study, we show that humans share acoustic preferences with a range of animals, that the strength of human preferences correlates with that in other animals, and that humans respond faster when in agreement with animals. Furthermore, we found greatest agreement in preference for adorned, ancestral, and lower-frequency sounds. Humans' music listening experience was associated with preferences. These results are consistent with theories arguing that biases in processing sculpt acoustic preferences, and they confirm Darwin's century-old hunch about the conservation of aesthetics in nature. Editor's summary: Humans have well-known affinities for pleasant sights and sounds such as flowers and music. Other animals also display such preferences, notably when choosing a mate. Humans and other animals' shared histories and preferences for certain stimuli suggest that these preferences may be conserved, a phenomenon Darwin called a shared "taste for the beautiful." James et al. tested for the presence of such shared preferences for sounds and found that human participants preferred sounds that the nonhuman animal receivers preferred and with the same strength. This was true across multiple different taxa, including birds, frogs, and amphibians. —Sacha Vignieri [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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              Text: 3/19/2026
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