John Lennon once famously suggested that "one of the main reasons to get on stage is that it's the quickest way of making contact." He was, of course, talking about getting laid. It's certainly true that the historically male-dominated arena of rock 'n' roll has led to some unhealthy dynamics when it comes to sex, but do that many straight men who play guitar really do it to boost their chances with women?
According to a 2022 study, there's actually another, surprising factor in play - at least when it comes to extreme metal. As revealed by a spicy truth-nugget shared by the official X account of QI - the British TV panel show based around interesting facts and whose social media channels are run by a team of researchers - a study indicated that the reason many straight male guitarists begin playing extreme metal is actually to show off to other straight male guitarists.
"Research shows that heterosexual men who learn to play extreme metal guitar are mostly motivated to do so in order to impress other heterosexual men," read QI's post, shared on October 2, 2022. Needless to say, it sparked an immediate debate, most of which, unlike much of social media, was actually in good jest.
One user even went and found the original study, conducted by Tara DeLecce, Farid Pazhoohi, Anna Szala and Todd K. Shackelford, on which QI's Tweet was based. Conducted earlier that year and posted on Psychnet, while the minutiae of the research involved remains behind a paywall, Psychnet's summary revealed that 44 straight male guitarists were surveyed for the study.
Although the results did reveal that some aspects of playing guitar are linked to a desire to impress women (which is a bit embarrassing, come on lads), other aspects intrinsically linked to extreme metal are rooted in mens' desire to impress their fellow guitar bros.
"There are two main competing hypotheses for the function of music: sexual selection or byproduct of the complexity of the human brain," the study stated. "Although there is evidence that playing music increases male attractiveness, the sexual selection explanation may not be mutually exclusive to all types of music."
The study went on to highlight that extreme metal music in particular is a genre of rock that is dominated by men both on stage and off, so the "sexual selection" theory might not apply.
"Extreme metal is a genre that is heavily male-biased, not only among the individuals that play this style of music, but also among the fans of the genre," it continued. "Therefore, it is unlikely that extreme metal musicians are primarily trying to increase their mating success through their music.
"However, musicians in this genre heavily invest their time in building technical skills (e.g., dexterity, coordination, timing), which raises the question of the purpose behind this costly investment. It could be that men engage in this genre mainly for status-seeking purposes: to intimidate other males with their technical skills and speed and thus gain social status.
"To explore the reasoning behind investment in technical guitar skills," it explained, "a sample of 44 heterosexual male metal guitarists was recruited and surveyed about their practicing habits...sexual behavior...and feelings of competitiveness toward the same sex."
Revealing the study's findings, the site noted: "The survey results indicated that time spent playing chords predicted desire for casual sex with women whereas perceptions of playing speed positively predicted intrasexual competitiveness (a desire to impress other men)."
So there you have it. The faster the shredding, the more you're trying to show off to your boy mates, apparently! We'd take these findings with a pinch of salt (44 is hardly the most definitive sample number), so don't get too bent out of shape if you're one of the many straight male extreme metal guitarists out there who simply play because extreme metal is awesome! Just be aware that, if the research is to be believed, there may be some other lads out there who are determined to out-noodle you.
