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Journal ArticleDOI

Perceived performance anxiety in advanced musicians specializing in different musical genres

01 Jan 2013-Psychology of Music (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 41, Iss: 1, pp 18-41
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the perceived intensity of performance anxiety, the perceived contributing factors, changes in perceived anxiety levels as performances approached, and the perceived impact of performance on the quality of performance.
Abstract: Most research on musical performance anxiety has focused on musicians coming from a classical background, and performance anxiety experiences of musicians outside the western classical genre remain under-researched. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived performance anxiety experiences in undergraduate and professional musicians and to explore whether musical genre specialization (Western classical, jazz, popular, Scottish traditional) affected musicians' performance anxiety experiences. The study addressed questions exploring the perceived intensity of performance anxiety, the perceived contributing factors, changes in perceived anxiety levels as performances approached (one hour before, immediately before and during performance) and the perceived impact of performance on the quality of performance. Participants were 244 musicians, 170 undergraduates and 74 portfolio career musicians. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Findings suggested that performance anxiety was of concern for a significant majority of undergraduate and professional musicians. Musicians from all participating musical genres shared similar perceptions and concerns. Anxiety appeared to have negative connotations, although it was also reported as beneficial. Solo performance generated more anxiety compared to group performance. Overall, the impact of anxiety on performance was related to its perceived severity during performance, and was mediated by musicians' performance experience and their general susceptibility to anxiety. The musical genre in which participants specialized affected their perceived anxiety levels. Western classical musicians were generally found to report higher levels of performance anxiety. This study has provided indications that musicians specializing in different musical genres may experience performance anxiety in quantitatively and qualitatively different ways. Further research would benefit from investigating factors contributing to these variations.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a muestra estuvo compuesta por 72 musicos, entre 16 and 54 anos (M=24.11; DE=9.03); the results mostraron una correlación positiva entre the ansiedad escenica musical (AEM) and the neuroticismo (p<.01) and negativa con the extraversion (p <.05).

5 citations


Cites background from "Perceived performance anxiety in ad..."

  • ...Los resultados son contrarios a los encontrados en diversas investigaciones donde determinan que la ejecución solista genera mayores puntuaciones de AEM que en conjunto (Arnáiz Rodríguez, 2015; Herrera y Manjón, 2013; Özdemir y Dalkıran, 2017; Papageorgi et al., 2013)....

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  • ...Otros autores han encontrado efectos negativos en la ejecución y ansiedad anticipatoria en aquellos individuos que actuaban como solistas (Herrera y Manjón, 2013; Papageorgi et al., 2013)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is a useful research tool that can facilitate the understanding of the subjective experience of performance anxiety (how it is felt and understood at an individual level) and can be useful in the development of tailor-made intervention programs for musicians.
Abstract: Most investigations of musical performance anxiety have employed quantitative methodologies. Whereas such methodologies can provide useful insights into the measurable aspects of the experience in a larger group of participants, the complexity, subtlety and individuality of the emotional experience and the importance of the individual's interpretation of it are often overlooked. This study employed a phenomenological approach to investigate the lived, subjective experience of performance anxiety, as described in professional musicians' narratives. Semi-structured interviews with four professional musicians (two males, two females) specializing in Western classical and jazz music genres were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis revealed the presence of four overarching themes: (1) Intensity of performance anxiety experience, (2) perceived effects, (3) development of coping strategies, and (4) achieving release from anxiety. Findings suggest that the lived experience of performance anxiety is multifaceted, characterized by a physical and a psychological dimension. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is a useful research tool that can facilitate our understanding of the subjective experience of performance anxiety (how it is felt and understood at an individual level) and can thus be useful in the development of tailor-made intervention programs for musicians.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigated to what extent affective (anxiety), cognitive (catastrophizing), and somatic (bodily complaints) components of music performance anxiety prior to solo performances vary as a function of age, gender, instrument group, musical experience, and practice as well as how these MPA components relate to self-rated change in performance quality from practice to public performance.
Abstract: Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a multifaceted phenomenon occurring on a continuum of severity. In this survey study, we investigated to what extent the affective (anxiety), cognitive (catastrophizing), and somatic (bodily complaints) components of MPA prior to solo performances vary as a function of age, gender, instrument group, musical experience, and practice as well as how these MPA components relate to self-rated change in performance quality from practice to public performance. The sample comprised 75 male and 111 female classical music university students, aged 15–45 years. Age was positively associated with anxious feelings and bodily complaints. Compared to male students, female students reported significantly more anxious feelings and catastrophizing. Singers reported less anxious feelings and catastrophizing than instrumentalists. Breathing-, mouth- and throat-related complaints were highest among singers and wind players; hand- and arm-related complaints were highest among string players and pianists. The indices of musical experience and practice had marginal effects. An average of four bodily complaints bothered the participants strongly to very strongly. Worsening in performance quality from practice to public performance was reported by almost half of the participants and was best predicted by anxious feelings and breathing-related complaints. We conclude that age, gender and instrument play a significant role in understanding the phenomenology of MPA. Musicians should be examined according to these characteristics rather than as one homogenous population. In particular, it might be valuable to develop assessment tools for MPA that incorporate items related to the bodily complaints that are most relevant to the different instrument groups. Breathing-related complaints could add an important dimension to the investigation of MPA and music performance. Finally, the high percentage of students reporting worsening of their performance quality from practice to public performance highlights the need of professional support to help music students be able to perform at their best and thrive as artists.

4 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored music performance anxiety (MPA) and trait anxiety as experienced by jazz music students at the post-secondary level and found that MPA has been conceptualised as a painful experience.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore music performance anxiety (MPA) and trait anxiety as experienced by jazz music students at the post-secondary level. MPA has been conceptualised as a painful ap...

4 citations


Cites background or result from "Perceived performance anxiety in ad..."

  • ...…that jazz students differ from classical students in the extent to which they experience MPA in public performance (Kaspersen and Götestam 2002; Papageorgi, Creech, and Welch 2013), these studies have been limited by small sample sizes and by sampling approaches whereby jazz has been…...

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  • ...…as contradictory to previous literature reporting a significant effect of the performance setting on MPA for classical musicians (LeBlanc et al. 1997; Nicholson, Cody, and Beck 2015) as well as musicians of other musical genres (Kaspersen and Götestam 2002; Papageorgi, Creech, and Welch 2013)....

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  • ...When comparing the experience of MPA among musicians representing different musical genres, Papageorgi, Creech, and Welch (2013) found that jazz music performance students reported lower levels of MPA as compared to classical music performance students in a solo performance setting but similar…...

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  • ...While there could be many explanations, this finding could indicate that the MPA experienced by jazz music students may be less influenced by performance settings, as compared with musicians representing other musical genres (Papageorgi, Creech, and Welch 2013)....

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  • ...…have been shown to influence the MPA experienced by both classical (LeBlanc et al. 1997; Nicholson, Cody, and Beck 2015) and jazz musicians (Papageorgi, Creech, and Welch 2013), we asked participants to identify their most common performance setting (mostly solo, solo only, mostly…...

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: SelfSelf-Efficacy (SE) as discussed by the authors is a well-known concept in human behavior, which is defined as "belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments".
Abstract: Albert Bandura and the Exercise of Self-Efficacy Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control Albert Bandura. New York: W. H. Freeman (www.whfreeman.com). 1997, 604 pp., $46.00 (hardcover). Enter the term "self-efficacy" in the on-line PSYCLIT database and you will find over 2500 articles, all of which stem from the seminal contributions of Albert Bandura. It is difficult to do justice to the immense importance of this research for our theories, our practice, and indeed for human welfare. Self-efficacy (SE) has proven to be a fruitful construct in spheres ranging from phobias (Bandura, Jeffery, & Gajdos, 1975) and depression (Holahan & Holahan, 1987) to career choice behavior (Betz & Hackett, 1986) and managerial functioning (Jenkins, 1994). Bandura's Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control is the best attempt so far at organizing, summarizing, and distilling meaning from this vast and diverse literature. Self-Efficacy may prove to be Bandura's magnum opus. Dr. Bandura has done an impressive job of summarizing over 1800 studies and papers, integrating these results into a coherent framework, and detailing implications for theory and practice. While incorporating prior works such as Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) and "Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency" (Bandura, 1982), Self-Efficacy extends these works by describing results of diverse new research, clarifying and extending social cognitive theory, and fleshing out implications of the theory for groups, organizations, political bodies, and societies. Along the way, Dr. Bandura masterfully contrasts social cognitive theory with many other theories of human behavior and helps chart a course for future research. Throughout, B andura' s clear, firm, and self-confident writing serves as the perfect vehicle for the theory he espouses. Self-Efficacy begins with the most detailed and clear explication of social cognitive theory that I have yet seen, and proceeds to delineate the nature and sources of SE, the well-known processes via which SE mediates human behavior, and the development of SE over the life span. After laying this theoretical groundwork, subsequent chapters delineate the relevance of SE to human endeavor in a variety of specific content areas including cognitive and intellectual functioning; health; clinical problems including anxiety, phobias, depression, eating disorders, alcohol problems, and drug abuse; athletics and exercise activity; organizations; politics; and societal change. In Bandura's words, "Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments" (p. 3). People's SE beliefs have a greater effect on their motivation, emotions, and actions than what is objectively true (e.g., actual skill level). Therefore, SE beliefs are immensely important in choice of behaviors (including occupations, social relationships, and a host of day-to-day behaviors), effort expenditure, perseverance in pursuit of goals, resilience to setbacks and problems, stress level and affect, and indeed in our ways of thinking about ourselves and others. Bandura affirms many times that humans are proactive and free as well as determined: They are "at least partial architects of their own destinies" (p. 8). Because SE beliefs powerfully affect human behaviors, they are a key factor in human purposive activity or agency; that is, in human freedom. Because humans shape their environment even as they are shaped by it, SE beliefs are also pivotal in the construction of our social and physical environments. Bandura details over two decades of research confirming that SE is modifiable via mastery experiences, vicarious learning, verbal persuasion, and interpretation of physiological states, and that modified SE strongly and consistently predicts outcomes. SE beliefs, then, are central to human self-determination. STRENGTHS One major strength of Self-Efficacy is Bandura's ability to deftly dance from forest to trees and back again to forest, using specific, human examples and concrete situations to highlight his major theoretical premises, to which he then returns. …

46,839 citations


"Perceived performance anxiety in ad..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Three published standardized scales measuring the following: 1. musical self-efficacy (Hargreaves et al., 2003 – based on Bandura, 1997; Sherer et al., 1982); two existing versions of this scale were used, one focusing on performance preparation and the second focusing on actual performance; 2.…...

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01 Jan 1970
TL;DR: The STAI as mentioned in this paper is an indicator of two types of anxiety, the state and trait anxiety, and measure the severity of the overall anxiety level, which is appropriate for those who have at least a sixth grade reading level.
Abstract: The STAI serves as an indicator of two types of anxiety, the state and trait anxiety, and measure the severity of the overall anxiety level.The STAI, which is appropriate for those who have at least a sixth grade reading level, contains four-point Likert items. The instrument is divided into two sections, each having twenty questions. Approximately 15 minutes are required for adults to complete the both STAI. The number on the scale is positively correlated to the anxiety related to in the question.

24,997 citations

Book
21 Apr 1965

21,050 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In connection with a study of various aspects of the modifiability of behavior in the dancing mouse a need for definite knowledge concerning the relation of strength of stimulus to rate of learning arose, the experiments which are now to be described arose.
Abstract: In connection with a study of various aspects of the modifiability of behavior in the dancing mouse a need for definite knowledge concerning the relation of strength of stimulus to rate of learning arose. It was for the purpose of obtaining this knowledge that we planned and executed the experiments which are now to be described. Our work was greatly facilitated by the advice and assistance of Doctor E. G. MARTIN, Professor G. W. PIERCE, and Professor A. E. KENNELLY, and we desire to express here both our indebtedness and our thanks for their generous services.

5,868 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the ways 100 community-residing men and women aged 45 to 64 coped with the stressful events of daily living during one year and found that coping conceptualized in either defensive or problem-solving terms is incomplete.
Abstract: This study analyzes the ways 100 community-residing men and women aged 45 to 64 coped with the stressful events of daily living during one year. Lazarus's cognitive-phenomenological analysis of psychological stress provides the theoreticalframework. Information about recently experienced stressful encounters was elicited through monthly interviews and self-report questionnaires completed between interviews. At the end of each interview and questionnaire, the participant indicated on a 68-item Ways of Coping checklist those coping thoughts and actions used in the specific encounter. A mean of 13.3 episodes was reported by each participant. Two functions of coping, problem-focused and emotion-focused, are analyzed with separate measures. Both problemand emotion-focused coping were used in 98% of the 1,332 episodes, emphasizing that coping conceptualized in either defensive or problem-solving terms is incomplete-both functions are usually involved. Intraindividual analyses show that people are more variable than consistent in their coping patterns. The context of an event, who is involved, how it is appraised, age, and gender are examined as potential influences on coping. Context and how the event is appraised are the most potent factors. Work contexts favor problem-focused coping, and health contexts favor emotionfocused coping. Situations in which the person thinks something constructive can be done or that are appraised as requiring more information favor problem-focused coping, whereas those having to be acceptedfavor emotion-focused coping. There are no effects associated with age, and gender differences emerge only in problem-focused coping: Men use more problem-focused coping than women at work and in situations having to be accepted and requiring more information. Contrary to the cultural stereotype, there are no gender differences in emotionfocused coping.

5,616 citations