Perceived performance anxiety in advanced musicians specializing in different musical genres
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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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored how classical and non-classical performers differ in the way they experienced two important aspects of their music making, namely practice and public performance, and compared the emotions that the two groups reported during performance with those they reported during their daily life and with their particular approach to performance.
Abstract: Cultural environments appear to impact on the way individuals appraise events and, as a consequence, on their emotional experiences (Jarymowicz & Bar-Tal, 2006; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Schwartz, 1992, 2006; Turner & Stets, 2008). However, although music performance anxiety (MPA) has been extensively investigated (Gabrielsson, 2003), little is known about the impact of cultural factors on MPA. To fill this gap in current research, the study explored how classical and nonclassical performers differed in the way they experienced two important aspects of their music making, namely practice and public performance. It also compared the emotions that the two groups reported during performance with those they reported during their daily life and with their particular approach to performance.The article starts with a review of the findings on MPA, focusing in particular on the relationship that has been found between MPA and the performers' way of thinking about performance. It then discusses the impact of culture-the tendency of groups to develop a characteristic hierarchy of goals, values, and associated behaviors- on individuals' cognitions and emotions, and suggests that performers belonging to different environments, such as classical and nonclassical, are exposed to a different hierarchy of values and goals. These different values and goals impact on the criteria according to which performers appraise their musical activities, leading to different qualities of emotional experiences.Understanding Music Performance AnxietyMPA is a prevalent problem among musicians (Kenny, 2005; Steptoe, 2001; Steptoe & Fidler, 1987) that may have devastating effects on their well-being and careers (Nagel, 2010). It appears to be a complex phenomenon that results from the interplay of various factors, such as the performer's personal characteristics, the degree of task mastery, the stress of the particular situation (Cox & Kenardy, 1993; Hamann, 1982; LeBlanc, Jin, Obert, & Siivola, 1997; Wilson & Roland, 2002;), and the performers' thoughts about performance. Personal characteristics associated with MPA include trait anxiety (Cox & Kenardy, 1993; Kenny, Davis, & Oates, 2004; Lehrer, Goldman, & Strommen, 1990; Osborne & Kenny, 2008; Steptoe & Fidler, 1987), perfectionism and/or excessive need for control (Mor et al., 1995; Wilson & Roland, 2002), neuroticism, introversion, and proneness to social phobia (Craske & Craig, 1984; Steptoe & Fidler, 1987; Wilson, 1997). These personal characteristics, or "basic tendencies" seem to be at least partly biologically determined (McCrae et al., 2000: p. 174).MPA has also been shown to correlate with certain kinds of cognitions, that is, negative self-talk, preoccupation about "not being good enough," concerns about others' negative evaluation, fear of humiliation, "catastrophisation" (believing that minor errors may have catastrophic consequences), or other irrational beliefs, such as the conviction that one must be perfectly competent at musical performance to be a worthwhile person (Dews & Williams, 1989; Kendrick, Craig, Lawson, & Davidson, 1982; Kenny & Osborne, 2006; Osborne & Kenny, 2008; Steptoe & Fidler, 1987; Wilson & Roland, 2002).The impact of cognition on emotion is widely acknowledged, and is particularly emphasized by appraisal theorists who argue that it is not reality per se that elicits emotions, but rather the subject's appraisal, or subjective evaluation, of this reality (Frijda, Manstead, & Bem, 2000; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1990). Cognitive processes seem to determine the relevance of events as well as elicit and differentiate emotions (Scherer, 2005). Frijda highlights the predictable causal relation that exists between cognition and emotion, claiming that the subjects' appraisals of events inexorably determine the emotions that they will experience (Frijda, 1988). …
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TL;DR: A state-of-the-art overview of the neuropsychological profile of bipolar disorder was provided, highlighting the fact that bipolar disorder is characterized by remarkable heterogeneity regarding cognitive outcomes.
Abstract: Background In recent years, growing interest in the neuropsychology of bipolar disorder has emerged, giving rise to the accumulation of a robust body of evidence on this topic and to several related questions. Objective To provide a state-of-the-art overview of the neuropsychological profile of bipolar disorder. Method A thorough literature search was performed. Published research evidence was summarized and organized along three key pathways: findings from cross-sectional studies of cognition in bipolar patients, cognitive heterogeneity among affected subjects, and trajectory of neuropsychological deficits. Results At least two thirds of bipolar patients display neuropsychological deficits, even in euthymia. Although bipolar disorder was found to be associated with an increased risk of dementia, data from elderly subjects and longitudinal research do not support a worsening of cognitive performance over time. Discussion Cognitive dysfunctions are part of the clinical conceptualization of bipolar illness. However, they may not be present in all affected subjects and their course appears to be stable in most cases. Available evidence may be highlighting the fact that bipolar disorder is characterized by remarkable heterogeneity regarding cognitive outcomes. Different variables may be related to such heterogeneity and should be the focus of therapeutic approaches and further research.
21 citations
07 Sep 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how professional orchestral musicians learn as they engage in their work together, focusing on microgenetic learning and ontogenetic development to elaborate how intersubjectivity arises as musicians engage together in and learn through orchestrational practices.
Abstract: This dissertation presents, discusses, and advances findings and contributions from an investigation into how professional orchestral musicians learn as they engage in their work together. Understanding the processes, demands, and consequences of orchestral work is important for informing the practices of professional and aspiring orchestral musicians, orchestral organisations, and educational institutions. Musicians’ well-being and the longevity of their working lives are of particular concern for this community. Learning and development are identified as important factors in understanding individuals’ vocational practices and how they work together. It follows that the conceptual framework of this investigation focuses on microgenetic learning and ontogenetic development to elaborate how intersubjectivity arises as musicians engage together in and learn through orchestral practices. Intersubjectivity refers here to the shared understandings of self and activity that arise from interaction with others, changing and developing with continued participation. From a sociocultural perspective, learning refers to microgenetic changes in individuals’ understanding and practice, while development lies within ontogenetic changes in their knowledge and abilities. As individuals engage together in activities, their learning and developmental processes contribute to a gradually emerging intersubjectivity, that is, shared understandings of what they know, can do, and value. To address the concerns raised regarding musicians’ ongoing practices, this investigation aims to describe and explain what intersubjectivity and engagement look like in orchestral performance. It also aims to comprehend how learning and development occur within this engagement.
To investigate learning and development in orchestral performance, an ethnographic inquiry was conducted to generate an account of how a small sample population of orchestral musicians engaged with and experienced their working environment. The study involved observations and interactions with 6 members of an Australian professional symphony orchestra over a 12-month period. The participants’ selection targeted a range of ages, gender, instrument type, and level of seniority in the orchestra.
Within the findings, five processes of engagement were identified through which intersubjectivity was constituted. These comprise (a) awareness, (b) communication, (c) evaluation of performance, (d) acting like a professional orchestral musician, and (e) the formation of playing intentions. These processes are advanced to contribute to a metaprocess of rehearsal, that is, the personal and interpersonal process of progressively reconstituting musical performance towards a shared ideal. New descriptions and evidence of how the musicians in this study engaged in orchestral performance are contributed, including descriptions and explanations of how trust and humour facilitated communication about performance.
Through these processes of engagement, the participants’ daily interactions in orchestral performance became sites of microgenetic learning processes in three distinct ways. First, the temporal conditions of rehearsals and performances imposed a nonlinear but directional pattern on how performance knowledge changed. Second, spatial awareness was a highly important organising factor in the musicians’ knowledge of performance within the orchestra. It is proposed here that the sensory ethnography term “emplacement” might be useful for describing the connections between musicians’ activity, perceptions, and environments. Third, these temporal and spatial aspects of the musicians’ knowledge combined as they co-created a performance environment together, within which they progressively advanced their performance practices.
Patterns and possibilities in the musicians’ ontogenetic development were identified through how they presented and construed their personal histories relating to performance. They selected past instances of microgenetic learning to illuminate and explain their current abilities, attitudes, and approaches to orchestral performance. The musicians were also capable of presenting positive or negative narratives of their development, frequently corresponding with their level of satisfaction with current environments or appraisals of performance. Positive developmental narratives used experiences of injury, difficulties in gaining membership in the orchestra, and the stresses associated with surveillance and critique to explain a growing ability to cope with challenges and to perform effectively with colleagues. Conversely, negative developmental narratives explained these experiences as being injurious to their ability to meet challenges or to perform at their best. It is advanced that how musicians engage with positive and negative developmental narratives may impact on their perception of their ability to sustain their working practices into the future.
21 citations
Cites background from "Perceived performance anxiety in ad..."
...also have negative impacts on the social and organisational situations through which orchestral musicians operate (Papageorgi et al., 2011)....
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...It can also have negative impacts on the social and organisational situations through which orchestral musicians operate (Papageorgi et al., 2011)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors asked music students to report what they think and where they focus attention in three situations: when they play under pressure, the moment just before choking under pressure and when they try to recover after a mistake.
Abstract: Musicians often play under circumstances in which pressure may lead to anxiety and performance deterioration. Theories suggest that a drop in performance is due to a shift in focus of attention towards task-irrelevant information. In this study, we asked music students to report what they think and where they focus attention in three situations: when they play under pressure (Study 1; n = 81), the moment just before choking under pressure and when they try to recover after a mistake (Study 2; n = 25). Focus of attention was examined using retrospective verbal reports and point-spread distributions. Besides a notable focus on music-related information (36.9%), music students reported a considerable number of worries and disturbing thoughts (26.1%) during playing under pressure (Study 1). Just before choking, they showed even more worries and disturbing thoughts (46.4%) at the cost of music-related focus (21.1%) (Study 2), as also confirmed by the point-spread distributions. During recovery after a mistake,...
20 citations
Cites result from "Perceived performance anxiety in ad..."
...This is in line with the current literature about worries reported by women and men in general (Mccann, Stewin, & Short, 1991; Robichaud, Dugas, & Conway, 2003) and the finding that female musicians report more performance anxiety than men (Huston, 2001; Kenny, 2006; Osborne & Kenny, 2008; Papageorgi et al., 2013; see also Kenny & Ackermann, 2015)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provided empirical support for the suggestion that there is an antithetical relationship between music performance anxiety and flow, and that this antithetical relation is not necessarily causal.
Abstract: Recent studies have provided empirical support for the suggestion that there is an antithetical relationship between music performance anxiety (MPA) and flow, and that this antithetical relationshi...
19 citations
Cites background or methods from "Perceived performance anxiety in ad..."
..., 2015), leading to higher MPA among both professional and student musicians (Kenny et al., 2014; Papageorgi et al., 2013)....
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...There is evidence of higher MPA among women (Kenny et al., 2014; Papageorgi et al., 2013), reflecting the higher prevalence of anxiety disorders among women (McLean, Asnaani, Litz, & Hofmann....
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..., 2013), and gender (Biasutti & Concina, 2014; Papageorgi et al., 2013) to MPA has been thoroughly investigated in the MPA literature; however, the contribution of variables such as orchestral role, instrument, and culture has been little explored....
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...The contribution of variables including performance setting (Nicholson, Cody, & Beck, 2015; Papageorgi, Creech, & Welch, 2013), age (Kenny et al., 2014; Papageorgi et al., 2013), and gender (Biasutti & Concina, 2014; Papageorgi et al....
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...The conflicting evidence regarding the association between MPA and gender (Kenny et al., 2014; Papageorgi et al., 2013; Robson & Kenny, 2017) may be a consequence of the variety of tools used (Brodsky, 1996; Matei & Ginsborg, 2017), and reinforces the importance of developing standardized measures (Kenny, 2011)....
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References
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01 Jan 1997TL;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
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
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