| Titel: | An Examination of Performance Anxiety Associated with Solo Performance of College-Level Music Majors |
|---|---|
| Autor: | Tamborrino, Robert Anthony |
| Mediengruppe: | dissertation |
| Herausgeber: | --- |
| Zeitschrift: | Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Jahr: | 2001 |
| Band: | 62 |
| Heft: | --- |
| Seiten: | --- |
| Sprache: | English |
| Abstract: | This study examined the level of performance anxiety among college music majors and collected information about their experiences with performance, including the emotional states experienced during performance, the anxiety reduction techniques they have been exposed to, and their approaches to managing anxiety. Data were also collected from music performance faculty to gain a perspective on their experiences with performance anxiety. Findings of the study revealed a high presence of performance anxiety in college level performing musicians. Analyses showed that 97.1% of students have experienced performance anxiety before a performance, and 86.5% have experienced performance anxiety during a performance. The department demonstrating the highest level of anxiety was strings, while voice and ballet reported the lowest anxiety mean scores. More than 50% of the students in the sample reported an absence of self-confidence, self-control and overall comfort in their performance experience, in addition to symptoms of cold hands, perspiration, and trembling just before performing. One hundred percent of the faculty reported having experienced performance anxiety, and 76.5% reported that performance anxiety had negatively affected their ability to perform. Faculty also reported that an average of 78.75% of their current students experience performance anxiety. Sixty-five percent of the faculty and 80.3% of the students believe that performance anxiety prevention and reduction should be addressed in the required music curriculum. A number of significant correlations were uncovered through the quantitative analysis. Student status (graduate/undergraduate), emotional state at the time of survey completion, and self-reports of quantity of daily emotional change were all found to be significantly correlated with performance anxiety. Performance anxiety was not significantly correlated with age, years of private study, or gender. Qualitative analysis involved the categorization of open-ended written responses that explained what emotions were experienced during performance and the reasons for those emotions. Five categories emerged from the data, including (1) perceptions of success or failure based on self evaluation of performance; (2) perceptions of audience composition and support; (3) perceptions of preparedness, talent, and training; (4) focus on outcome; and (5) focus on the music being performed. The response from music faculty with regard to the anxiety reduction techniques they teach were diverse, with little commonality. Anxiety reduction techniques named by students were also diverse, and 15% of the students in the sample reported using substances, either pharmalogical or non-pharmalogical. The majority of the techniques that students reported included relaxation, imagery, exercise, meditation, self hypnosis, reading books, and proper preparation prior to performance. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) |