Music Self-Efficacy for Performance: An Explanatory Model Based on Social Support

Abstract

Personal perceptions of self-efficacy are particularly relevant in the field of music performance, which is oriented toward the outward expressions of one's own ability through public performances. Within this context, a number of personal variables, including social support and performance anxiety, have been shown to be associated with musical success and are therefore relevant for research that seeks to understand the four sources of self-efficacy (mastery experiences, vicarious observation, verbal persuasion, physiological states) that are integral components of Bandura's (2002) Social Learning Theory. Previous research, as well as observed differences among musicians associated with educational level (preuniversity) and gender (male/female), underpins the context of this study, which presents evidence regarding the factors that are capable of mediating perceptions of self-efficacy for musical performance. Specifically, the main objectives of this study were to more clearly understand relations between social support, public performance, musical performance anxiety, and selfefficacy using structural equation modeling and to compare these results according to gender. A battery of questionnaires was submitted to 359 preuniversity Spanish music students. Results highlight the relevance of family support for self-efficacy in public performance: directly and mediated through musical performance anxiety. The role of teachers and peers appeared to be relevant only for boys and was mediated through performance anxiety. Public performances lead to a greater degree of musical self-efficacy, but only in girls. Further research shall be required in order to improve pedagogical methods and help teachers increasingly individualize their teaching.

“A Bed of Nails”: Professional Musicians’ Accounts of the Experience of Performance Anxiety From a Phenomenological Perspective

“… Schneider and Chesky (2011) also found that college music students with less frequent experiences of performance anxiety reported greater perceived social support. Recently, Zarza-Alzugaray et al (2020) provided further evidence for the importance of social support (by family, teachers and peers) in the development of performance self-efficacy and the mediating role of MPA in the process, and pointed to the necessity of establishing true social support that acts as a motivator to face performance challenges.…”

Music Student’s Approach to the Forced Use of Remote Performance Assessments

“…The self-efficacy questionnaire, originally validated by Ritchie and Williamon (2011) has been used to assess the construct widely with music students, with direct relation to performance, and more widely with regard to the wider lives of musicians (Ritchie and Williamon, 2012;González et al, 2018;Zarza-Alzugaray et al, 2020). The Self-efficacy for Performing questionnaire consists of 9 items, several of which are reverse coded.…”

Social Support as a Facilitator of Musical Self-Efficacy

“…These latter aspects were taken into account in our self-efficacy tool, without ignoring the possible role they might play in certain elements of criticism of musical education, public performance, and the anxiety associated with the latter. Zarza-Alzugaray et al (2020) have shown how peer support plays a key role in helping boys cope with performance anxiety. A similar idea can be found in the study by Hendricks (2014), who attributed an improvement in girls' perceived self-efficacy over the course of a 3-day music festival to the support they perceived from peers (among other factors, and only when the level of performance was more noncompetitive).…”

“…Although clear evidence has been found for the influence exerted by parents, teachers and peers on the development of a musical career (Orejudo et al, 2020), practically no evidence has been gathered to ascertain whether the role played by these agents leads to an improvement in musical self-efficacy. Previous studies have shown the role they can play by strengthening other elements associated with success in a musical career, such as providing the trainee with a series of resources to help them handle performance anxiety (Zarza-Alzugaray et al, 2020), but no direct data has been provided regarding the relationship between the support coming from those agents and the development of the musical self-efficacy. Nevertheless, before we continue to address this study's goals, we proceed to analyze in further detail the role of social support in musical training.…”

“…But few studies exist on the role of social support in maintaining musical self-efficacy. Age, sex, and type of instrument (solo or orchestral) are relevant variables analyzing musical self-efficacy as well as performance anxiety (Casanova et al, 2018;Zarza-Alzugaray et al, 2020). In this study, however, we have focused on the variables of age and formative level, since they have been less analyzed until now.…”