Abstract
Music performance anxiety (MPA) can be defined as a lasting and intense apprehension connected with musical performance in public. Studies suggest that MPA can be regarded as a subtype of social anxiety. Since individuals with social anxiety have deficits in the recognition of facial emotion, we hypothesized that musicians with high levels of MPA would share similar impairments. The aim of this study was to compare parameters of facial emotion recognition (FER) between musicians with high and low MPA. 150 amateur and professional musicians with different musical backgrounds were assessed in respect to their level of MPA and completed a dynamic FER task. The outcomes investigated were accuracy, response time, emotional intensity, and response bias. Musicians with high MPA were less accurate in the recognition of happiness (p = 0.04; d = 0.34), had increased response bias toward fear (p = 0.03), and increased response time to facial emotions as a whole (p = 0.02; d = 0.39). Musicians with high MPA displayed FER deficits that were independent of general anxiety levels and possibly of general cognitive capacity. These deficits may favor the maintenance and exacerbation of experiences of anxiety during public performance, since cues of approval, satisfaction, and encouragement are not adequately recognized.
Highlights
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is defined as persistent, intense, and distressing apprehension in situations involving music performance in public
In Brazil, a recent study found that MPA affected 24% of a sample formed by amateur and professional musicians [5]
The musicians were assigned to the high MPA and low MPA groups according to their scores in the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI), with 74 (49.33%) volunteers presenting indicators of MPA according to the instrument
Summary
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is defined as persistent, intense, and distressing apprehension in situations involving music performance in public. MPA occurs along a continuum of severity and, in its extreme form, affects musical aptitude through physical, behavioral, and cognitive manifestations [1, 2] The experience of this state of anxiety may impair musical performance, leading a significant number of professional musicians to quit their careers [3]. Studies have described gene-environment interactions, highlighting the associations between genes and Facial Recognition in Musicians a childhood history of social inhibition or shyness and gradual or insidious embarrassing experiences [6]. In addition to these factors, cognitive aspects play a relevant role in MPA. Facial emotion recognition (FER), one of the components of social cognition [7, 8], stands out among these aspects as a key element for social behavior and interaction [9]
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