Flow and music performance anxiety: The influence of contextual and background variables

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 relationship may have useful clinical applications for facilitating optimal performance by both encouraging flow and reducing MPA. In order to develop music performance skills interventions that can help facilitate optimal performance, promote psychological health, and are tailored to the particular needs of individual musicians, it is important to understand the contribution of contextual (e.g., orchestral role, instrument, performance context) and background variables (e.g., gender, age, culture) to experiences of MPA and flow, and the relationships between these variables. The current study investigated the contribution of background and contextual variables to experiences of MPA and flow in a sample of 202 professional orchestral musicians in Israel. The study findings showed evidence of significantly higher flow in principal players than associate principals and tutti players. Associate principals had higher MPA than principal players, percussionists experienced higher flow and lower MPA than string players, there was a significant moderating effect of instrument on the negative association between MPA and flow, and age was significantly positively associated with flow. The implications of the findings for developing methods for facilitating optimal performing experience are discussed.