Goal Orientation and Perceived Purposes of Dance Among Finnish Dance Students: A pilot study

Abstract

This pilot study was designed to investigate, firstly, professional dance students' goal orientations, secondly their perceptions of the purposes of dance, and thirdly, their views on the purpose of dance in relation to their goal perspectives. The subjects were 72 female dance students from six major dance programmes in Finland. The mean age of the subjects was 21.7 years. The data were collected using the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), which was used to determine dance students' goal orientation, along with the Purpose of Dance Questionnaire (PDQ). Factor analysis was used in order to identify goal orientation as well as general categories of the perceived purposes of dance. Relationships between goal perspectives and perceived purposes of dance were determined on the basis of correlations. It was found that dancers emphasised task-oriented goals far more than ego-oriented goals. Factor analysis of the purpose of dance revealed seven factors of which the factors, Physically Active/Mastery, Good Citizen, and Reaching for High Standards were perceived as most important. The lowest ratings were assigned to the factor Competitiveness. Task orientation was positively related to the beliefs that dance should promote a feeling of well-being and teach people to be physically active as well as to set high standards and be mentally tough. Ego-oriented dance students emphasised social status and a high career, competitiveness and not giving up. The relevance of the scales (POSQ and PDQ) used in this study among dance students is discussed.