Personological Studies on Dancers: Motivations, Conflicts, and Defense Mechanisms

Abstract

Previous investigations carried out in different countries in the last four decades have demonstrated that intensity of achievement motivation is higher among dancers compared to nondancers. For this reason we hypothesized that the Type A behavior pattern, with some of its implications, should be relatively frequent among dance artists, in comparison with sedentary persons. Because the athletes' subculture also constitutes, in our society, a rewarding and promoting environment for personalities oriented toward achievement, competitiveness, control, etc., we also predicted a similar relative prevalence of Type As among athletes. Four hundred young adults (both genders) were examined in double-blind conditions with a booklet containing two different scales of the Type A behavior pattern (AATABS-3 and Framingham Scale) and other tests. Participants were classical ballet or modern dance professionals or amateurs, high-level or amateur athletes practicing different sport specialties for years, and comparable sedentary persons. Type As turned out almost two times more frequent among dancers and three times among athletes while Type Bs were proportionally more frequent among sedentary persons. Athletes did not differ from sedentary persons except on Type A frequency and scores. Dancers differed both from sedentary persons and from athletes, showing less hardiness, a higher tendency to control and deny negative emotions, and to avoid interpersonal conflicts, also at the cost of anger control, intrapunitivity and even self-sacrifice (“need for harmony”). These features look consonant with aesthetic sensitivity, severe continuous discipline and high social coordination that the art of dance and contemporary dance schools demand. Internal comparisons between subcategories (amateur versus professional dancers, or amateur versus high level athletes) showed remarkable homogeneity. This result contributes to proving the dominating influence of recruitment phases and methods, instead of specific training, in determining the typical dancer or athlete personality profile.