Risk perception in musical settings—a qualitative study

Abstract

This qualitative study was undertaken in order to investigate young people's perspectives on risk-taking and music experiences in musical settings. The study sample included nine women and seven men of whom eight were musicians and eight were not. Open-ended interviews were performed and analysed by the guidance of Grounded Theory. “Music as a mean in creating identity” was seen as the core category, essential for the understanding of risk-taking behaviour in musical settings. Three higher-order categories, meaningfully related to the core category, emerged in the interviews and they were labelled “self-image”, “risk consideration” and “norms and ideals”. The individual's self-identification as being vulnerable to negative consequences of a particular type of risk behaviour seems to be a central aspect in transforming health-risk behaviour into a health-preventive behaviour. The higher-order category “risk consideration” was built up by concepts as “risk awareness” and “meaning of risk-taking”. Finally, “norms and ideals” consisted of two categories: “acting in accordance with social norms”, and “acting in accordance with normative ideals”. If people believe that exposure to loud music without wearing hearing protection is an acceptable norm, regardless of the accuracy of this perception, they are more likely to become involved in risk-taking behaviour regarding their hearing. We believe that risk consideration, social norms and ideals are meaningful concepts for the understanding of risk-taking behaviour in young people.