Music Performance Anxiety and related psychological constructs. Students of five Spanish music Conservatories

Abstract

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) in musicians is one of the biggest problems they face almost daily in their professional work. This study aims to determine whether there is a difference in MPA among Music majors students in Spain and if there is a variation depending on the study center to which they belong. This research, which can be considered as the first in Spain with these characteristics, analyses the differences in both MPA and its relationship with other psychological constructs (optimism, self-efficacy, achievement motivation and sensitivity to reward and punishment). The sample consists of 482 students from five centers, obtained from a sample availability criteria. For the evaluation of the different psychological constructs has been used a questionnaire ad hoc specially designed for measuring anxiety and the other constructs mentioned above. After the quantitative treatment of the data, it is found that MPA is present in these Spanish music students. In addition to the MPA, statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in the different constructs were found.