Frightened by the stage or by the public? Exploring the multidimensionality of music performance anxiety

Abstract

The multidimensionality of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) was examined in this study. Three related dimensions were identified: Somatic and Cognitive Features, Performance Context and Performance Evaluation. Although MPA has been widely studied in the last 20 years, it has been regarded mainly as unidimensional. A sample of 134 high school music students was tested using the Music Performance Anxiety Inventory for Adolescents (Osborne & Kenny, 2005), and The International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1992). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the existence of three correlated MPA factors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both the pattern of predictors and the variance explained was different in the three MPA dimensions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that girls scored higher only on Somatic and Cognitive Features. Overall, our results support the multidimensionality of MPA, pointing out that our understanding of this disorder could be enhanced by treating it as multi-, rather than unidimensional.