Arts and Humanities Engagement: An Integrative Conceptual Framework for Psychological Research

Abstract

Psychologists are increasingly interested in studying the psychological effects of engaging with various forms of the arts and humanities because of their significance and ubiquity in human life. There is, however, a lack of a robust conceptual framework to support a systematic and integrative approach to the study of the psychological effects of the arts and humanities. Through an extensive review of the extant literature on conceptual and operational definitions of the arts and humanities engagement from historical, institutional, and disciplinary perspectives, the present article further expands an initial conceptualization of the arts and humanities presented in Tay, Pawelski, and Keith. The implications and limitations of the integrative conceptual framework of arts and humanities engagement, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.