Competitive comparison in music: influences upon self-efficacy beliefs by gender

This study profiles gender differences in instrumental performance self-efficacy perceptions of high school students (N = 87) over the course of a three-day orchestra festival in which students competed against one another for rank-based seating and then rehearsed and performed as a group. Reported self-beliefs rose significantly for the sample over the course of the festival. Self-efficacy beliefs of females were significantly lower than those of males before the seating audition and first rehearsal, but were no longer different by the midpoint of the festival. Survey free-response data were coded according to Bandura's (1997 Bandura, A. 1997. Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W. H. Freeman.) four sources of self-efficacy. A 52% drop in the frequency of student comments regarding competitive comparison appeared at the same point in which female self-efficacy beliefs were no longer different from those of males. Results support past research to suggest that males and females may respond differently to rank-based competition versus social support

Self-determined music participation: the role of psychological needs satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and self-regulation in the high school band experience

Many decades of research on achievement in schools has shown that motivation is a key ingredient for student success. As most band directors might testify, this is true in the study of music. However, there are many ways in which band directors conceive of and try to affect the motivation of their students as they strive to inculcate a sense of commitment, high levels of musical participation, and personal growth through learning an instrument. In this study, self-determination theory (SDT) was used to explore motivation in band, and answer questions about the type, in addition to the amount, of motivation that is evident in students who are enrolled in high school band programs. SDT offers an approach to motivation, which couples the concept of control with perceived satisfaction of psychological needs, to explain the types of support mechanisms that result in intrinsic motivation and autonomous regulation. Questionnaire and interview data were collected to examine key factor relationships, determine if students??? characteristics or enhancement opportunities were related to aspects of their motivation profiles, and better understand how those factors are experienced through the eyes of high school band students. In order to facilitate this inquiry, a sequential mixed-method study was developed. A methodology was formulated based on a review of the literature, the development and implementation of questionnaire scales from previous research, as well as interviews of students with characteristic motivation profiles. Multiple regression analysis assisted in determining the linear relationships that existed among the self-determination theory constructs and in the creation of a summary model of significant factor interactions in the high school band context. Key findings demonstrated positive relationships between student perceptions of (a) components of psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, (b) low amounts of pressure and psychological needs satisfaction, (c) intrinsic motivation and attitudes about future engagement in music activities, and (d) between high levels of engagement in enhancement opportunities and the variables of autonomous regulation and attitudes about future engagement. The results suggest that teachers can better prepare students for meaningful, lifelong engagement with music by focusing on more student-centered approaches that provide support for psychological needs and intrinsic motivation