Performance Anxiety in College Music Majors

1
Leider ,

1
Thibodeau ,

1
Muscara ,

Melissa
Kara
Keelan
David A. Stringham1 , and Catherine L. Franssen2
1James Madison University, 2Longwood University
Which condition evokes more MPA?

Who exhibits more MPA?

Cortisol increased over control during both hearing and

recital conditions

Cortisol levels higher in music education majors

than in performance majors

0.25

0.3

48.3% of participants
reported greater
anxiety about the
recital hearing than
the recital itself.
0.25

0.2

0.2

0.15

Cortisol g/dL

Music performance anxiety (MPA), a persistent

anxious apprehension related to musical performance
(Kenny, 2010, p. 433), affects musicians of all ages
and experience levels. While researchers have studied
performance anxiety in younger musicians (Boucher
& Ryan, 2010; Thomas & Nettlebeck, 2014), there has
been little data collected from musicians at the
collegiate level. The purpose of this study is to better
understand the relationship between perceived
performance anxiety and cortisol levels in music
majors preparing for and performing a degree recital.

Cortisol g/dL

Introduction

57

0.1

Performance

0.15

Education

0.1

0.05

0.05

0
Control

Hearing

Recital

Methods

Participant Survey (Qualtrics)

Saliva Samples (baseline, recital hearing, recital)
Saliva Analysis (ELISA for cortisol; Salimetrics)
Data Analysis (SPSS)

On the survey, 48.3% of participants reported greater

anxiety about the recital hearing than the recital itself.
Since cortisol was not different between these two
conditions, our next study will attempt to elucidate
differences. By examining alpha-amylase in addition to
cortisol, we may be able to detect further differences in
sympathetic nervous system responses.

White: Baseline
Pink: Hearing
Green: Recital

Survey Items: demographics,

sleep schedules, years playing
Instrument, recital preparation,
perceived MPA

Control

Hearing

Recital

Are differences between individuals driven by experience

or personality? Have music performance majors had more
experience with performance, thus reducing MPA? Or do
individuals with lower performance anxiety tend to major
in music performance? While our next study will also be
correlational, an examination of this question may lead to
treatments for MPA.

Who exhibits more MPA males or females?

Females agreed more than males with the statement, In
general, I feel anxiety when I perform.

Males cortisol levels increased more in hearing and recital

conditions
0.35

60%

0.3

50%

0.25

40%

0.2
30%

Male

Male
Female

Female

0.15

Participant Demographics

20%
0.1

32 participants
20 seniors
8 juniors
4 graduate students
Concentration
Performance: 17
Education: 9
Industry: 4
Jazz Studies: 3

16 male, 16 female
Instrument
Vocal: 7
String: 10
Wind: 4
Brass: 3
Piano: 4
Percussion: 4

10%
0.05
0%
0
Control

Hearing

Strongly
Disagree

Recital

Females cortisol levels were higher in control condition, which is

unsurprising, as females have higher naturally-occurring cortisol.
Males cortisol levels in hearing and recital conditions were
elevated much more, indicating a more dramatic stress response. In
our next study, an examination of alpha-amylase levels in addition
to cortisol may elucidate if males sympathetic nervous systems are
indeed more affected by MPA.

Disagree

Neither Agree
nor Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

Males reported less MPA than females on the survey. Taken together with
the cortisol results, these results are confusing. Possible explanations
include that males have been socialized to deny anxiety, males have more
difficulty linking physiological changes with the psychological construct
of anxiety, or that males have better coping mechanisms to respond to
elevated cortisol. In our next study, we will measure DHEA levels in
saliva in addition to cortisol to assess whether males have an increase in
this coping hormone that correlates with the elevated cortisol.

Did participants experience MPA?

On the survey, 72.4% of participants reported
experiencing MPA when performing in a recital
setting.
82.8% of participants considered their current
performance of recital repertoire competent.
20.7% of participants reported experiencing MPA
when performing in an ensemble setting.

Our Next Step

Replication with a larger and more
diverse sample to investigate differences
observed in this study
Enhance survey
Analyze salivary samples for alphaamylase & DHEA in addition to cortisol

Developing Interventions to Manage MPA

On the survey, female participants reported slightly more sleep
(7.46 hours) than male participants (7.31 hours). Sleep and other
health and lifestyle factors may be responsible for a reduced
cortisol response to the music performance these may be prime
targets for interventions to manage MPA. Enhanced questions on
the survey as well as an analysis of DHEA should begin to identify
MPA management strategies.

Interdisciplinary Research

Acknowledgements

References

This research is being led by a student in the School of

Music at JMU, with mentorship from both a Music
professor at JMU and a Psychology (neuroscience)
professor at Longwood University. This project
exemplifies how neuroscience intersects with atypical
disciplines and serves as a model for future
interdisciplinary research endeavors.

We wish to thank Dr. Kevin Apple (Interim

Department Head, JMU Department of
Psychology), Dr. Jeffrey Bush (Director, JMU
School of Music), and Dr. George Sparks (Dean,
JMU College of Visual and Performing Arts) for
their generous support of this research.

Boucher, H., & Ryan, C. A. (2011). Performance stress in the very young
musician. Journal of Research in Music Education, 58, 329345.
Kaspersen, M., & Gotesdam, K. G. (2002). A survey of music performance
anxiety among Norwegian music students. The European Journal of
Psychiatry, 16, 6980.
Kenny, D. T. (2010). The role of negative emotions in performance anxiety. In
P.N. Juslin & J.A. Sloboda (Eds.), Handbook of music and emotion: Theory,
research, applications (pp. 425451). New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.
Thomas, J. P., & Nettelbeck, T. (2014). Performance anxiety in adolescent
musicians. Psychology of Music, 42(4), 624634.

SYNAPSE; UNC Asheville; March 28, 2015