Personality traits in musicians with different types of music performance anxiety

Claudia Spahn; Franziska Krampe-Heni; Jesper Hohagen; Anna Immerz; Manfred Nusseck

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1398095

Personality traits in musicians with different types of music performance anxiety

Front Psychol. 2024 Aug 16:15:1398095. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1398095. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Claudia Spahn¹, Franziska Krampe-Heni^{2

3}, Jesper Hohagen¹, Anna Immerz¹, Manfred Nusseck¹

Affiliations

¹ Freiburg Institute for Musicians' Medicine, University of Music Freiburg, Freiburg University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg Center for Music Research and Teaching, Freiburg, Germany.
² Department of Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital Munich Schwabing and Harlaching, TUM School of Medicine, Kölner Platz, Munich, Germany.
³ Kinderzentrum kbo Munich, Heiglhofstraße, Munich, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: This study investigated the relationship between personality traits and MPA in the course of a specific performance.

Methods: For this purpose, symptoms of MPA, functional coping with MPA and performance-related self-efficacy of a sample of 393 musicians including 23% professional, 49% non-professional orchestra musicians and 28% singers in amateur choirs were categorized and then used to analyze differences in the personality traits. The questionnaires used were the NEO-FFI and the PQM.

Results: The results showed that professional orchestra musicians had significantly higher openness and conscientiousness than non-professional orchestra musicians and amateur choir singers. Musicians who had few symptoms of MPA, positive coping with MPA and high self-efficacy across a specific performance (Type 1) have low neuroticism in their personality traits. Regarding MPA, the personality traits were correlated with all MPA scales after the performance but less with MPA scales before and during the performance.

Discussion: Results could indicate that personality traits play a particularly important role in the processing of performance experiences after the performance and suggest focusing on the situation after the performance in particular with professional orchestra musicians.

Keywords: amateur musicians; music performance anxiety; neuroticism; personality traits; professional orchestra musicians.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Freiburg.