Becoming a Character: Dissociation and Acting

Panero, Maria Eugenia; Winner, Ellen; Michaels, L.

doi:10.1037/e515892016-001

Cited by 1 publication

(10 citation statements)

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“…Professional actors (including those with specific training in Stanislavski’s teachings) score higher than non-actors on dissociation ( Thomson et al, 2009 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2011 , 2012b ). Student actors score significantly higher on dissociation than the normal population and significantly higher than the cut-off score for dissociative disorders ( Panero, 2015 ; Panero et al, 2020 ). These findings suggest either that acting training teaches its students to dissociate or that individuals with the capacity to dissociate self-select into acting training.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Note that only dissociation was measured pre- and post-performance. We sought to replicate previous findings showing that actors have elevated levels of dissociation ( Thomson et al, 2009 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2011 , 2012b ; Panero, 2015 ; Panero et al, 2020 ). Additionally, we wanted to test whether this dissociation would be affected by the acting experience.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…We expected to replicate findings showing that actors score higher than non-actors on dissociation ( Thomson et al, 2009 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2011 , 2012b ; Panero, 2015 ; Panero et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Similar to dissociation, acting requires that one behave differently from one’s real self and perhaps actors forget that they are merely acting. This may explain actors scoring higher than non-actors on dissociation when questioned retrospectively about their experiences while acting ( Thomson et al, 2009 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2011 , 2012b ; Panero, 2015 ; Panero et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These three constructs were chosen because of their face-value similarity to certain aspects of acting, as described in the following sections. Each of them have been separately examined retrospectively in actors ( Martin and Cutler, 2002 ; Nettle, 2006 ; Goldstein et al, 2009–2010 ; Thomson et al, 2009 ; Panero, 2015 ), dissociation and flow have been simultaneously examined retrospectively in acting students ( Panero et al, 2020 ) and in dancers ( Thomson and Jaque, 2012a ). This is the first study to examine the relationship of all three of these characteristics in the same sample of actors immediately following a performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rating the Acting Moment: Exploring Characteristics for Realistic Portrayals of Characters

Panero

Winner

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Good actors appear to become their characters, making them come alive, as if they were real. Is this because they have succeeded in merging themselves with their character? Are there any positive or negative psychological effects of this experience? We examined the role of three characteristics that may make this kind of merging possible: dissociation, flow, and empathy. We also examined the relation of these characteristics to acting quality. Acting students (n = 44) and non-acting students (n = 43) completed a dissociation measure, and then performed a monologue that was recorded and rated on the dimensions of acting. Participants were then reassessed on dissociation to determine whether it increased as a function of performance. They were also then assessed on flow and empathy. Actors did not differ from non-actors on dissociation, but did score significantly higher than non-actors on some flow and empathy subscales, indicating a positive psychological experience and outcome. While non-actors’ dissociation marginally increased post-performance, actors’ dissociation rose significantly, which could indicate a negative psychological experience. Surprisingly, acting ratings were unrelated to the levels of dissociation, flow, or empathy. We concluded that, while these are tools used by actors to immerse themselves fully in their characters, they may not be necessary to create the illusion of an imaginary character come to life on stage.

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