Exploring the Interpersonal Level of Music Performance Anxiety: Online Listener’s Accuracy in Detecting Performer Anxiety

Abstract

Music performance anxiety (MPA) affects musicians at various stages of a performance, from its preparation until the aftermath of its delivery. Given the commonality and potentially grave consequences of MPA, it is understandable that much attention has been paid to the musician experiencing it. Consequently, we have learned a great deal about the intrapersonal level of MPA: how to measure it, treatments, experimental manipulations, and subjective experiences. However, MPA may also manifest at an interpersonal level by influencing how the performance is perceived. Yet, this has not yet been measured. This exploratory online study focuses on the listener’s perception of anxiety and compares it to the musician’s actual experienced anxiety. Forty-eight participants rated the amount of perceived anxiety of a pianist performing two pieces of contrasting difficulty in online-recital and practice conditions. Participants were presented with two stimulus modality conditions of the performance: audiovisual and audio-only. The listener’s perception of anxiety and its similarity to the musician’s experienced anxiety varies depending on variables such as the piece performed, the stimulus modality, as well as interactions between these variables and the listener’s musical background. We discuss the implications for performance and future research on the interpersonal level of MPA.

When nerves hit: The effect of trait anxiety, situational stress, and task mastery on the perception and interpersonal accuracy of musical expressiveness

“…Kwan (2016) reported differences in the listener’s perception of expressiveness and performance quality, depending on their musical background. Our own research ( Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ) suggests that musicians perceive more anxiety in a technically challenging piece when compared to non-musicians.…”

“…That is, MPA may manifest strongly in contexts where there is a sense of higher ego investment ( Kenny, 2011 ). As we have reviewed earlier ( Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ), past experimental studies in MPA suggest that musicians experience higher MPA (manifested through self-report and physiological manifestations) and lower performance quality scores when performing in front of an audience vs. when playing alone ( Brotons, 1994 ; LeBlanc et al, 1997 ; Yoshie et al, 2008 , 2009 ; Wells et al, 2012 ; Kwan, 2016 ). Although in our previous work ( Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ) we did not find an effect of performance context on the listener’s perception of MPA.…”

“…Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a prevalent phenomenon ( Fernholz et al, 2019 ) among musicians, affecting them from early to post stages of a performance ( Kenny, 2011 ; Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ). On its more severe manifestations, a musician may develop mood disorders ( Kenny, 2011 ), choose to quit an otherwise promising career ( Hernández et al, 2018 ; Fernholz et al, 2019 ), and engage in unhealthy strategies to cope with its debilitating symptoms such as drug consumption ( Taylor and Wasley, 2004 ; West, 2004 ; Brugueìs, 2011a , b ; Hernández et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The notion of accuracy is always abstract and context-dependent; thus, it is necessary to operationalize what constitutes an accurate judgment in a specific research context ( Hall et al, 2016 ). In the context of this study, the listeners’ interpersonal accuracy is defined as the difference between the listener’s perception of expressiveness and the pianist’s self-reported expressiveness; the lower the difference, the higher the listener’s interpersonal accuracy ( Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Hypothesis 2: There will be differences in the listeners’ interpersonal accuracy of expressiveness depending on the musician’s MPA, situational stress, and task mastery, when considering the listeners’ musical background ( Chang-Arana et al, 2022 ).…”