Are musicians particularly sensitive to beauty and goodness?
Güsewell, Angelika; Ruch, Willibald (2014). Are musicians particularly sensitive to beauty and goodness? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(1):96-103.
Abstract
The main purpose of this research was to further validate the characteristic responsiveness to the good and beautiful by investigating its links with different degrees of involvement in musical practice, and with three art-relevant personality constructs. Participants (125 professional musicians working in various fields, 125 amateur musicians, and 125 nonmusicians) filled in the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005), the Engagement with Beauty Scale (Diessner, Parsons, Solom, Frost, & Davidson, 2008), the Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence Test (Güsewell & Ruch, 2012a), the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (Zuckerman, 1994), the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), and the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (Shiota, Keltner, & John, 2006). Overall, responsiveness proved to be related to the degree of involvement in musical practice. However, professional musicians displayed distinct profiles depending on their main occupational activity: Whereas music teachers and orchestra musicians showed a specific sensitivity to artistic beauty, soloists evidenced an overall high sensitivity to all types of beauty and goodness. Furthermore, results showed that the responsiveness dimensions correlated in a theoretically meaningful manner with dispositional awe, absorption, and experience seeking.
Abstract
The main purpose of this research was to further validate the characteristic responsiveness to the good and beautiful by investigating its links with different degrees of involvement in musical practice, and with three art-relevant personality constructs. Participants (125 professional musicians working in various fields, 125 amateur musicians, and 125 nonmusicians) filled in the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005), the Engagement with Beauty Scale (Diessner, Parsons, Solom, Frost, & Davidson, 2008), the Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence Test (Güsewell & Ruch, 2012a), the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (Zuckerman, 1994), the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), and the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (Shiota, Keltner, & John, 2006). Overall, responsiveness proved to be related to the degree of involvement in musical practice. However, professional musicians displayed distinct profiles depending on their main occupational activity: Whereas music teachers and orchestra musicians showed a specific sensitivity to artistic beauty, soloists evidenced an overall high sensitivity to all types of beauty and goodness. Furthermore, results showed that the responsiveness dimensions correlated in a theoretically meaningful manner with dispositional awe, absorption, and experience seeking.
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Güsewell, Angelika