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Personality and stress in performing artists
Person. indiuid.Difl Vol. 13, No. IO, pp. 1061-1068, 1992 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
PERSONALITY SUSAN
0191-8869/92 $5.00 + 0.00 Copyright 6 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd
AND STRESS E.
IN PERFORMING
MARCHANT-HAYCOX’
and
GLENN
ARTISTS
D. WILSON’
‘Department of Psychology, City University, Northampton Square, London EClV OHB and *Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, England (Received 31 January 1992) Summary-The Eysenck Personality Profiler and a stress symptom checklist were given to 162 performing artists (33 actors, 26 dancers, 65 musicians and 38 singers) and scores were compared against test norms and a control group. Actors emerged as extraverted and expressive, dancers as unhappy, anxious, hypochondriacal and low in self-esteem, and musicians as somewhat introverted and unadventurous. Singers fell between actors and musicians on most attributes. Around one-third of actors, dancers and singers reported suffering from performance anxiety, and 47% of musicians. All except actors suffered from shoulder-ache significantly more than controls. An exceptionally high incidence of depression (38%) was reported by dancers. Results were compared with previous findings and interpreted as being due to a combination of self-selection in choice of occupation, qualities required for survival within the profession and reactions to the unusual stresses imposed by the performer’s lifestyle.
INTRODUCTION
Although stereotypes of performing artists abound, mostly attributing negative characteristics such as immaturity, neuroticism, egocentricity and exhibitionism, there have been few empirical studies of the personality of actors, musicians and dancers. Henry and Sims (1970) studied self-image problems in professional actors using depth interviews, the TAT, and a self-rating “identity diffusion” questionnaire. Their conclusion was that, compared with various control groups such as housewives and executives, the actors had more confusion in their identity. They went on to show that identity confusion was lessened by rehearsal on a play and suggested that the need to perform was motivated by a desire to consolidate a clear sense of identity that was somehow denied them in childhood. Barr, Langs, Holt, Goldberger and Klein (1972) also sought psychopathology in actors, using depth interviews and projective tests such as the Rorschach. Their conclusion was that actors were intellectually bright but had “poorly integrated, largely hysteric and schizoid personalities. They were exhibitionistic and narcissistic, having much pent-up aggression. They were passive, vulnerable to stress, tended to be overly anxious and had impaired body images.” Fisher and Fisher (198 1) used interviews and Rorschach inkblots in an attempt to discover what makes actors and comedians want to “show off” and “make fools of themselves” in front of others. Their conclusion was that actors are concerned with repressing the concept of mortality by extending historical time into the past and future, while comedians specialize in the denial of other forms of threat. This denial originates in the personal fears of the performer but serves society as a whole by helping entire audiences to allay their anxieties. Fisher and Fisher also studied larger numbers of student performers with the 16PF (Cattell (1967), finding them to be exhibitionistic and impulsive relative to non-performers. This is consistent with EPQ norms (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975) which place actors, and musicians, in the “hysterical” (emotional and extraverted) quadrant of the two prime personality dimensions. An early empirical study of the personality of actors (Stacey & Goldberg, 1953) found that professional actors were more reflective, introverted and depressed than student actors. More recently, Hammond and Edelmann (1991) compared 51 working professional actors (27 male and 24 female) with 58 amateur actors (27 male and 31 female) and 52 controls (7 male and 45 female). Questionnaires used were the EPQ, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and scales of Self-Consciousness, Self-Monitoring, Concern for Appropriateness, Shyness and Sociability. As might be expected from the nature of their profession, actors emerged as less shy and socially anxious than controls, and slightly more extraverted and sociable. They were also more privately self-conscious and displayed greater sensitivity to the expressive behaviour 1061
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SUSAN E. MARCHANT-HAYCOX and GLENN D. WILSON
of others than non-actors. Amateur actors were between non-actors and professionals on most of these attributes. There was little evidence in the Hammond and Edelmann study to support the highly negative by the psychoanalytic researchers. (psychopathological) stereotype of actors “discovered” Although Neuroticism (N) and Psychoticism (P) scores were slightly higher than controls, the actors’ scores were well within normal (non-clinical) limits. Empirical studies of musicians, singers and dancers are equally scarce. Kemp (198 1) studied 688 student musicians and 202 professional musicians using Cattell’s 16PF and reported that, compared with controls, both groups were inclined to be introverted (e.g. reserved, sober and self-sufficient) and anxious (emotionally unstable, apprehensive, tense). A tendency to emotional instability in musicians was also reported by Piparek (1981) who studied 24 members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Using interviews and unspecified projective tests, he found that N scores were 5% higher in musicians than other professions he had studied. Kemp (1980) compared the personalities of different instrumentalists, again using the 16PF, in 625 music students aged 18 to 25. Brass players emerged as significantly more extraverted than other instrumentalists (happy-go-lucky and group-dependent) and also less sensitive (toughminded). Similar findings were reported by Davies (1978) who studied a Glasgow-based symphony orchestra using the EPI. Brass players scored highest on Extraversion (E) and lowest on N, while string players were highest on N. (Of course, these results may be partly due to the fact that there are more male brass players and female string players.) Wills and Cooper (1988) studied professional pop musicians using the EPQ. N scores were found to be higher than any other professional group reported in the test manual (especially guitarists, with a mean of 16.90, and pianists at 14.72). P scores also appeared quite high (especially guitarists at 4.90 and drummers 4.50). The authors were unable to say whether their findings reflected the intrinsic personality of musicians or the stress of their occupation. Wilson (1984) found that, compared with non-singing controls, professional opera singers were rated by peers as more extraverted, conceited and inconsiderate. Within singers there were differences in body build and personality connected with voice type. Higher voiced singers (tenors and sopranos) were more emotional and “difficult” than lower voiced singers (basses and contraltos) while deeper voiced singers tended to be taller and higher in libido. Wilson interpreted these results in terms of the effects of sex hormones (especially prenatal) operating in parallel on body build, vocal cord and personality. Bakker (1988) studied the personality traits of ballet students aged between 11 and 16 years (all female), comparing them with non-dancing controls on a variety of standardized questionnaires. Dancers showed lower self-esteem than non-dancers and a less favourable physical self-concept. They were more introverted than controls and higher in achievement motivation, anxiety and emotionality. These results were interpreted in terms of an interaction between self-selection on traits such as sensitivity and ambitiousness that would promote success in dancing and the stresses placed on young dancers by the exacting discipline of ballet. Since part of the dancer’s job is giving expression to feelings, it was supposed that high emotionality would not necessarily be detrimental to performance. The introversion of dancers could be connected with the fact that ballet is a solitary activity requiring a great deal of disciplined training. Other, more abandoned and sociable types of dancing might well be expected to go with E. In a follow-up study 2 years later, Bakker (1991) tested the same group again to see whether their personality had changed as a result of their ballet education. He was also interested to see whether there was any difference in personality between those who dropped out of ballet and those that continued on a professional career path. Results of this study confirmed the previous findings of dancers being more introverted, emotional and achievement-oriented and having less favourable self-attitudes than controls. Since the differences between those who continued their professional education and those who dropped out were small, Bakker concluded that the personality characteristics of the dancers were due primarily to self-selection, i.e. the ballet subculture attracting particular personality types (even though selection and learning within the ballet subculture might reinforce this stereotypic personality profile to some extent). Although some of the studies described above have produced interesting results, many of them are flawed by a psychoanalytic approach in which it is unclear how the measuring instruments (e.g.
Personality and stress in performing artists
1063
projective techniques of low validity) were being used to arrive at conclusions. There is also a dearth of studies that enable us to compare across different types of performing artists (actors, musicians, dancers, etc.). This study was designed to compare various types of performers on a broad-spectrum personality test, the Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP). Since it is widely supposed that performers suffer unusual levels of stress in the exercise of their profession a tailor-made Health Survey asking about their experience of stress and psychosomatic symptoms was also included in the study. This enabled us to examine the personality correlates of stress-proneness in performing artists. METHOD
Performing artists were contacted through music, drama and ballet colleges and by directly approaching major institutions such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) and the English National Opera. Approximately 500 sets of questionnaires were distributed with stamped addressed return envelopes and a guarantee of anonymity. Completed questionnaires were received from 162 performing artists (94 males and 68 females). A more detailed breakdown of this group is given in Table 1. The main points to note are that actors tend to be younger, with a higher proportion of students than other groups, and the musicians are predominantly male whereas the dancers are predominantly female. The control groups consisted of a sample of 500 male and 300 female Ss supplied by Corporate Assessment Ltd, a personnel selection company based in West London that has been developing norms for the EPP over several years. The mean age of 34.2 (SD 11.5) was comparable to that of the performing artists as a whole and the sex ratio was similar. The social class structure was also fairly close to that of the performing artists, with a weighting towards professional, managerial, sales and clerical occupations. It could be argued that a truly random or representative sample of the population would have provided a better backdrop for viewing the personality of performing artists but this sample, although non-random, has the advantage of being balanced for major demographic variables. A second control group was gathered specifically for comparisons on the Health Survey Questionnaire. This comprised 73 Ss (45 male and 28 female) with a mean age of 31.0 years (SD 10.8) and similarly weighted towards professional and middle-class occupations (students, academics, lawyers, journalists, etc.). Two questionnaires were used: (1) The EPP, Eysenck and Wilson (1991) which is a a newly developed multi-trait personality test derived from the item pool used in Eysenck and Wilson (1975). It consists of 440 items arranged into 21 “primary” bipolar traits plus a Dissimulation or “Lie” scale (each containing 20 items). The 21 traits are, in turn, grouped into three major dimensions+xtraversion-introversion, emotionality and adventurousness (corresponding roughly Table Performing artists Musicians Professional Students Male Female Actors Professional Students Male Female Singers Professional Students Male Female Dancers Professional Students Male Female Total
I. Details
of performing N
65 54 II 53 12 33 4 29 I8 15 38 36 2 16 22 26 24 2 7 I9 162
artist sample
Range (age)
Mean (age)
SD (age)
19-69
39.0
13.0
I&58
40.2 34.5 25.0
12.3 15.3 7.8
23-60
25.0 25.0 39.5
8.8 6.6 9.8
18-52
41.8 37.9 29.3
9.9 9.6 9.3
l&69
30.0 29.0 34.0
10.7 9.1 12.3
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SUSAN
E. MAKCHANT-HAYCOX and GLENN D. WILSON
with Eysenck’s big three personality factors, well known to users of the EPQ). The EPP thus combines the virtues of multi-trait tests like the 16PF with broad factor tests like the EPQ, leaving the researcher to decide how much detail to consider according to the nature of the problem. (2) The Health Survey Questionnaire was a tailor-made self-report inventory used to collect demographic data such as age and sex, as well as information concerning a variety of stressrelated symptoms such as backache, migraine and performance anxiety. Ss were also asked about their smoking and drinking habits and perceived sources of stress in the practice of their profession. RESULTS
Personality Comparisons among the personality scores of the various performing artist groups and controls are shown in Table 2. F-tests (right column) show that main effects are significant for nearly all traits and the asterisks against the individual means indicate that they differ significantly (P < 0.05) from at least one other mean in the row using Scheffe’s test for post hoc comparisons. Generally speaking, the performing artists are introverted, emotionally unstable and cautious compared with the (predominantly commercial) controls. However, there are some notable variations among the different types of performing artist. Actors tend towards extraversion (in fact, they are more extraverted than controls) while musicians are clearly the most introverted. The dancers appear as the most emotional but all performing artist groups are higher in emotionality than controls. Performing artists are also more cautious, with the exception of actors, who are just as adventurous as controls. Looking at the more detailed personality traits (Table 3) the dancers appear as the most inferior-feeling, unhappy, anxious, dependent, hypochondriacal and obsessive of all the groups compared (i.e. all sub-traits of emotionality except for guilt-proneness, which is higher in actors). Dancers were also the most careful and tender-minded group of the sample and ran a close second to musicians on empathy. Table 2. Means and SDS of performing
artists and controls
on EPP variables
Performing artists (N = 162)
Controlgroup Personality
traits
(N = 800) Mea” (SD)
Actors (N = 33) Mean (SD)
Dancers (N = 26) Mean (SD)
Musicians (N = 65) Mean (SD)
Singers (N = 38) Mean (SD)
12.81” 13.16” 22.55* 16.12* 17.97* 25.73* 26.44*
(7.35) (8.31) (6.19) (7.25) (7.94) (5.76) (6.86)
15.18 15.27 16.30’ 17.45 15.24* 21.79. 21.94;
(6.68) (8.10) (5.46) (6.43) (5.98) (5.67) (6.51)
13.34’ 17.50 20.61 IX.19 17.80’ 23.88 27.19
(5.80) (7.88) (4.97) (7.00) (6.43) (5.17) (6.88)
18.71’ 18.28’ 24.76’ 21.38* 23.63* 26.06* 28.76’
(8.57) (8.21) (5.90) (7.20) (7.85) (5.20) (5.85)
14.42 16.86 20.47’ 17.28 19.42 25.31 27.10*
(7.60) (8.72) (5.23) (8.62) (7.43) (5.09) (6.08)
30.46’ 32.31’ 29.58’ 31.56’ 36.41* 32.22* 21.33
(8.13) (8.17) (8.24) (6.44) (4.32) (7.09) (6.56)
26.18 26.39’ 21.881 27.61’ 33.97 26.30* 27.61
(8.44) (9.21) (7.88) (6.95) (5.63) (6.97) (6.80)
24.34; (9.75) 22.92* (10.76) 21.03’ (9.10) 26.65’ (6.30) 32.53* (5.47) 28.19 (8.25) 23.65 (4.88)
26.63’ 27.14* 25.60* 28.60’ 34.31* 30.00 25.80
(8.17) (9.35) (8.42) (6.18) (4.35) (7.01) (7.55)
28.28 27.65* 24.02’ 29.92 33.86* 29.86 26.36
(7.84) (8.78) (7.98) (6.46) (5.92) (6.92) (6.40)
18.53’ 20.86 22.43’ 22.59’ 18.22” 18.42” 20.52*
(6.91) (7.72) (6.97) (6.79) (7.76) (7.72) (7.51)
16.97* 17.42* 17.94: 22.33 l6.84* 23.58* 27.48.
(6.49) (8.10) (6.90) (7.98) (7.71) (5.86) (7.51)
22.26 21.00 21.65 25.26 22. I I 24.76* 22.34
(6.30) (6.19) (4.84) (4.55) (7.89) (6.59) (7.67)
22.07’ 23.76’ 20.65 25.44* 23.69’ 21.68* 20.60’
(5.97) (7.21) (6.97) (5.74) (7.59) (6.18) (7.18)
20.71 19.50 21.84 24.34 24.68’ 23.92’ 21.71’
(5.90) (6.84) (6.37) (6.93) (7.56) (7.22) (7.08)
19.15* 31.41’ 20.22*
(4.32) (5.53) (4.13)
17.59” 27.13’ 20.35
(3.47) (5.59) (3.87)
19.79* 25.62’ 22.77’
(3.64) (6.14) (3.50)
23.08’ 28.30; 22.55’
(4.31) (5.24) (3.81)
20.12’ 28.42’ 22.38’
(4.54) (5.57) (3.53)
P <0.05 two-tailed F-test
Exfraversion~Infroaersion
Active/inactive Sociable/unsociable Expressive/inhibited Assertive/submissive Ambitious/unambitious Dogmatic/flexible Aggressive/peaceful Emotionalify Inferior/self-esteem Unhappy/happy Anxious/calm Dependence/autonany Hypochandria/sense of health Guilt/guilt freedom Obsessive/casual Aduenfure/Caufion Risk-taking/careful Impulsive/control Irresponsible/responsible Manipulation/empathy Sensation-seeking/unadvent. Tough-minded/tender-minded Practical/reflective SU??V?UVY Introversion Emotional stability Caution
The 21 bipolar traits are scored in the direction of the second-named adjective (high scores are “inactive”. *Mean differs from at least one other mean in the row (P < 0.05) on Scheffk test.
“unsociable”,
etc.).
* * * * l
* l
l
* * * * I;S * * * l
* * * * * l
Personality and stress in performing artists
1065
Table 3. Traits on which each type of performing artist gained the most extreme score as regards difference from controls Actors Expressive Reflective Guilt-feelings Dogmatic Aggressive Irresponsible Impulsive
Dancers 1.01* 0.93 0.83 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.45
Unhappy Anxious Hypochondriacal Tenderminded Dependent Inferiority feelings Obsessive Careful
Musicians I.15 I .04 0.90 0.82 0.76 0.75 0.56 0.54
Inactive Submissive (Unadventurous) Unambitious Unsociable Empathic Controlled
0.78 0.73 0.70 0.63 0.61 0.42 0.38
*:-axe based on ditkrence from control group divided by SD of control group (i.e. actors were more than I SD higher in Expressiveness on average than controls). Singers were between actors and the other two groups on all traits except “unadventurousness” (on which musicians were almost as high).
Musicians appeared as the most cynical, resigned and world-weary group, being inactive, unsociable, submissive, unambitious and controlled, as well as low in adventurousness. Surprisingly, however, they were also the most empathic group tested, despite the preponderance of males in the sample. Actors produced outstanding scores on expressiveness, dogmatism, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, guilt and reflectiveness. They thus tended to be extraverted as regards their behaviour but showed certain mental characteristics that might enhance the colour and complexity of their performance. Actors were the most distinctive group of performing artists. In fact, on many traits, the other groups of performers resembled controls more than they did actors. Actors were not only noticeably more risk-taking, sensation-seeking and ambitious than other performers, but in each case their mean scores were beyond those of the controls (i.e. controls were intermediate between actors and other performing artists). Singers were a less distinctive group in that they fell between actors on the one hand and musicians/dancers on the other. Given that their mode of performance combines elements of both acting and music this is perhaps not surprising. The only trait on which they were outside the range of the other performing artist groups was that of sensation-seeking, where they appeared as even less adventurous than musicians. (This was also one of the few remarkable differences between singers and actors.) Sex difSerences In order to evaluate the possible role of sex differences in this research, comparisons were made between the 94 males and 68 females of the performing artist groups. Significant differences appeared on 6 of the 21 traits, with females exhibiting more anxiety, dependence, unhappiness and low self-esteem (hence higher general emotionality) and males being higher on tough-mindedness and manipulation (and hence general adventurousness). These differences are very much in accord with those found in the control group and they need to be kept in mind in evaluating the personality profiles of the performer groups. This is especially true of dancers, since there is female over-representation in this group and the dancers differ from controls in much the same way that females differ from males. When personality scores of dancers are compared with exclusively female norms, z-scores are diminished, particularly for Anxiety, which drops to 0.54 and Tendermindedness which is reduced to 0.32. Other scores are less radically affected. Unhappiness, for example, remains at 0.84 and Hypochondria at 0.65. It thus seems that the distinctive personality of dancers may be partly accounted for by the sex ratio of the sample, but not totally. In other words, the personality of dancers is more “feminine” than women at large. Stress Comparisons between performing artists and controls on the Health Survey items are shown in Table 4. Few significant differences appear; performers were more likely than controls to complain of shoulder-ache (x2 = 5.83, P < 0.01) and depression (x2 = 5.44, P -C 0.01). Otherwise, they reported more symptoms in general, but the significance of this difference cannot be tested because the various complaints are not independent. Column totals are given only as a guide to general stress levels. Although 40% of performers said that they sometimes suffered from performance
SUSAN
1066
E. MARCHANT-HAYCOX
Table 4. Comparison Control group (N = 73) Mean (SD)
Stress-related complaints Backache Shoulder-ache Cardiovascular disease Performance anxiety Lwer disease Stomach ulcers Migraine Hay fever Allergies Asthma Arthritis Diabetes High blood pressure Panic attacks Skin disorder Depression Severe indigestion Dizzy spells Total (excl. P.A.) Table entms
0.29 (0.45) 0.20 (0.46)
0;5 0.04 0. I6 0.14 0. I7 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.06
(0.12) (0.26) (0.37) (0.35) (0.38) (0.23) (0.16) (0.16) (0.16) (0.25) (0.25) (0.20) (0.25) 142
refer to the proportion
of performing
Performing artists (N = 162) Mean (SD) 0.42 0.37 0.02 0.40 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.23 0.18 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.04 0.05 0.13 0.19 0.07 0.08
(0.49) (0.48) (0.13) (0.49) (0.08) (0.13) (0.31) (0.42) (0.38) (0.25) (0.20) (0.08) (0.20) (0.22) (0.34) (0.39) (0.25) (0.27) 203
and
GLENN D. WILSON
artists and controls
P < 0.05 two-tailed (X2)
Actors (N = 33) Mean (SD)
Dancers (N = 26) Mean (SD)
Singers (N = 38) Mean (SD)
Musicians (N = 65) Mean (SD)
P < 0.05 two-tailed
NS <0.01* NS
0.36 (0.48) 0.12 (0.33)
0.38 (0.49) 0.38 (0.49)
0.33 (0.47)
0.35 (0.48)
0.53 0.44 0.03 0.38
(0.50) (0.50) (0.17) (0.49)
0;9 0.21 0.18 0.05
0.19 (0.39) 0.19 (0.39) 0.27 (0.44)
0.06 0.06 0.26 0.18 0.15 0.05 -
(0.24) (0.24) (0.44) (0.38) (0.35) (0.24) ~
0.41 (0.49) 0.44 (0.50) 0.08 (0.17) 0.47 (0.50) 0.01 (0.12) 0.01 (0.12) 0.10 (0.30) 0.24 (0.42) 0. I5 (0.35) 0.05 (0.24) 0.04 (0.21) 0.01 (0.12) 0.10 (0.30) 0.03 (0.17) 0.16 (0.37) 0.16 (0.37) 0.10 (0.30) 0.09 (0.28) 207
NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS <0.01* NS NS
(0.29) (0.41) (0.39) (0.24)
0.08 (0.27)
0;s (0.;) 0.09 (0.29) 0.18 (0.39)
132
of the group reporting
on Health Survey items
0.08 (0.27) 0.15 (0.35) 0.38 (0.49) 0.04 (0.19) 0.12 (0.32) 226
0<9 (0.28) 0.09 (0.28) 0.12 (0.32) 0.06 (0.24) 0. I2 (0.32) 227
(x2)
each symptom.
anxiety, no comparison could be made with non-performers (hence this item has been omitted from column totals). Internal comparisons of stress symptom incidence among the different types of performers revealed no significant differences, perhaps because the numbers of Ss were too small, given that only a minority were registering complaints. However, inspection of the data suggests that actors were not responsible for the tendency to shoulder-ache in performing artists (their proportion was actually lower than that of controls) and that dancers were primarily responsible for the high rates of reported depression among performing artists (38% registering this complaint). Personality variables were found to relate significantly to stress symptoms. For example, general emotionality predicted depression (F = 41.07, P < O.OOOOl), panic (F = 10.95, P < 0.001) and migraine (F = 5.57, P < 0.01) and introversion was related to shoulder-ache (F = 5.96, P < 0.01). Adventurousness was related to liver disease (F = 4.98, P < 0.02) as, not surprisingly, was alcohol consumption. DISCUSSION This study confirms the expectation that different types of performing artist are discriminable in terms of personality. Although performing artists tend to be introverted and emotionally volatile as a group, this broad characterization obscures important differences among various categories of performing artist. Actors, for example, are relatively extraverted and adventurous (being especially expressive, dogmatic, aggressive and irresponsible compared with controls). Dancers are the most emotionally unstable group (being particularly unhappy, anxious, hypochondriacal and lacking in self-esteem and autonomy). Musicians tend to be introverted and unadventurous, appearing resigned to the practicalities of a hard and unglamorous profession. Singers seem to combine the traits of the other three groups, as indeed their art draws upon them about equally. These results need to be regarded with some caution because the samples are not large and not identical with respect to age and gender balance. However, they are much in accord with the previous studies that are most directly comparable, e.g. Hammond and Edelmann (1991) Kemp (1981), Piparek (1981) and Bakker (1988, 1991). The finding of high levels of stress in musicians in this study confirms for classical players what Wills and Cooper (1988) found for pop musicians. This study is an advance upon previously reported studies in that it enables us to compare one type of performing artist with another on the same array of personality traits, as well as providing comparison with controls. It does not, however, answer the question of cause and effect. That is, we cannot be sure to what extent people (a) gravitate towards their speciality within the performing
Personality
and stress in performing
artists
1067
arts because of their personality, (b) survive within the profession because of their personality, or (c) have their personality shaped in a particular direction as a result of experience within that profession. Probably there is some truth in each of these hypotheses. For example, the long hours of solitary rehearsal necessitated by classical dancers and instrumentalists would select for introverts. Similarly, the high degree of public exposure required of actors and singers (and probably also rock and jazz musicians) would seem to demand a more extraverted outgoing kind of personality, less prone to shyness and self-doubt. Certain “feminine” qualities such as expressiveness and empathy would seem to be compatible with talent in most of the performing arts, but perhaps especially dancing. The high levels of shoulderache and performance anxiety, however, as well as the frequency with which depression is reported by dancers, seem more likely to be reactive (i.e. effects of the life style) even though these problems are more likely to affect those individuals who are high on general emotionality (neuroticism). With respect to the stress exhibited by dancers, singers and musicians, it is reasonable to suppose that this could be related to the exacting, highly competitive nature of these professions. They frequently have to work unsocial hours, are required to move about geographically to stay in work, and can seldom relax because they are under perpetual scrutiny from audiences, critics and producers. They are often poorly paid and treated by employees and public as itinerant vagabonds. These professions are notoriously overcrowded; a high proportion of performers are out of work at any given moment and rejection at auditions is a frequent experience. This perpetual pressure is bound to engender a degree of insecurity (Phillips, 1991). In addition, there are several sources of direct physical stress. Shoulder-ache is no doubt related to the “overuse” syndrome, problems stemming from repetitive use of the same muscle groups during long hours of practice and performance that affect up to 50% of instrumentalists (Fry, 1986; Lockwood, 1989). Singers are constantly worried about contracting laryngitis or nodes on the vocal cord which may terminate their career. Dancers are entirely dependent upon their bodies as instruments and may have “weight clauses” in their contracts that require perpetual dietary control. It would be interesting to know to what extent dietary restraint and the struggle to remain trim contributes to the high incidence of depression among dancers. Acknowledgemenfs-Thanks are due to Ivan Berg, Liam Forde, Chris Jackson, Jeremy Ltd for provision of questionnaires, scoring facilities and norms for the EPP.
Morris,
and Corporate
Assessment
REFERENCES Bakker, F. C. (1988). Personality differences between young dancers and non-dancers. Personalify and Individual [email protected], 9, 121-131. Bakker, F. C. (1991). Development of personality in dancers: a longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 671681. Barr, H. L., Langs, R. J., Holt. R. R., Goldberger, L. & Klein, G. S. (1972). LSD: Personalify and experience. New York: Wiley. Cattell, R. B. (1967). The Sixteen Personalify Factor Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing. Davies, J. B. (1978). The Psychology of music. London: Hutchinson. Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Eysenck, H. J. & Wilson, G. D. (1975). Know your own personality. London: Temple Smith. Eysenck, H. J. & Wilson, G. D. (1991). The Eysenck Personality Profiler. Corporate Assessment Ltd, London. Fisher, S. & Fisher, R. L. (1981). Pretend the world is funny andforever: A psychological analysis of comedians, clowns and actors. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Fry, H. J. H. (1986). Overuse syndrome in musicians: Prevention and management. Lancer, 2, 728-731. Hammond, J. & Edelmann, R. J. (1991). The Act of being: Personality Characteristics of professional actors, amateur actors and non-actors. In Wilson, G. D. (Ed.) Psychology and performing arts. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger. Henry, W. E. & Sims, J. H. (1970). Actors’ search for self. Transaction, 7, 5762. Kemp, A. (1980). Personality differences between the players of string, woodwind, brass and keyboard instruments, and singers. Paper delivered at 8th International Seminar on Research in Music Education. University of Reading School of Education. Kemp, A. (1981). The personality structure of the musician: I. Identifying a profile of traits for the performer. Psychology of Music, 9, 3-14. Lockwood, A. H. (1989). Medical problems of musicians. The New England Journal of Medicine, 320, 221-227. Phillips, E. M. (1991). Acting as an insecure occupation: The flipside of stardom. In Wilson, G. D. (Ed.) Psychology and performing arts. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
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Piparek, M. (1981). Psychological stress and strain factors in the work of a symphony orchestra musician. In Piparek, M. (Ed.) Stress and music. Vienna: William Braumiiller. Stacey, C. L. & Goldberg, H. D. (1953). A personality study of professional and student actors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 17, 24-25. Wills, G. & Cooper, C. L. (1988). Pressure sensitive: Popular musicians under stress. London: Sage. Wilson, G. D. (1984). The personality of opera singers. Personality and Individual DifSerences, 5, 195-201.
PERSONALITY SUSAN
0191-8869/92 $5.00 + 0.00 Copyright 6 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd
AND STRESS E.
IN PERFORMING
MARCHANT-HAYCOX’
and
GLENN
ARTISTS
D. WILSON’
‘Department of Psychology, City University, Northampton Square, London EClV OHB and *Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, England (Received 31 January 1992) Summary-The Eysenck Personality Profiler and a stress symptom checklist were given to 162 performing artists (33 actors, 26 dancers, 65 musicians and 38 singers) and scores were compared against test norms and a control group. Actors emerged as extraverted and expressive, dancers as unhappy, anxious, hypochondriacal and low in self-esteem, and musicians as somewhat introverted and unadventurous. Singers fell between actors and musicians on most attributes. Around one-third of actors, dancers and singers reported suffering from performance anxiety, and 47% of musicians. All except actors suffered from shoulder-ache significantly more than controls. An exceptionally high incidence of depression (38%) was reported by dancers. Results were compared with previous findings and interpreted as being due to a combination of self-selection in choice of occupation, qualities required for survival within the profession and reactions to the unusual stresses imposed by the performer’s lifestyle.
INTRODUCTION
Although stereotypes of performing artists abound, mostly attributing negative characteristics such as immaturity, neuroticism, egocentricity and exhibitionism, there have been few empirical studies of the personality of actors, musicians and dancers. Henry and Sims (1970) studied self-image problems in professional actors using depth interviews, the TAT, and a self-rating “identity diffusion” questionnaire. Their conclusion was that, compared with various control groups such as housewives and executives, the actors had more confusion in their identity. They went on to show that identity confusion was lessened by rehearsal on a play and suggested that the need to perform was motivated by a desire to consolidate a clear sense of identity that was somehow denied them in childhood. Barr, Langs, Holt, Goldberger and Klein (1972) also sought psychopathology in actors, using depth interviews and projective tests such as the Rorschach. Their conclusion was that actors were intellectually bright but had “poorly integrated, largely hysteric and schizoid personalities. They were exhibitionistic and narcissistic, having much pent-up aggression. They were passive, vulnerable to stress, tended to be overly anxious and had impaired body images.” Fisher and Fisher (198 1) used interviews and Rorschach inkblots in an attempt to discover what makes actors and comedians want to “show off” and “make fools of themselves” in front of others. Their conclusion was that actors are concerned with repressing the concept of mortality by extending historical time into the past and future, while comedians specialize in the denial of other forms of threat. This denial originates in the personal fears of the performer but serves society as a whole by helping entire audiences to allay their anxieties. Fisher and Fisher also studied larger numbers of student performers with the 16PF (Cattell (1967), finding them to be exhibitionistic and impulsive relative to non-performers. This is consistent with EPQ norms (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975) which place actors, and musicians, in the “hysterical” (emotional and extraverted) quadrant of the two prime personality dimensions. An early empirical study of the personality of actors (Stacey & Goldberg, 1953) found that professional actors were more reflective, introverted and depressed than student actors. More recently, Hammond and Edelmann (1991) compared 51 working professional actors (27 male and 24 female) with 58 amateur actors (27 male and 31 female) and 52 controls (7 male and 45 female). Questionnaires used were the EPQ, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and scales of Self-Consciousness, Self-Monitoring, Concern for Appropriateness, Shyness and Sociability. As might be expected from the nature of their profession, actors emerged as less shy and socially anxious than controls, and slightly more extraverted and sociable. They were also more privately self-conscious and displayed greater sensitivity to the expressive behaviour 1061
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of others than non-actors. Amateur actors were between non-actors and professionals on most of these attributes. There was little evidence in the Hammond and Edelmann study to support the highly negative by the psychoanalytic researchers. (psychopathological) stereotype of actors “discovered” Although Neuroticism (N) and Psychoticism (P) scores were slightly higher than controls, the actors’ scores were well within normal (non-clinical) limits. Empirical studies of musicians, singers and dancers are equally scarce. Kemp (198 1) studied 688 student musicians and 202 professional musicians using Cattell’s 16PF and reported that, compared with controls, both groups were inclined to be introverted (e.g. reserved, sober and self-sufficient) and anxious (emotionally unstable, apprehensive, tense). A tendency to emotional instability in musicians was also reported by Piparek (1981) who studied 24 members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Using interviews and unspecified projective tests, he found that N scores were 5% higher in musicians than other professions he had studied. Kemp (1980) compared the personalities of different instrumentalists, again using the 16PF, in 625 music students aged 18 to 25. Brass players emerged as significantly more extraverted than other instrumentalists (happy-go-lucky and group-dependent) and also less sensitive (toughminded). Similar findings were reported by Davies (1978) who studied a Glasgow-based symphony orchestra using the EPI. Brass players scored highest on Extraversion (E) and lowest on N, while string players were highest on N. (Of course, these results may be partly due to the fact that there are more male brass players and female string players.) Wills and Cooper (1988) studied professional pop musicians using the EPQ. N scores were found to be higher than any other professional group reported in the test manual (especially guitarists, with a mean of 16.90, and pianists at 14.72). P scores also appeared quite high (especially guitarists at 4.90 and drummers 4.50). The authors were unable to say whether their findings reflected the intrinsic personality of musicians or the stress of their occupation. Wilson (1984) found that, compared with non-singing controls, professional opera singers were rated by peers as more extraverted, conceited and inconsiderate. Within singers there were differences in body build and personality connected with voice type. Higher voiced singers (tenors and sopranos) were more emotional and “difficult” than lower voiced singers (basses and contraltos) while deeper voiced singers tended to be taller and higher in libido. Wilson interpreted these results in terms of the effects of sex hormones (especially prenatal) operating in parallel on body build, vocal cord and personality. Bakker (1988) studied the personality traits of ballet students aged between 11 and 16 years (all female), comparing them with non-dancing controls on a variety of standardized questionnaires. Dancers showed lower self-esteem than non-dancers and a less favourable physical self-concept. They were more introverted than controls and higher in achievement motivation, anxiety and emotionality. These results were interpreted in terms of an interaction between self-selection on traits such as sensitivity and ambitiousness that would promote success in dancing and the stresses placed on young dancers by the exacting discipline of ballet. Since part of the dancer’s job is giving expression to feelings, it was supposed that high emotionality would not necessarily be detrimental to performance. The introversion of dancers could be connected with the fact that ballet is a solitary activity requiring a great deal of disciplined training. Other, more abandoned and sociable types of dancing might well be expected to go with E. In a follow-up study 2 years later, Bakker (1991) tested the same group again to see whether their personality had changed as a result of their ballet education. He was also interested to see whether there was any difference in personality between those who dropped out of ballet and those that continued on a professional career path. Results of this study confirmed the previous findings of dancers being more introverted, emotional and achievement-oriented and having less favourable self-attitudes than controls. Since the differences between those who continued their professional education and those who dropped out were small, Bakker concluded that the personality characteristics of the dancers were due primarily to self-selection, i.e. the ballet subculture attracting particular personality types (even though selection and learning within the ballet subculture might reinforce this stereotypic personality profile to some extent). Although some of the studies described above have produced interesting results, many of them are flawed by a psychoanalytic approach in which it is unclear how the measuring instruments (e.g.
Personality and stress in performing artists
1063
projective techniques of low validity) were being used to arrive at conclusions. There is also a dearth of studies that enable us to compare across different types of performing artists (actors, musicians, dancers, etc.). This study was designed to compare various types of performers on a broad-spectrum personality test, the Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP). Since it is widely supposed that performers suffer unusual levels of stress in the exercise of their profession a tailor-made Health Survey asking about their experience of stress and psychosomatic symptoms was also included in the study. This enabled us to examine the personality correlates of stress-proneness in performing artists. METHOD
Performing artists were contacted through music, drama and ballet colleges and by directly approaching major institutions such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) and the English National Opera. Approximately 500 sets of questionnaires were distributed with stamped addressed return envelopes and a guarantee of anonymity. Completed questionnaires were received from 162 performing artists (94 males and 68 females). A more detailed breakdown of this group is given in Table 1. The main points to note are that actors tend to be younger, with a higher proportion of students than other groups, and the musicians are predominantly male whereas the dancers are predominantly female. The control groups consisted of a sample of 500 male and 300 female Ss supplied by Corporate Assessment Ltd, a personnel selection company based in West London that has been developing norms for the EPP over several years. The mean age of 34.2 (SD 11.5) was comparable to that of the performing artists as a whole and the sex ratio was similar. The social class structure was also fairly close to that of the performing artists, with a weighting towards professional, managerial, sales and clerical occupations. It could be argued that a truly random or representative sample of the population would have provided a better backdrop for viewing the personality of performing artists but this sample, although non-random, has the advantage of being balanced for major demographic variables. A second control group was gathered specifically for comparisons on the Health Survey Questionnaire. This comprised 73 Ss (45 male and 28 female) with a mean age of 31.0 years (SD 10.8) and similarly weighted towards professional and middle-class occupations (students, academics, lawyers, journalists, etc.). Two questionnaires were used: (1) The EPP, Eysenck and Wilson (1991) which is a a newly developed multi-trait personality test derived from the item pool used in Eysenck and Wilson (1975). It consists of 440 items arranged into 21 “primary” bipolar traits plus a Dissimulation or “Lie” scale (each containing 20 items). The 21 traits are, in turn, grouped into three major dimensions+xtraversion-introversion, emotionality and adventurousness (corresponding roughly Table Performing artists Musicians Professional Students Male Female Actors Professional Students Male Female Singers Professional Students Male Female Dancers Professional Students Male Female Total
I. Details
of performing N
65 54 II 53 12 33 4 29 I8 15 38 36 2 16 22 26 24 2 7 I9 162
artist sample
Range (age)
Mean (age)
SD (age)
19-69
39.0
13.0
I&58
40.2 34.5 25.0
12.3 15.3 7.8
23-60
25.0 25.0 39.5
8.8 6.6 9.8
18-52
41.8 37.9 29.3
9.9 9.6 9.3
l&69
30.0 29.0 34.0
10.7 9.1 12.3
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SUSAN
E. MAKCHANT-HAYCOX and GLENN D. WILSON
with Eysenck’s big three personality factors, well known to users of the EPQ). The EPP thus combines the virtues of multi-trait tests like the 16PF with broad factor tests like the EPQ, leaving the researcher to decide how much detail to consider according to the nature of the problem. (2) The Health Survey Questionnaire was a tailor-made self-report inventory used to collect demographic data such as age and sex, as well as information concerning a variety of stressrelated symptoms such as backache, migraine and performance anxiety. Ss were also asked about their smoking and drinking habits and perceived sources of stress in the practice of their profession. RESULTS
Personality Comparisons among the personality scores of the various performing artist groups and controls are shown in Table 2. F-tests (right column) show that main effects are significant for nearly all traits and the asterisks against the individual means indicate that they differ significantly (P < 0.05) from at least one other mean in the row using Scheffe’s test for post hoc comparisons. Generally speaking, the performing artists are introverted, emotionally unstable and cautious compared with the (predominantly commercial) controls. However, there are some notable variations among the different types of performing artist. Actors tend towards extraversion (in fact, they are more extraverted than controls) while musicians are clearly the most introverted. The dancers appear as the most emotional but all performing artist groups are higher in emotionality than controls. Performing artists are also more cautious, with the exception of actors, who are just as adventurous as controls. Looking at the more detailed personality traits (Table 3) the dancers appear as the most inferior-feeling, unhappy, anxious, dependent, hypochondriacal and obsessive of all the groups compared (i.e. all sub-traits of emotionality except for guilt-proneness, which is higher in actors). Dancers were also the most careful and tender-minded group of the sample and ran a close second to musicians on empathy. Table 2. Means and SDS of performing
artists and controls
on EPP variables
Performing artists (N = 162)
Controlgroup Personality
traits
(N = 800) Mea” (SD)
Actors (N = 33) Mean (SD)
Dancers (N = 26) Mean (SD)
Musicians (N = 65) Mean (SD)
Singers (N = 38) Mean (SD)
12.81” 13.16” 22.55* 16.12* 17.97* 25.73* 26.44*
(7.35) (8.31) (6.19) (7.25) (7.94) (5.76) (6.86)
15.18 15.27 16.30’ 17.45 15.24* 21.79. 21.94;
(6.68) (8.10) (5.46) (6.43) (5.98) (5.67) (6.51)
13.34’ 17.50 20.61 IX.19 17.80’ 23.88 27.19
(5.80) (7.88) (4.97) (7.00) (6.43) (5.17) (6.88)
18.71’ 18.28’ 24.76’ 21.38* 23.63* 26.06* 28.76’
(8.57) (8.21) (5.90) (7.20) (7.85) (5.20) (5.85)
14.42 16.86 20.47’ 17.28 19.42 25.31 27.10*
(7.60) (8.72) (5.23) (8.62) (7.43) (5.09) (6.08)
30.46’ 32.31’ 29.58’ 31.56’ 36.41* 32.22* 21.33
(8.13) (8.17) (8.24) (6.44) (4.32) (7.09) (6.56)
26.18 26.39’ 21.881 27.61’ 33.97 26.30* 27.61
(8.44) (9.21) (7.88) (6.95) (5.63) (6.97) (6.80)
24.34; (9.75) 22.92* (10.76) 21.03’ (9.10) 26.65’ (6.30) 32.53* (5.47) 28.19 (8.25) 23.65 (4.88)
26.63’ 27.14* 25.60* 28.60’ 34.31* 30.00 25.80
(8.17) (9.35) (8.42) (6.18) (4.35) (7.01) (7.55)
28.28 27.65* 24.02’ 29.92 33.86* 29.86 26.36
(7.84) (8.78) (7.98) (6.46) (5.92) (6.92) (6.40)
18.53’ 20.86 22.43’ 22.59’ 18.22” 18.42” 20.52*
(6.91) (7.72) (6.97) (6.79) (7.76) (7.72) (7.51)
16.97* 17.42* 17.94: 22.33 l6.84* 23.58* 27.48.
(6.49) (8.10) (6.90) (7.98) (7.71) (5.86) (7.51)
22.26 21.00 21.65 25.26 22. I I 24.76* 22.34
(6.30) (6.19) (4.84) (4.55) (7.89) (6.59) (7.67)
22.07’ 23.76’ 20.65 25.44* 23.69’ 21.68* 20.60’
(5.97) (7.21) (6.97) (5.74) (7.59) (6.18) (7.18)
20.71 19.50 21.84 24.34 24.68’ 23.92’ 21.71’
(5.90) (6.84) (6.37) (6.93) (7.56) (7.22) (7.08)
19.15* 31.41’ 20.22*
(4.32) (5.53) (4.13)
17.59” 27.13’ 20.35
(3.47) (5.59) (3.87)
19.79* 25.62’ 22.77’
(3.64) (6.14) (3.50)
23.08’ 28.30; 22.55’
(4.31) (5.24) (3.81)
20.12’ 28.42’ 22.38’
(4.54) (5.57) (3.53)
P <0.05 two-tailed F-test
Exfraversion~Infroaersion
Active/inactive Sociable/unsociable Expressive/inhibited Assertive/submissive Ambitious/unambitious Dogmatic/flexible Aggressive/peaceful Emotionalify Inferior/self-esteem Unhappy/happy Anxious/calm Dependence/autonany Hypochandria/sense of health Guilt/guilt freedom Obsessive/casual Aduenfure/Caufion Risk-taking/careful Impulsive/control Irresponsible/responsible Manipulation/empathy Sensation-seeking/unadvent. Tough-minded/tender-minded Practical/reflective SU??V?UVY Introversion Emotional stability Caution
The 21 bipolar traits are scored in the direction of the second-named adjective (high scores are “inactive”. *Mean differs from at least one other mean in the row (P < 0.05) on Scheffk test.
“unsociable”,
etc.).
* * * * l
* l
l
* * * * I;S * * * l
* * * * * l
Personality and stress in performing artists
1065
Table 3. Traits on which each type of performing artist gained the most extreme score as regards difference from controls Actors Expressive Reflective Guilt-feelings Dogmatic Aggressive Irresponsible Impulsive
Dancers 1.01* 0.93 0.83 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.45
Unhappy Anxious Hypochondriacal Tenderminded Dependent Inferiority feelings Obsessive Careful
Musicians I.15 I .04 0.90 0.82 0.76 0.75 0.56 0.54
Inactive Submissive (Unadventurous) Unambitious Unsociable Empathic Controlled
0.78 0.73 0.70 0.63 0.61 0.42 0.38
*:-axe based on ditkrence from control group divided by SD of control group (i.e. actors were more than I SD higher in Expressiveness on average than controls). Singers were between actors and the other two groups on all traits except “unadventurousness” (on which musicians were almost as high).
Musicians appeared as the most cynical, resigned and world-weary group, being inactive, unsociable, submissive, unambitious and controlled, as well as low in adventurousness. Surprisingly, however, they were also the most empathic group tested, despite the preponderance of males in the sample. Actors produced outstanding scores on expressiveness, dogmatism, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, guilt and reflectiveness. They thus tended to be extraverted as regards their behaviour but showed certain mental characteristics that might enhance the colour and complexity of their performance. Actors were the most distinctive group of performing artists. In fact, on many traits, the other groups of performers resembled controls more than they did actors. Actors were not only noticeably more risk-taking, sensation-seeking and ambitious than other performers, but in each case their mean scores were beyond those of the controls (i.e. controls were intermediate between actors and other performing artists). Singers were a less distinctive group in that they fell between actors on the one hand and musicians/dancers on the other. Given that their mode of performance combines elements of both acting and music this is perhaps not surprising. The only trait on which they were outside the range of the other performing artist groups was that of sensation-seeking, where they appeared as even less adventurous than musicians. (This was also one of the few remarkable differences between singers and actors.) Sex difSerences In order to evaluate the possible role of sex differences in this research, comparisons were made between the 94 males and 68 females of the performing artist groups. Significant differences appeared on 6 of the 21 traits, with females exhibiting more anxiety, dependence, unhappiness and low self-esteem (hence higher general emotionality) and males being higher on tough-mindedness and manipulation (and hence general adventurousness). These differences are very much in accord with those found in the control group and they need to be kept in mind in evaluating the personality profiles of the performer groups. This is especially true of dancers, since there is female over-representation in this group and the dancers differ from controls in much the same way that females differ from males. When personality scores of dancers are compared with exclusively female norms, z-scores are diminished, particularly for Anxiety, which drops to 0.54 and Tendermindedness which is reduced to 0.32. Other scores are less radically affected. Unhappiness, for example, remains at 0.84 and Hypochondria at 0.65. It thus seems that the distinctive personality of dancers may be partly accounted for by the sex ratio of the sample, but not totally. In other words, the personality of dancers is more “feminine” than women at large. Stress Comparisons between performing artists and controls on the Health Survey items are shown in Table 4. Few significant differences appear; performers were more likely than controls to complain of shoulder-ache (x2 = 5.83, P < 0.01) and depression (x2 = 5.44, P -C 0.01). Otherwise, they reported more symptoms in general, but the significance of this difference cannot be tested because the various complaints are not independent. Column totals are given only as a guide to general stress levels. Although 40% of performers said that they sometimes suffered from performance
SUSAN
1066
E. MARCHANT-HAYCOX
Table 4. Comparison Control group (N = 73) Mean (SD)
Stress-related complaints Backache Shoulder-ache Cardiovascular disease Performance anxiety Lwer disease Stomach ulcers Migraine Hay fever Allergies Asthma Arthritis Diabetes High blood pressure Panic attacks Skin disorder Depression Severe indigestion Dizzy spells Total (excl. P.A.) Table entms
0.29 (0.45) 0.20 (0.46)
0;5 0.04 0. I6 0.14 0. I7 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.06
(0.12) (0.26) (0.37) (0.35) (0.38) (0.23) (0.16) (0.16) (0.16) (0.25) (0.25) (0.20) (0.25) 142
refer to the proportion
of performing
Performing artists (N = 162) Mean (SD) 0.42 0.37 0.02 0.40 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.23 0.18 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.04 0.05 0.13 0.19 0.07 0.08
(0.49) (0.48) (0.13) (0.49) (0.08) (0.13) (0.31) (0.42) (0.38) (0.25) (0.20) (0.08) (0.20) (0.22) (0.34) (0.39) (0.25) (0.27) 203
and
GLENN D. WILSON
artists and controls
P < 0.05 two-tailed (X2)
Actors (N = 33) Mean (SD)
Dancers (N = 26) Mean (SD)
Singers (N = 38) Mean (SD)
Musicians (N = 65) Mean (SD)
P < 0.05 two-tailed
NS <0.01* NS
0.36 (0.48) 0.12 (0.33)
0.38 (0.49) 0.38 (0.49)
0.33 (0.47)
0.35 (0.48)
0.53 0.44 0.03 0.38
(0.50) (0.50) (0.17) (0.49)
0;9 0.21 0.18 0.05
0.19 (0.39) 0.19 (0.39) 0.27 (0.44)
0.06 0.06 0.26 0.18 0.15 0.05 -
(0.24) (0.24) (0.44) (0.38) (0.35) (0.24) ~
0.41 (0.49) 0.44 (0.50) 0.08 (0.17) 0.47 (0.50) 0.01 (0.12) 0.01 (0.12) 0.10 (0.30) 0.24 (0.42) 0. I5 (0.35) 0.05 (0.24) 0.04 (0.21) 0.01 (0.12) 0.10 (0.30) 0.03 (0.17) 0.16 (0.37) 0.16 (0.37) 0.10 (0.30) 0.09 (0.28) 207
NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS <0.01* NS NS
(0.29) (0.41) (0.39) (0.24)
0.08 (0.27)
0;s (0.;) 0.09 (0.29) 0.18 (0.39)
132
of the group reporting
on Health Survey items
0.08 (0.27) 0.15 (0.35) 0.38 (0.49) 0.04 (0.19) 0.12 (0.32) 226
0<9 (0.28) 0.09 (0.28) 0.12 (0.32) 0.06 (0.24) 0. I2 (0.32) 227
(x2)
each symptom.
anxiety, no comparison could be made with non-performers (hence this item has been omitted from column totals). Internal comparisons of stress symptom incidence among the different types of performers revealed no significant differences, perhaps because the numbers of Ss were too small, given that only a minority were registering complaints. However, inspection of the data suggests that actors were not responsible for the tendency to shoulder-ache in performing artists (their proportion was actually lower than that of controls) and that dancers were primarily responsible for the high rates of reported depression among performing artists (38% registering this complaint). Personality variables were found to relate significantly to stress symptoms. For example, general emotionality predicted depression (F = 41.07, P < O.OOOOl), panic (F = 10.95, P < 0.001) and migraine (F = 5.57, P < 0.01) and introversion was related to shoulder-ache (F = 5.96, P < 0.01). Adventurousness was related to liver disease (F = 4.98, P < 0.02) as, not surprisingly, was alcohol consumption. DISCUSSION This study confirms the expectation that different types of performing artist are discriminable in terms of personality. Although performing artists tend to be introverted and emotionally volatile as a group, this broad characterization obscures important differences among various categories of performing artist. Actors, for example, are relatively extraverted and adventurous (being especially expressive, dogmatic, aggressive and irresponsible compared with controls). Dancers are the most emotionally unstable group (being particularly unhappy, anxious, hypochondriacal and lacking in self-esteem and autonomy). Musicians tend to be introverted and unadventurous, appearing resigned to the practicalities of a hard and unglamorous profession. Singers seem to combine the traits of the other three groups, as indeed their art draws upon them about equally. These results need to be regarded with some caution because the samples are not large and not identical with respect to age and gender balance. However, they are much in accord with the previous studies that are most directly comparable, e.g. Hammond and Edelmann (1991) Kemp (1981), Piparek (1981) and Bakker (1988, 1991). The finding of high levels of stress in musicians in this study confirms for classical players what Wills and Cooper (1988) found for pop musicians. This study is an advance upon previously reported studies in that it enables us to compare one type of performing artist with another on the same array of personality traits, as well as providing comparison with controls. It does not, however, answer the question of cause and effect. That is, we cannot be sure to what extent people (a) gravitate towards their speciality within the performing
Personality
and stress in performing
artists
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arts because of their personality, (b) survive within the profession because of their personality, or (c) have their personality shaped in a particular direction as a result of experience within that profession. Probably there is some truth in each of these hypotheses. For example, the long hours of solitary rehearsal necessitated by classical dancers and instrumentalists would select for introverts. Similarly, the high degree of public exposure required of actors and singers (and probably also rock and jazz musicians) would seem to demand a more extraverted outgoing kind of personality, less prone to shyness and self-doubt. Certain “feminine” qualities such as expressiveness and empathy would seem to be compatible with talent in most of the performing arts, but perhaps especially dancing. The high levels of shoulderache and performance anxiety, however, as well as the frequency with which depression is reported by dancers, seem more likely to be reactive (i.e. effects of the life style) even though these problems are more likely to affect those individuals who are high on general emotionality (neuroticism). With respect to the stress exhibited by dancers, singers and musicians, it is reasonable to suppose that this could be related to the exacting, highly competitive nature of these professions. They frequently have to work unsocial hours, are required to move about geographically to stay in work, and can seldom relax because they are under perpetual scrutiny from audiences, critics and producers. They are often poorly paid and treated by employees and public as itinerant vagabonds. These professions are notoriously overcrowded; a high proportion of performers are out of work at any given moment and rejection at auditions is a frequent experience. This perpetual pressure is bound to engender a degree of insecurity (Phillips, 1991). In addition, there are several sources of direct physical stress. Shoulder-ache is no doubt related to the “overuse” syndrome, problems stemming from repetitive use of the same muscle groups during long hours of practice and performance that affect up to 50% of instrumentalists (Fry, 1986; Lockwood, 1989). Singers are constantly worried about contracting laryngitis or nodes on the vocal cord which may terminate their career. Dancers are entirely dependent upon their bodies as instruments and may have “weight clauses” in their contracts that require perpetual dietary control. It would be interesting to know to what extent dietary restraint and the struggle to remain trim contributes to the high incidence of depression among dancers. Acknowledgemenfs-Thanks are due to Ivan Berg, Liam Forde, Chris Jackson, Jeremy Ltd for provision of questionnaires, scoring facilities and norms for the EPP.
Morris,
and Corporate
Assessment
REFERENCES Bakker, F. C. (1988). Personality differences between young dancers and non-dancers. Personalify and Individual [email protected], 9, 121-131. Bakker, F. C. (1991). Development of personality in dancers: a longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 671681. Barr, H. L., Langs, R. J., Holt. R. R., Goldberger, L. & Klein, G. S. (1972). LSD: Personalify and experience. New York: Wiley. Cattell, R. B. (1967). The Sixteen Personalify Factor Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing. Davies, J. B. (1978). The Psychology of music. London: Hutchinson. Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Eysenck, H. J. & Wilson, G. D. (1975). Know your own personality. London: Temple Smith. Eysenck, H. J. & Wilson, G. D. (1991). The Eysenck Personality Profiler. Corporate Assessment Ltd, London. Fisher, S. & Fisher, R. L. (1981). Pretend the world is funny andforever: A psychological analysis of comedians, clowns and actors. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Fry, H. J. H. (1986). Overuse syndrome in musicians: Prevention and management. Lancer, 2, 728-731. Hammond, J. & Edelmann, R. J. (1991). The Act of being: Personality Characteristics of professional actors, amateur actors and non-actors. In Wilson, G. D. (Ed.) Psychology and performing arts. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger. Henry, W. E. & Sims, J. H. (1970). Actors’ search for self. Transaction, 7, 5762. Kemp, A. (1980). Personality differences between the players of string, woodwind, brass and keyboard instruments, and singers. Paper delivered at 8th International Seminar on Research in Music Education. University of Reading School of Education. Kemp, A. (1981). The personality structure of the musician: I. Identifying a profile of traits for the performer. Psychology of Music, 9, 3-14. Lockwood, A. H. (1989). Medical problems of musicians. The New England Journal of Medicine, 320, 221-227. Phillips, E. M. (1991). Acting as an insecure occupation: The flipside of stardom. In Wilson, G. D. (Ed.) Psychology and performing arts. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
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Piparek, M. (1981). Psychological stress and strain factors in the work of a symphony orchestra musician. In Piparek, M. (Ed.) Stress and music. Vienna: William Braumiiller. Stacey, C. L. & Goldberg, H. D. (1953). A personality study of professional and student actors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 17, 24-25. Wills, G. & Cooper, C. L. (1988). Pressure sensitive: Popular musicians under stress. London: Sage. Wilson, G. D. (1984). The personality of opera singers. Personality and Individual DifSerences, 5, 195-201.