Students’ perceived belonging in academic spaces has emerged as a critical nexus of overall academic achievement, social-emotional outcomes (e.g., self-concept and self-efficacy), and engagement in K–12 schools. Furthermore, researchers have documented inverse relations of belonging and psychological distress, alienation, and isolation. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in participants’ levels of belonging in band ensembles and school outside of band ensembles. Participants of this quantitative study—suburban and rural high school band students in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States—responded to modified General Belongingness Scales and a Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to measure individuals’ perceived levels of belonging both in their band ensembles and in their schools outside of band ensembles. The data indicated that secondary music students experienced greater levels of belonging in band ensembles than in the school environment outside of band ensembles. These findings highlight the potential for band classes/ensembles to foster belonging and support social-emotional well-being for high school students and have the potential to inform secondary education policy.
AdderleyC.KennedyM.BerzW. (2003). “A home away from home”: The world of the high school music classroom. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(3), 190–205. https://doi.org/10.2307/3345373
2.
AustinJ. R. (1990). The relationship of music self-esteem to degree of participation in school and out-of-school music activities among upper-elementary students. Contributions to Music Education, 17, 20–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24127467
3.
BaskinT. W.WampoldB. E.QuintanaS. M.EnrightR. D. (2010). Belongingness as a protective factor against loneliness and potential depression in a multicultural middle school. The Counseling Psychologist, 38(5), 626–651. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000009358459
4.
BaumeisterR. F.LearyM. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
5.
BodenJ. M.FergussonD. M.HorwoodL. J. (2008). Does adolescent self-esteem predict later life outcomes? A test of the causal role of self-esteem. Development and Psychopathology, 20(1), 319–339. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000151
6.
BoyceD. (2015). Voices of steel: A case study of a Pennsylvania high school steel band [Doctoral dissertation]. Boston University.
7.
CampbellP. S.ConnellC.BeegleA. (2007). Adolescents’ expressed meanings of music in and out of school. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(3), 220–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940705500304
8.
ChenX.-J.HannibalN.GoldC. (2016). Randomized trial of group music therapy with Chinese prisoners: Impact on anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(9), 1064–1081. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15572795
9.
CrawfordR. (2017). Creating unity through celebrating diversity: A case study that explores the impact of music education on refugee background students. International Journal of Music Education, 35(3), 343–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761416659511
De Martini UgolottiN. (2022). Music-making and forced migrants’ affective practices of diasporic belonging. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1790344
12.
DeWallC. N.DeckmanT.PondR. S.BonserI. (2011). Belongingness as a core personality trait: How social exclusion influences social functioning and personality expression. Journal of Personality, 79(6), 1281–1314. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00695.x
13.
DeWallC. N.MacDonaldG.WebsterG.MastenC.BaumeisterR.PowellC.EisenbergerN. (2010). Acetaminophen reduces social pain: Behavioral and neural evidence. Psychological Science, 21(7), 931–937. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610374741
14.
EisenbergerN.LiebermanM.WilliamsK. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290–292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1089134
15.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.LangA.-G.BuchnerA. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146
16.
FieldA. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). Sage.
17.
FontaineR. G.YangC.BurksV. S.DodgeK. A.PriceJ. M.PettitG. S.BatesJ. E. (2009). Loneliness as a partial mediator of the relation between low social preference in childhood and anxious/depressed symptoms in adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 21(2), 479–491. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000261
18.
Gillen-O’NeelC.FuligniA. (2013). A longitudinal study of school belonging and academic motivation across high school. Child Development, 84(2), 678–692. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01862.x
19.
GoodenowC.GradyK. E. (1993). The relationship of school belonging and friends’ values to academic motivation among urban adolescent students. The Journal of Experimental Education, 62(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1993.9943831
20.
GravesB. K. (2019). Belonging in band: Relatedness support, relatedness satisfaction, prosocial behavior, and music practice in high school band [Doctoral dissertation]. Boston University.
21.
HallamS.CreechA.VarvarigouM.McQueenH. (2012). Perceived benefits of active engagement with making music in community settings. International Journal of Community Music, 5(2), 155–174. https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm.5.2.155_1
22.
KokotsakiD.HallamS. (2007). Higher education music students’ perceptions of the benefits of participative music making. Music Education Research, 9(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613800601127577
23.
KorpershoekH.CanrinusE. T.Fokkens-BruinsmaM.de BoerH. (2020). The relationships between school belonging and students’ motivational, social-emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes in secondary education: A meta-analytic review. Research Papers in Education, 35(6), 641–680. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116
24.
LähdesmäkiT.SaresmaT.HiltunenK.JänttiS.SääskilahtiN.ValliusA.AhvenjärviK. (2016). Fluidity and flexibility of “belonging”: Uses of the concept in contemporary research. Acta Sociologica, 59(3), 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699316633099
25.
LamontA. (2012). Emotion, engagement and meaning in strong experiences of music performance. Psychology of Music, 40(5), 574–594. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612448510
26.
LangstonT. W.BarrettM. S. (2008). Capitalizing on community music: A case study of the manifestation of social capital in a community choir. Research Studies in Music Education, 30(2), 118–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X08097503
27.
LevitinD. J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. Penguin Books.
28.
LewisH. (2014). Music, dancing and clothing as belonging and freedom among people seeking asylum in the UK. Leisure Studies, 34(1), 142–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2014.966744
MaX. (2003). Sense of belonging to school: Can schools make a difference?The Journal of Educational Research, 96(6), 340–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220670309596617
32.
MacDonaldG.LearyM. R. (2005). Why does social exclusion hurt? The relationship between social and physical pain. Psychological Bulletin, 131(2), 202–223. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.2.202
33.
MaloneG. P.PillowD. R.OsmanA. (2012). The General Belongingness Scale (GBS): Assessing achieved belongingness. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 311–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.027
34.
MaslowA. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.
35.
McIntyreJ. C.WorsleyJ.CorcoranR.Harrison WoodsP.BentallR. P. (2018). Academic and non-academic predictors of student psychological distress: The role of social identity and loneliness. Journal of Mental Health, 27(3), 230–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1437608
36.
MoallemI. (2013). A meta-analysis of school belonging and academic success and persistence [Doctoral dissertation]. Loyola University Chicago.
37.
MoksnesU. K.EspnesG. A. (2013). Self-esteem and life satisfaction in adolescents—Gender and age as potential moderators. Quality of Life Research, 22, 2921–2928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-013-0427-4
38.
MonteiroD. (2016). Samba: The sense of community in participatory music [Doctoral dissertation]. Boston University.
39.
NicholsS. (2008). An exploration of students’ belongingness beliefs in one middle school. The Journal of Experimental Education, 76(2), 145–169. https://doi.org/10.3200/JEXE.76.2.145-169
ParkJ. Y.ParkE. Y. (2019). The Rasch analysis of Rosenberg self-esteem scale in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1992. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01992
43.
ReimerB. (2000). Why do humans value music? In MadsenC. K. (Ed.), Vision 2020: The Housewright symposium on the future of music education (pp. 25–48). MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
44.
RindeF. B.KennyA. (2021). Music in the school life of newly arrived migrant children: Potential paths to participation and belonging. Music Education Research, 23(5), 622–633. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2021.1993165
45.
RobinsR. W.HendinH. M.TrzesniewskiK. H. (2001). Measuring global self-esteem: Construct validation of a single-item measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201272002
46.
RosenbergM. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.
47.
SchmittD. P.AllikJ. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: Exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(4), 623–642. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.623
48.
SchultzA. J. (2018). Adulthood and music participation in a community band: A collective case study of the lived experiences of adult community band members [Doctoral dissertation]. Boston University.
49.
SchulzL. L.RubelD. J. (2011). A phenomenology of alienation in high school: The experiences of five male non-completers. Professional School Counseling, 14(5), 286–298. https://doi.org/10.5330/PSC.n.2011-14.286
50.
ShinJ. (2011). An investigation of participation in weekly music workshops and its relationship to academic self-concept and self-esteem of middle school students in low-income communities. Contributions to Music Education, 38(2), 29–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24127189
51.
SindenL. M. (1999). Music performance anxiety: Contributions of perfectionism, coping style, self-efficacy, and self-esteem (Publication No. 9923872) [Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
52.
SmithA.AyresP. (2014). The impact of persistent pain on working memory and learning. Educational Psychology Review, 26(2), 245–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9247-x
53.
StillmanT.BaumeisterR. (2009). Uncertainty, belongingness, and four needs for meaning. Psychological Inquiry, 20(4), 249–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400903333544
54.
SullivanG. M.ArtinoA. R. (2013). Analyzing and interpreting data from Likert-type scales. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 541–542. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-5-4-18
55.
ThompsonW. F. (2015). Music, thought, and feeling: Understanding the psychology of music (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
56.
Van AkenM. (2006). Dancing belonging: Contesting dabkeh in the Jordan Valley, Jordan. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(2), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830500487431
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
