Student Musicians' Personality Styles,Stresses,and Coping Patterns

Abstract

This study concerns the sources of stress which music students perceive to be most debilitating to them as music students and prospective musicians. Students at three very different kinds of music schools in three geographical areas of the United States were surveyed. The questionnaire used in the survey listed 22 sources of stress which were identified through a review of the literature on the subject and a review of similar instruments. Fifty per cent of the students at the three institutions were randomly selected to receive mailed questionnaires and the 201 respondents represented 35 per cent of the original sample. The 22 identified stressors were rated for severity by the 201 students at the three schools. A rank order of stress sources for each school was derived. In addition to the general undifferen- tiated items labelled "stress" and "burnout" as major stressors, "music progress impatience" was identified as a particularly important source of stress. "Preperformance nervousness" was also ranked high by all groups. "Job insecurity" and "musical versus personal life conflicts" were also high, especially at specific schools. Ninety-six per cent of the students sought help with their music-related stresses. However, these sources of support were informal and not professional. Friends were most often the support net- work. Formal counselling was seen as a last resort. However, a majority indicated that they would seek the counsel of "specialised" counsellors with knowledge of the music profession and the ability to relate to the unique problems of music students. The question remains as to whether faculty and administrators of music education programmes will recognise and alter undue stressors created for students by the programmes themselves, especi- ally those related to conflicts between the programme and outside work and personal concerns.