Articles
Causal attribution and self-fulfilling prophecies between musician and instrument
Abstract
This research develops a sociocultural approach to musicians’ causal attributions (e.g. Heider 1958; Weiner 1974) in learning, teaching, practising and performing on a musical instrument, in articulation with their psychological and social-psychological aspects. Furthermore, it investigates how attributional beliefs themselves may construct reality by creating self-fulfilling prophecies (Merton 1968) that can either constrain or foster musical development. Viola playing, teaching and learning have been selected as a qualitative case study. The project combines research and practice through observation, analysis and action, while carrying out participatory workshops that aim to stimulate knowledge production and exchange among researchers, performers, teachers, and students. It wishes to contribute to the empowerment of participants both by revealing tacit constraints and deploying positive 'devices' for practical application that may boost instrumental performance, learning and teaching.
Coordination
Research Team
Pedro Santos Boia | David Wyn Lloyd | Jorge Alves | Mikhail Zemtsov
Participating institutions
Universidade de Aveiro; ESMAE - Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo, Politécnico do Porto; LABEAMUS – Laboratório de Ensino e Aprendizagem Musical, INET-md; Zemtsov Viola Masterclass & Zemtsov Foundation; Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag – Royal Conservatoire The Hague (The Netherlands)
Period
Since May 2017 until now
Keywords
Causal attribution; instrumental teaching and learning; musical performance; viola playing
