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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Performance Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1465192
This article is part of the Research Topic Women in Performance Science View all 3 articles

Exploring the Well-Being of Professional Female Musicians: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Provisionally accepted
Laurence Perrier Laurence Perrier Laurence Latreille-Gagné Laurence Latreille-Gagné Florence Khoriarty Florence Khoriarty Maude Fortin Maude Fortin Arielle Bonneville-Roussy Arielle Bonneville-Roussy *
  • Group of Research on Adulthood, the lifeCourse and Expertise, Psychology Department, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigated the well-being of 16 professional female musicians through the lens of Self-Determination Theory, focusing on the satisfaction of their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as well as the unique challenges they encounter in their careers. Semistructured interviews were undertaken and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three broad themes and ten sub-themes emerged from the interviews. The findings demonstrate that the well-being of female musicians is closely tied to the satisfaction of their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Conversely, when these needs are frustrated, their well-being is negatively impacted. Other themes that emerged from the interviews are intrinsic motivation and the gender-specific challenges within the music industry. The study highlights the need for supportive environments to enhance the well-being of female musicians (and performers as a whole), addressing both their psychological needs and the specific gender-related challenges they face.

    Keywords: Professional musicians1, women2, well-being3, self-determination theory4, Qualitative Interviews5

    Received: 15 Jul 2024; Accepted: 05 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Perrier, Latreille-Gagné, Khoriarty, Fortin and Bonneville-Roussy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Arielle Bonneville-Roussy, Group of Research on Adulthood, the lifeCourse and Expertise, Psychology Department, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.