Skip to main content

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Performance Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1426235
This article is part of the Research Topic International Symposium on Performance Science 2023 View all 14 articles

Exploring Motivational Patterns in High-Performing Pianists: Evidence from Cliburn Competitors’ Biographies

Provisionally accepted
Xiao Chen Xiao Chen *
  • University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada

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

    This research examines the motivational patterns of high-performing classical pianists, characterized by a combination of implicit motives (i.e., non-conscious preferences for specific incentives). Utilizing the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software, I analyzed textual data from biographies of 107 pianists (i.e., Juniors aged 13 to 17: n = 38; Professionals aged 18 to 30: n = 30; Amateurs aged 35 and older: n = 39) participating in the prestigious 2022-2023 Van Cliburn Competitions. My results showed distinct profiles of implicit motives among pianists compared to non-pianists, with significantly higher need for achievement and need for power. While professional pianists exhibited the lowest level of need for power, junior pianists demonstrated the highest level of need for affiliation. Gender and age predicted part of pianists’ implicit motives. Male pianists demonstrated higher need for achievement than females. Finally, age negatively predicted need for affiliation. These findings highlight the motivational patterns within the classical piano community, offering theoretical implications for understanding implicit motives and practical applications for pianist education. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

    Keywords: implicit motives, Motivational pattern, the Cliburn, Biographies, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC)

    Received: 01 May 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen. 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: Xiao Chen, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, 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.