James Long and Marcus Youssef in Winners and Losers, 2015. Photo by Simon Hayter.

A new special issue provides the first platform in a peer-reviewed psychology journal for contemporary empirical research in and on theater practices.

The potential of theater to initiate perceptual, cognitive and social shifts has long been recognized. However, it is only recently that researchers started to measure and evaluate changes scientifically while also investigating the underlying neuronal and cognitive processes. A newly launched Frontiers Research Topic, Performance in Theatre and Everyday Life, will bring together such empirical research on the neuroscience and psychology of theater from a broad range of disciplines.

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“Theatre contains a complexity that forges the way we do empirical research and deepens our understanding of social interaction. In addition, as social online tools change the engagement with our personal representation in everyday life, the field is about to undergo rapid transformation,” explain the editors of the article collection, Corinne Jola from Abertay University, UK, and Pil Hansen from the School of Creative and Performing Arts at Canada’s University of Calgary.

By bringing together publications across the multidisciplinary field of theatrical and performative activities, Performance in Theatre and Everyday Life will build a basis for future research that will further advance our understanding of the human brain, body, behavior and environment. Similar to the effects of the surge in research on dance, empirical studies in theater could also push for methodological advancements through the need of ecological validity. 

Questions span a wide spectrum, such as: What characterizes the emotional fascination of watching a puppetry show? What is the impact of role-playing in the development of empathy? Which cognitive processes does an actor engage in? Which perceptual factors entice theater audiences’ into a different world?

Frontiers Research Topics are highly visible, peer-reviewed special issues. Led by the world’s leading researchers, these multidisciplinary article collections stimulate and harness collaborative knowledge and accelerate science.

Performance in Theatre and Everyday Life has already gained much attention, as researchers are ready to engage in challenging studies of complex, multi-layered, practice-based activities in theater and everyday performance.

Performance in Theatre and Everyday Life is open for submissions! Abstracts and manuscripts can be submitted via the Performance Science section of Frontiers in Psychology as well as via Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

► Submit your abstract to Frontiers in Psychology► Submit your abstract to Frontiers in Human Neuroscience► Submit your manuscript to Frontiers in Psychology► Submit your manuscript to Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

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