Colocación y seguimiento de la orden de compra para productos Terceros

Inspired by the positive psychology movement (Seligman, 2002), researchers in the psychology of music seem to be increasingly widening the focus through which they explore positive performance experiences, looking not only at the role that full

engagement plays in such experiences, but at the role of meaning as well (i.e. Ascenso et al., 2017; Lamont, 2012). Positive performance experiences appear to be meaningful.

For example, one study investigated performers’ descriptions about the strongest experience they had had while making music, and showed that meaning was implicit in all their reports. The study concluded that ‘strong experiences of music performance are dominated by the eudaimonic route to happiness, with the hedonic route playing an important role’ (Lamont, 2012: 589).

Meaning, or meaningfulness (terms used interchangeably by most researchers (Rosso, Dekas & Wrzesniewski, 2010), but differentiated by others) – i.e. ‘meaning’ referring to the type of significance, and ‘meaningfulness’ to the amount of significance that

something holds for an individual (Pratt & Ashforth, 2003) – is viewed as contributing to psychological well-being (de Muijnck, 2013; Seligman, 2011; Steger, Oishi, & Kashdan, 2009). Some theorists state that finding meaning in one’s life is an inherent human need (see Maslow, 1943, 1971; Rogers, 1959, 1961), and others even argue that the main concern of humans is to see meaning in their lives (Frankl, 1959). On the other hand, a lack of meaning can lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and physical decline (Reker et al., 1987).

But not all meanings lead individuals to experience the same level of joy or satisfaction (Emmons, 2003). For instance, the relation between meaning and satisfaction has been extensively investigated in the work field, and findings show that individuals doing the same work differ in the meaning they attribute to it, and that these meanings predict their job satisfaction. Some individuals view their work as a job (focusing primarily on financial gain); some view it as a career (focusing on self-esteem, power, prestige or social status) and others view it as a ‘calling’ (Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin & Schwartz, 1997). A ‘calling’ orientation to work embraces three main components: an external summons or a ‘caller’ (i.e. a higher power, the needs of society, a family legacy, or any other force external to the individual); meaning/purpose (a person's approach to work aligns with her or his broader sense of purpose in life); and prosocial motivation (to help others or advance the greater good) (Duffy & Dik, 2013).

Research shows that these three different ways of making sense of work significantly predict job satisfaction and career commitment (Duffy, Dik & Steger, 2011; Duffy & Dik, 2013), and that individuals who see their work as a ‘calling’ – viewing it as meaningful, and as contributing to make the world a better place (Rosso et al., 2010) –

report the highest levels of life and work satisfaction (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997). Individuals with a calling orientation seem to interpret their own actions and experiences in terms of an ‘existentially meaningful life story’ (Crescioni &

Baumeister, 2013: 3). As Maslow suggests, these individuals might have moved from self-actualisation (being mainly self-oriented) to a higher way of functioning,

characterised by being ‘involved in a cause outside of their skin: in something outside of themselves, some calling or vocation’ (1971: 42). The high levels of satisfaction of these individuals seem to result from the meaningfulness – what Chalofsky & Krishna call ‘a deeper level of intrinsic motivation’ (2009: 191) – and self-transcendent nature of their view of work.

In line with these findings, best performance experiences appear to be linked to viewing performance as a meaningful, transcendent activity. For instance, a study investigating music students’ autobiographic narratives about their music-making identified two characteristic qualities of best performance experiences:

The first quality is that the performer is functioning at his or her very best – at the height of his or her abilities. Second, these experiences are marked by the performer’s sense of being a part of something larger than oneself in some way – perhaps by being a part of a long- standing musical or cultural tradition, by being a part of a particular social group, or by being a part of larger forces of nature or of the universe (Bernard, 2009: 4).

In this study, about 70 per cent of music students described their best experiences as ‘particular occasions when making music took them to another place, when music making experiences were deeply meaningful and profoundly moving, when what they experienced was beyond the ordinary’ (Bernard, 2009: 3). It appears that these best performances experiences were self-transcendent.

Another piece of research about strong performance experiences shows that performers who report the most positive emotions (which include a ‘sense of euphoria’) describe their performance in terms of meaningful, self-transcendent narratives. These

performers emphasised the synergy achieved between themselves, other performers and the audience, the quality of the sound and the beauty of the music. In contrast to the self-transcendent focus of these accounts, performers who report the most negative

emotions consider their music making as a very personal and almost introverted activity (Lamont, 2012). Another piece of research found that making meaning of performance in terms of transcendence and contribution contributed to musicians’ well-being (see Ascenso et al., 2016).

Consistent with these findings, a previous study, which explored the performance experience of three professional musicians who loved to perform (Guevara, 2007), found that these three performers cared deeply for their audience and performed for the audience (in contrast to performers who play in front of the audience). In addition, these performers were convinced that their performances contributed to other people’s lives, and viewed themselves as channels between the ‘source’ of the music – something that lay beyond their conscious selves – and their audience. The findings of the study suggested that these performers had a ‘calling’ orientation towards performance, and that their meaningful, purposeful, self-transcendent narratives about performance were at the genesis of their performance-related joy.

To conclude, some research suggests that making meaning of work and of performance in terms of self-transcendence promotes the most rewarding experiences. The link between self-transcendence and joy in performance deserves to be further investigated. Moreover, if joy is related to self-transcendence, what may the impact of a lack of self- transcendence on the performers’ performance experience be? The relationship between a performer’s approach to performance (i.e. self-centred or self-transcendence) and the quality of his or her performance experience (i.e. highly enjoyable, moderately

enjoyable or stressful) has not been investigated yet. This relationship may exist, and it may be the key to understanding and promoting highly-enjoyable performances, and perhaps to understanding and reducing anxiety too. This study aims to investigate these topics.

Prior to entering into the heart of the Exploratory Study, in the following chapter I consider the theoretical foundation on which it is based.