Psychometric Properties of Music Performance Anxiety Inventory

Abstract

Music performance anxiety (MPA) has been defined as the experience of marked and persistent anxious apprehension related to musical performance, which is manifested through combinations of affective, cognitive, somatic and behavioral symptoms. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Diana Kenny’s Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (2006) in an Iranian sample for the second time. The first time, the inventory was conducted in Shiraz and Mashhad. The relevant factor analysis indicated that the inventory had two items which could explain 35.14% of the variance. Although the research findings support the reliability of the said inventory on the Iranian sample, the variance explained was far from the intended rate. On the other hand, the inventory had generally investigated evocations of anxious propositions (e.g., uncontrollability, unpredictability, negative affect and musical symptoms) and attentional shift (task or self-evaluative focus and fear of negative evaluation). This study, however, did not fully examine the dimensions. Thus, the present study, which is a pilot one, examines the psychometric properties and uses the obtained dimensions from the exploratory analysis in the measurement model and main research context.