It’s Better Together: The Psychological Benefits of Singing in a Choir

Journal

Psychology of Music

Year

2016

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that singing in a choir might be beneficial for an individual’s psychological well-being. However, it is unclear whether this effect is unique to choral singing, and little is known about the factors that could be responsible for it. To address this, the present study compared choral singing to two other relevant leisure activities, solo singing and playing a team sport, using measures of self-reported well-being, entitativity, need fulfilment and motivation. Questionnaire data from 375 participants indicated that choral singers and team sport players reported significantly higher psychological well-being than solo singers. Choral singers also reported that they considered their choirs to be a more coherent or ‘meaningful’ social group than team sport players considered their teams. Together these findings might be interpreted to suggest that membership of a group may be a more important influence on the psychological well-being experienced by choral singers than singing. These findings may have practical implications for the use of choral singing as an intervention for improving psychological well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Music and Health Institute Terms

Engagement Level; Psychological Outcomes; Questionnaires; Recreative Music Methods; Self-Report Measures; Singing a Song; Wellness and Well-Being

Indexed Terms

choirs; entitativity; self-determination theory; singing; well-being; Motivation; Well Being; Sports

Study Type

Descriptive Analysis; Quantitative Methods

Document Type

Article

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