Does Reality Television-Style Singing Influence Singing Self-Concept?

Area of Science:

• Psychology of Music
• Social Psychology
• Music Education

Background:

• Singing self-concept is a key predictor of musical engagement and participation.
• Upward social comparison can influence self-perception, particularly in skill-based domains.
• Contemporary commercial music singing, as popularized by reality television, presents a specific vocal style.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of exposure to reality television singing on singing self-concept.
• To compare the impact of different singing styles (amateur, professional plain, reality TV) on self-perception.
• To explore the role of upward social comparison in this phenomenon.

Main Methods:

• A between-subjects online experiment with 212 participants.
• Participants were randomly assigned to listen to one of four versions of a song: control, amateur singing, professional plain singing, or reality television singing.
• Post-exposure, participants rated the performance and completed measures of singing self-concept, including perceived ability and aspirations.

Main Results:

• Amateur singing was judged as the lowest quality performance.
• No significant difference was found in perceived singing ability across conditions.
• Exposure to reality television singing significantly affected singing aspirations and the perceived ability to sing along, suggesting a negative impact on singing self-concept.

Conclusions:

• Reality television singing style may negatively influence singing self-concept via upward social comparison.
• Singing self-concept, including aspirations and perceived ability, is sensitive to cultural influences in music.
• Music educators and pedagogues should be aware of these influences to promote musical participation.