Musical Motivation: Investigating Musical Contingent Self-Worth and Its Interactions with Music Training and Perceived Musical Ability

Author

Douglas Allan Kowalewski, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3865-120X

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Language

English

Embargo Period

4-28-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Social/Personality Psychology

First Advisor

Ronald Friedman

Committee Members

Anna Reiman, Gregory Cox

Keywords

music training, motivation, performance, self-worth, perceived musical ability

Subject Categories

Cognitive Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Abstract

This program of research centers on a novel measure of how much value one places on having and displaying their musical ability – musical contingent self-worth – and how that construct interacts with existing measures of music training and perceived musical ability to predict performance on both musical and general cognitive tasks. Two studies (Experiments 1 and 2) provide evidence for the validity and reliability of an MCSW scale and additionally show that it uniquely predicts both reactions to, and performance on, a musical skills task (Experiment 1). These initial studies also show that MCSW interacts with music training to predict performance on an auditory working memory task (indicating a stronger positive relationship between music training and auditory working memory among individuals with higher MCSW; Experiment 2). Following an expectancy-value theoretical framework of motivation, a third study (Experiment 3) investigated: 1) whether perceived musical ability and MCSW may interact to predict performance on the same auditory working memory task even while controlling for music training; and, 2) whether the positive effects of MCSW are truly limited only to tasks that are auditory and/or musical in nature. Implications of this research program are then discussed, with a focus on how MCSW may help elucidate other constructs both within, and beyond, music cognition.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

Recommended Citation

Kowalewski, Douglas Allan, "Musical Motivation: Investigating Musical Contingent Self-Worth and Its Interactions with Music Training and Perceived Musical Ability" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 196.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/196