Psychological Factors of Choking Under Pressurein Musical Performance
Reiko Ishimaru¹ Shinichi Furuya² Noriko Nagata¹
1.Kwansei Gakuin University 2.Sony Computer Science Laboratories nagata@kwansei.ac.jp

Introduction
Background• Psychological pressure often causes “choking under pressure”⇒Deterioration of performance:(e.g. memory slip & motor errors)• Previous studies have focused mostly on sports, such as …
Factors of “choking under pressure” and their relationships [1]Purpose• Our focus is on musical performance
I. During Piano Performance• Identify factors related to choking under pressure• Clarify factors related to performance degradation

II.Personality characteristics• Identify traits related to choking under pressure

MethodData acquisition

Data analysis• An online questionnaire survey

I. During Piano Performance (64 items)• Questionnaire items
I. Experience of choking under pressureduring piano performance (64 items)[1][2]II. Personality characteristics (29 items)[1][3]• Five Likert-type choices• Respondents• 297 pianists (245 female)• Exploratory factor analysis• Covariance structure analysis

II.Personality Characteristics (29 items)• Exploratory factor analysis• t –test: Differences in characteristics based ontendency to choke under pressure

Ⅰ. During Piano Performance
Exploratory factor analysis

Covariance structure analysis• Proposed a hypothetical model of the following 8 factors

・Maximum likelihood method
・Promax rotation
Factors' name.42

F2：Body sensation

Questionnaire items (Top 3 items)
I was conscious of being evaluated by others

F1.58

Body sensation

Erroneous motoractions
Vicious cycles atchoking underpressure

I felt a lump in my throat

F5：Perceptual and cognitive confusion

My performance did not lead to what I wanted to.67

I tried to control myself, but it ended up accelerating choking under pressure

F7

Memory slip

I tried to calm down, but I rushed rather than before
I could not move as I wanted to, which accelerated choking under pressure
rather than before

F3：Erroneous motor
actions

Passivity.67

F8：Passivity.21.63.53.29

F7：Memory slip
All paths are statistically significant• F1, F4 → F7
⇒Supports processing efficiency hypothesis[4]• Lack of attention to self-motion causes performance degradation• F6 → F3⇒Body portions involved in the performance affect motor precision• Degradation of coordination between finger joints related todecline in performance[5]• Different factors underlie different problems under pressure

I felt rushed
I felt uneasy
My fingers and arms(body) became hard
I forgot musical scores
I could not remember what I remembered
My performance was half-hearted

F8.69

.49

Perceptual andI saw scenes differently from usual
cognitive confusion
Out of control ofbody movements.37

F4：Vicious cycles of choking under pressure

I was unable to perform correct movements / performance

I felt the hand like floatingF6.23.25.66

I could not play as I wanted toI could not feel the weight of piano keys

F5.51.49.37

I could not exert strength in my hands or feet

F4.24

F6：Out of control of body movements

My breathing was irregular and I felt short of breath

F3.52

Attention to audience I was conscious of being in front of acquaintances
I was conscious of being in front of many people

F2

F1：Attention to audience

RMSEA=.06
GFI=.78
AGFI=.74
CFI=.90

I played passively (failed to perform expressively)
Reaction to the unexpected thing was delayed during playing

Ⅱ. Personality Characteristics
t -testExploratory factor analysis
Factors' name• Classified respondents into high and low groups based on 8 factors score• Comparison of characteristics based on tendency to choke under pressure

Questionnaire items (Top 3 items)
I am anxious about many kinds of things easily

C1

Neuroticism

C1

I am nervous
Neuroticism

I tend to worry about less important things

C2

C3C4

Interpersonal
positivenessIntroversion

Public selfconsciousness

Lack of confidence

C3C4C5Interpersonal
Public selfLack ofIntroversion
positivenessconsciousness confidence

I cannot make new friends easily

F1Attention to audience-4.83***

0.49

-1.58

-7.25***-6.75***

I positively intreact with other

F2

Body sensation-6.93***

0.45

-1.04

-5.29***-5.66***

I act actively

F3

Erroneous motor actions-5.47***

0.59

-1.55

-4.79***-7.41***

I have a quiet character

F4 Vicious cycles of choking under pressure-5.54***

-0.46

-1.28

-5.97***-6.78***

I have few words

F5

Perceptual and cognitive confusion-3.87***

1.08-3.39***-4.33***-4.37***I am lively characteristics

F6

Out of control of body movements-7.07***

0.91-2.00*-6.86***-8.19***

I worry about rumors concerning myself

F7

Memory slip

-3.01**

0.21

-0.48

-3.88***-2.73**

I act thinking about how other people will evaluate me

F8Passivity-4.03***

0.09

-1.25

I am worry about being in front of people
I don't have enough confidence

C5C2-4.61***-4.76****p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001• C1, C4 and C5 → Related to choking under pressure• C2, C3 → Not related to choking under pressure• Identify a set of traits associated with choking under pressure

I actively insist on my opinion
I have a positive personalityConclusion
I.

During piano performance• 8 factors underlie choking under pressure• Our model supports processing efficiency hypothesis• Out of control of the body affects performance accuracy• Our model may aid in preventing performance degradation
by stage frightII.

Personality characteristics• C1, C4 and C5 are related to choking under pressure,
but C2 and C3 is not

Reference[1] T. Murayama and H. Sekiya. Factors related to choking under pressure in sports and the relationships among them. 2015.
[2] Y. Hirayama. Factor structure on the feature of stage fright experienced by music performers. 2016. (in Japanese)[3] N. Kimura,et.al. The relationship between personality and causal attribution of choking in sport. 2008. (in Japanese)[4] J.D. Wine. Test anxiety and direction of attention. 1971. Psychol. Bull.
[5] S. Kotani and S. Furuya. State anxiety disorganizes finger movements during musical performance. 2018. J Neurophysiol.