Self-esteem and emotional reactivity of actors and magicians: a comparative study

• Authors: Wojciech Napora , Vebjørn Ekroll

Abstracts

EN

Self-esteem and emotional reactivity may be important personality determinants of human functioning in situations of social exposure. In this study, we compared the levels of these personality variables in a group of professional theater actors and a group of professional illusionists with a control group of participants who were neither actors nor illusionists and had no artistic education. We also examined the correlations between emotional reactivity and self-esteem in the three groups. For emotional reactivity, we found (1) very strong evidence that the level is less for magicians than for controls, (2) substantial evidence that the level is less for magicians than for actors, (3) anecdotal evidence that the level is less for actors than for controls, and (4) decisive evidence that the average score is less for males than for females. For self-esteem, we found (1) anecdotal evidence that the level is higher for magicians than for controls, (2) substantial evidence that there is no difference between actors and magicians, (3) anecdotal evidence against a difference between actors and controls, and (4) anecdotal evidence against a difference between males and females. Based on the entire sample we found a moderate correlation between self-esteem and emotional reactivity (r = -.30, p < 0.001). Our results are compatible with the notion that emotional reactivity – as part of the temperament concept – is a factor influencing the choice of an artistic profession.

Keywords

EN

theater actors; magicians; self-esteem; emotional reactivity

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 229-244

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Wojciech Napora

• Jan Dlugosz University in Częstochowa, Poland

author

Vebjørn Ekroll

• University of Bergen, Norway

Identifiers

DOI

10.24425/ppb.2023.148055

Biblioteka Nauki

55993282