The relationship between social psychological climate and psychological well-being in late adolescent dancers

Studies of dancers have indicated they experience a variety of psychological issues including low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, and poor mood. Researchers have suggested that perceptions of the dance climate may impact psychological well-being and have concluded that promoting task-involving climates is beneficial to dancers' well-being. Other researchers have suggested that caring climates are integral to optimizing well-being. However, perceptions of a caring climate have not been examined in dance studios and little is known about the relationship between perceptions of a broader climate and aspects of psychological well-being. Additionally, no studies have examined whether types of dance studios (competitive or technical) influence dancers' experiences of the climate or their well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate (task-involving, ego-involving, and caring) and aspects of psychological well-being (positive and negative affect, body-esteem, and teacher and peer friendship quality) in both technical and competitive adolescent dancers. Eighty-three female dancers (M age = 16.28 +/- .93) completed questionnaires regarding perceptions of their studio's dance climate and self-reported well-being. Competition dancers perceived their dance climate to be more task-involving, more caring, and less ego-involving and reported higher levels of psychological well-being (positive affect, body-esteem, and friendship) than technical dancers. Dancers' overall perceptions of task-involving and caring climates were related to higher positive affect, greater body-esteem, and better quality relationships with teachers and peers (r range: .33 - .68). A second order factor analysis of the subscale scores revealed two factors. The first factor, exemplifying a thriving climate, accounted for 47.93% of the variance and involved aspects of a positive climate and positive well-being. The second factor, characterizing a threatening climate, accounted for an additional 14.70% of the variance and included an ego-involving climate and negative loadings on well-being. Results demonstrate perceptions of a positive social psychological climate are vital to promoting psychological well-being in adolescent dancers. These findings suggest dance teachers should be considerate of the impact the climate has for promoting well-being in their dance students. Educating dance teachers to create such a climate should be included in any dance pedagogy program.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CLIMATE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN LATE ADOLESCENT DANCERS by Andrea Stark A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Exercise and Sport Science The University of Utah August 2012 Copyright © Andrea Stark 2012 All Rights Reserved Th e Uni v e r s i t y o f Ut a h Gr a dua t e S cho o l STATEMENT OF THESIS APPROVAL The thesis of Andrea Stark has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Maria Newton , Chair 5/30/2012 Date Approved Nicole Miller , Member 6/4/2012 Date Approved Leslie Podlog , Member 5/30/2012 Date Approved and by Barry Shultz , Chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and by Charles A. Wight, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT Studies of dancers have indicated they experience a variety of psychological issues including low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, and poor mood. Researchers have suggested that perceptions of the dance climate may impact psychological well-being and have concluded that promoting task-involving climates is beneficial to dancers' well-being. Other researchers have suggested that caring climates are integral to optimizing well-being. However, perceptions of a caring climate have not been examined in dance studios and little is known about the relationship between perceptions of a broader climate and aspects of psychological well-being. Additionally, no studies have examined whether types of dance studios (competitive or technical) influence dancers' experiences of the climate or their well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate (task-involving, ego-involving, and caring) and aspects of psychological well-being (positive and negative affect, body-esteem, and teacher and peer friendship quality) in both technical and competitive adolescent dancers. Eighty-three female dancers (M age = 16.28 +/- .93) completed questionnaires regarding perceptions of their studio's dance climate and self-reported well-being. Competition dancers perceived their dance climate to be more task-involving, more caring, and less ego-involving and reported higher levels of psychological well-being (positive affect, body-esteem, and friendship) than technical dancers. Dancers' overall perceptions of task-involving and caring climates were related to higher positive affect, greater body-esteem, and better quality relationships with teachers and peers (r range: .33 - .68). A second order factor analysis of the subscale scores revealed two factors. The first factor, exemplifying a thriving climate, accounted for 47.93% of the variance and involved aspects of a positive climate and positive well-being. The second factor, characterizing a threatening climate, accounted for an additional 14.70% of the variance and included an ego-involving climate and negative loadings on well-being. Results demonstrate perceptions of a positive social psychological climate are vital to promoting psychological well-being in adolescent dancers. These findings suggest dance teachers should be considerate of the impact the climate has for promoting well-being in their dance students. Educating dance teachers to create such a climate should be included in any dance pedagogy program. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………...............iii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………….vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………..viii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...……………….1 Dance……………………………………………………………………...3 Social Psychological Climate……………………………………………..5 Psychological Well-Being………………………………………………...9 Significance………………………………………………………………14 Aims and Hypotheses……………………………………………………16 Delimitations……………………………………………………………..17 Limitations……………………………………………………………….18 Assumptions……………………………………………………………...18 Definition of Terms………………………………………………………19 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE……………...……………………...………….......22 Social Psychological Climate……………………………………………22 Psychological Well-Being……………………………………………….31 Summary…………………………………………………………………37 3 METHODS……………………………………………………...………………..39 Participants……………………………………………………………….39 Measures…………………………………………………………………41 Procedures………………………………………………………………..46 Design and Analysis……………………………………………………..47 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………..……………..48 Results……………………………………………………………………48 Discussion………………………………………………………………..59 5 SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH……………………..69 Summary…………………………………………………………………69 Findings………………………………………………………………….70 Conclusions………………………………………………………………71 Practical Implications…………………………………………………….72 Recommendations for Future Research………………………………….73 Appendices A DANCER DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION……………………………76 B PMCSQ-2…………………………………………………………………...78 C CARING CLIMATE SCALE………………………………………………82 D POSTITIVE AND NEGATIVE AFFECT SCHEDULE…………………...84 E BODY-ESTEEM SCALE FOR ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS……….86 F INVENTORY OF PARENT AND PEER ATTACHMENT-SHORT……...89 G QUANTITY OF FRIENDSHIPS…………………………………………..93 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..95 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 4.1 Summary of Descriptive Statistics for Scale Scores……………………………..50 4.2 Average Perceptions of the Social Psychological Climate by Group……………51 4.3 Summary of Canonical Discriminant Function of Social Psychological Climate.52 4.4 Average Reported Psychological Well-Being by Group………………………...54 4.5 Summary of Canonical Discriminant Function of Psychological Well-Being…..55 4.6 Pearson Product Moment Correlations Among Variables……………………….56 4.7 Factor Analysis of All Variables (varimax rotation)…………………………….59 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the colleagues, friends, and family who have helped and encouraged me throughout this thesis process as well as throughout my entire education. Thank you to my committee chair, Dr. Maria Newton, whose consistently positive and productive feedback made me not only a better writer, but a better thinker. Your mentorship and friendship have been invaluable. Thank you to Dr. Nicole Miller who was always there to remind me that the research we do is meant to be useful for real people in real-life situations. Thank you to Dr. Les Podlog who challenged me to delve a little bit deeper and write with a lot more detail. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Nick Galli who was instrumental during the early stages of forming my research question and designing my study. A special recognition goes to my friends and colleagues in U-SPRT who have been critical when necessary and encouraging the rest of the time. Your support is appreciated. I would like to thank my parents, whose sacrifices when I was young made it possible to develop the passion I have for dance. They spent time and money to take me to dance lessons with a teacher who was nearly half an hour away. But they understood the value of a good teacher, even if it meant sacrifice on their part. Furthermore, they instilled in me the importance of a good education. They valued higher education far more than you would expect from two people who never went to college. I never doubted that education was important to them and would have never survived at the graduate level without their support and help. I also want to thank Christy McQuaid, the teacher who taught me that dance is about more than talent and ability. She taught me that the most important thing a dancer can do is try her hardest and then she had enough faith in me to allow me teach at her dance studio where I gained the valuable practical experience that will continue to guide my career. I will forever strive to give back to the field of dance as much as I have gained from it. Finally, I want to thank the hundreds of teenage dancers I have taught over the years. It is through them that I learned how to become a better teacher. Although they often caused frustration and heartache, they even more often brought me joy and laughter. I have been privileged to teach them and learn from them and it is because of them that I developed my research question. This research is for them and for all the dancers who will follow them. ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In 1990, the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) was founded by a group of dance educators, dance scientists, and dancers with the mission statement: "IADMS enhances the health, well-being, training, and performance of dancers by cultivating educational, medical, and scientific excellence" (IADMS, 2012, para. 3). This mission statement articulates a clear concern among members of the dance community for the well-being of dancers. For researchers this concern for the well-being of dancers has led to questioning the potential damage or limiting of psychological well-being that may occur in some dance settings. The stereotypical teaching style in dance is characterized as authoritarian or commanding in nature and has been utilized with generations of dancers (Mainwaring & Krasnow, 2010). Such teaching styles create a certain "ambiance" in dance studios and academies (van Staden, Myburgh, & Poggenpoel, 2009). Dr. Linda Hamilton, a former dancer now working as a psychological consultant with several dance companies, compared the training environment for dancers to the training environment of the military (Hamilton, 1997). Hamilton described the similarities between military leaders and dance teachers, citing that both constantly point out mistakes, encourage students to keep working in the face of discomfort and pain, give unjust criticism, and are viewed by their 2 students as "an omnipotent authority figure who is [to be] both admired and feared" (p. 68). Concerned that the above described training style continues to prevail as the dominant training method for dance, recent practitioners in dance pedagogy have questioned the influence of the training environment on dancers, and have emphasized the need for dance teachers to create a more positive environment with the aim of fostering the psychological well-being of their students (Hamilton, 1997; Mainwaring & Krasnow, 2010) by taking an increasingly popular "holistic" approach to training and performing as recommended by IADMS. One aspect of the training environment is the social psychological climate. The social psychological climate refers to social and psychological factors within a setting that help to shape one's perceptions of what is valued. In dance and sport settings the social psychological climate is created by the members of that climate including teachers and coaches, parents, and participants (Gano- Overway, et al., 2009; Lee, 2001; Smith, Smoll, & Cumming, 2007). Three trends are evident in the social psychological climate research. First, although the social psychological climate is multidimensional, research has been narrow, focusing mainly on a single dimension, namely the motivational climate (Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000; Walling, Duda, & Chi, 1993). Second, most of this research has examined the motivational climate in sport settings (Duda, 2001; Fry & Newton, 2003; Gano-Overway, Guivernau, Magyar, Waldron, & Ewing, 2005; Olympiou, Jowett, & Duda, 2008; Seifriz, Duda, & Chi, 1992; Treasure & Roberts, 1995) whereas research in other performance settings such as dance remains lacking. Only a few studies, most outside of the United 3 States with professional or full-time dancers, have examined the motivational climate in dance settings (Carr & Wyon, 2003; Nordin-Bates, Quested, Walker, & Redding, 2012; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). Finally, of the motivational climate research in dance, inquiries into psychological well-being have focused on negative psychological characteristics such as neurotic perfectionism, anxiety, and burnout (Carr & Wyon, 2003; Nordin-Bates, et al., 2012; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). Little is known, however, about the relationship between the more inclusive social psychological climate and positive aspects of psychological well-being in pre-professional adolescent dancers in the United States. Furthermore, given the potentially negative well-being consequences of dance participation (e.g., anxiety, burnout), it is evident that understanding how to influence the training environment in a positive way may provide dance teachers with the means to discourage ill-being and promote overall health, happiness, and enjoyment in their dancers. Therefore, this study sought to examine the relationship between several aspects of the social psychological climate and psychological well-being within the adolescent dance population. Dance Most pre-professional dance training occurs in private sector dance schools (i.e., studios). Dancers in such studios are often divided into classes by age and/or skill level. The primary goals in studios typically fall into two categories. The first is assisting students to become more technically proficient in one or more styles of dance, preparing them for on-stage performance opportunities, for auditions, or for future dance careers at universities and professional companies. The second also involves technical proficiency but the focus is on creating a strong dance team that can compete with other teams and 4 win. Individual technique becomes secondary to the needs of the group, because competition routines are often judged by examining characteristics such as unison in timing (musicality) and lines (a dance term for artistic positioning of the limbs in relation to the core) in addition to technique. For example, in one nationwide dance competition tour, the New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA, 2012), routines were scored by weighting judges' scores according to the following: 50% technical ability, 20% performance and interpretation, 20% choreography and musicality, and 10% overall appearance. Although individuality is encouraged in solos, it is highly discouraged in group routines. These dancers are typically exposed to competition early in their dance careers and continue to compete until they reach early adulthood, when they must decide whether to pursue dance at the university or professional level. For the purpose of this study, dance studios that focus on technical proficiency are referred to as technical schools and those that emphasize team competition are referred to as competition schools. Previous research in dance has neglected to examine differences between technical and competitive groups of dancers. However, it is evident by an extensive body of literature that researchers have been interested in psychological issues relating to dancers. Research in various dance populations provides evidence that dancers tend to have high levels of trait anxiety and maladaptive perfectionism (Ackard, Henderson, & Wonderlich, 2004; Carr & Wyon, 2003; de Bruin, Bakker, & Oudejans, 2009; van Staden, et al., 2009). In the literature, anxiety and perfectionism have been associated with a number of characteristics associated with ill-being including heightened anger, lower body satisfaction, low self-esteem, poor mood, excessive self-criticism, higher 5 levels of stress, and a greater risk for physical injury (Ackard, et al., 2004; Anshel, 2004; Anshel & Mansouri, 2005; de Bruin, et al., 2009; Hewitt, Flett, & Ediger, 1995; Noh, Morris, & Andersen, 2007; van Staden, et al., 2009). In addition, Frost and Henderson (1991) found that the mental state of perfectionists deteriorates in the presence of an audience because they have a tendency to worry, a concern for dancers who constantly appear in front of audiences whether it be teachers, peers, or spectators. All of these qualities tend to support a general perception that dancers routinely fall short of a certain level of well-being and are more susceptible to future psychological problems such as depression, negative self-identity, eating disorders, and a poor ability for social connection (Ackard, et al., 2004; van Staden, et al., 2009). Social Psychological Climate The social psychological climate consists of the social and psychological features within a given setting that influence perceptions of what is emphasized and valued. Although there may be many unexplored dimensions that make up the social psychological climate, research has generally focused on two dimensions, one stemming from motivational aspects of the environment and the other stemming from social and relational aspects. These dimensions have been theoretically defined as the motivational climate and caring climate, respectively (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). The motivational climate, from an Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) perspective, refers to the perceived evaluative structure and other aspects within a given context that influences goal-directed behavior (Ames, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). Two primary situational goal structures within AGT are characterized as ego-involving and task-involving climates. Ego-involving climates are ones in which the focus is placed on showing 6 greater competence in comparison to others performing within the same context whereas task-involving climates are ones in which the focus is placed on mastery, effort, and personal progression without comparison to others (Ames, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). In sport, the coach plays an important role in shaping the climate (Allen & Hodge, 2006; Pensgaard & Roberts, 2002; Treasure, 2001). For example, a coach who creates an ego-involving motivational climate emphasizes social comparison, promotes winning at any cost, and gives critical or punitive feedback. Research suggests this is likely to cause high levels of negative affect in young people who fear failure (Smith, et al., 2007). On the other hand, a coach who creates a task-involving motivational climate by emphasizing and rewarding self-improvement, maximum effort, and persistence or by viewing mistakes as a valuable source of feedback is likely to reduce anxiety and promote enjoyment (Ames, 1992; Newton, et al., 2000; Walling, et al., 1993). Although much of the above mentioned research has been conducted in sport contexts, a similar dynamic among dance teachers and students is likely to occur given the physical and psychological similarities between sport and dance (Hays, 2002; Koutedakis, Stavropoulos-Kalinoglou, & Metsios, 2005). For example, dancers, like athletes, must follow strict physical training schedules, maintain a high level of physical fitness, and face the risk of injury (Koutedakis, et al., 2005). In addition, both groups are required to perform and/or compete in front of crowds, demonstrate competence in executing skills, and master psychological skills such as arousal regulation and concentration while trying to maintain motivation and avoid burnout (Hays, 2002). Moreover, comparisons can be made between dance and aesthetic sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, or diving, all of which require subjective judgments and lack 7 objective measures of perfection (Ackard, et al., 2004; de Bruin, et al., 2009). Therefore, parallels exist between the demands on dancers and athletes, which lends credence to the supposition that similarities in the structure of the motivational climate will likewise exist. Consequently, it can be assumed that dance teachers play a role similar to that of coaches in creating the motivational climate. The literature suggests that ego-involving climates, with a consistent emphasis on objective performance, are linked to the development of maladaptive dispositions and response patterns characterized by high cognitive trait anxiety, neurotic perfectionism, low self-esteem, low relatedness to others, and negative affect (Anshel & Mansouri, 2005; Carr & Wyon, 2003; de Bruin, et al., 2009; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010; Smith, et al., 2007; van Staden, et al., 2009). On the other hand, the same literature suggests that task-involving climates, with an emphasis on mastery, are associated with low anxiety, lower perfectionist tendencies, higher self-esteem, greater perceived competence and relatedness to others, positive affect, less perceived peer pressure, and less tendency for dieting or disordered eating. Although there is ample research on the influence of motivational climate within sport settings, there is little research on motivational climates in dance. Of this research, the focus is mainly on understanding the relationship between perceptions of the motivational climate and maladaptive responses of dancers (Carr & Wyon, 2003; de Bruin, et al., 2009; van Staden, et al., 2009). Minimal research has focused on the benefits to dancer psychological well-being that might occur in technical or competition dance schools characterized by particular social psychological climates (Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). 8 The motivational climate, as articulated in achievement goal theory, is competence-based. Participants' primary goal in either task-involving or ego-involving climates is to demonstrate competence (Nicholls, 1984). Allen (2003) argued that in addition to being concerned about demonstrating competence, individuals involved in sport are also motivated by social concerns such as developing social connections. This social and relational dimension has been previously identified in educational settings (Noddings, 1995) and has more recently been captured in physical activity settings as the caring climate (Newton, Watson, et al., 2007). Caring climates are described as climates that are perceived as safe and supportive, and in which participants feel valued and respected (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). A caring climate is less focused on competence than the motivational climates and is more focused on the degree to which participants feel cared about and feel connected to those around them. There are limited studies which have examined the impact of a caring climate in sport settings (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010; Gano-Overway, et al., 2009). In a youth sport context, Gano-Overway and colleagues (2009) found that perceived caring contexts help to develop youths' ability to monitor, manage, and control positive affect. Further research within youth sports has shown caring to be related to higher levels of enjoyment and commitment (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010). Lastly, Fry and colleagues (2012) examined the relationship between a perceived caring climate and psychological well-being. This research found that perceptions of a caring climate are positively linked to hope and happiness and negatively linked to sadness and depression, suggesting that a caring climate relates to better psychological well-being. Although initial results suggest a caring climate is related to psychological well-being in youth sport participants, the 9 research remains narrow, having examined only a few markers of psychological well-being. Altogether, the social psychological climate research in dance is limited. Only minimal research has examined the relationship between the motivational climate and psychological well-being of dancers. Of this research, none has examined pre-professional adolescent dancers who train at technical and competition studios. Moreover, no research to date has examined caring climate in dance settings. This study sought to provide evidence for the relationship of the social psychological climate, including both caring climate and motivational climate, to psychological well-being in studio dancers. Psychological Well-Being In most definitions, mental or psychological well-being is included as one of the multiple dimensions of overall well-being. For example, the constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO, 1946) asserts that health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity" (p.2). Additionally, Myers and Diener (1995) stated psychological investigations of well-being complement measures of physical well-being. Finally, a newly emerging focus on positive psychology contends that psychological well-being is comprised not only of an absence of pathology such as depression or sadness, but the presence of positive qualities and strengths (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Historically, two approaches have been taken in conceptualizing psychological well-being: hedonic and eudaimonic (Ryan & Deci, 2001). The hedonic approach focuses on the attainment of happiness and life satisfaction whereas the eudaimonic approach 10 focuses on the realization of one's potential through factors such as self-acceptance, mastery, and positive relatedness. Both of these approaches have value in defining psychological well-being and Ryan and Deci (2001) suggested well-being is a multidimensional construct that should include both the hedonic and eudaimonic conceptions of well-being. Therefore, any investigation of well-being would benefit from examining psychological well-being determinants that represent both approaches. Consequently, this study incorporated measures of happiness, self-acceptance, and positive relatedness. In other words, in order to gain a well-rounded understanding of psychological well-being in dancers, this study examined several predictors including positive and negative affect, body-esteem, and friendships. Positive and Negative Affect Positive and negative affect are two separate factors related to emotionality, or mood. Positive affect reflects the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, active, and alert whereas negative affect is a dimension capturing feelings of subjective distress and unpleasurable engagement (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). High positive affect produces a state of high energy and full concentration whereas low positive affect is characterized by sadness and lethargy. On the other hand, aversive mood states such as anger, disgust, or fear characterize high negative affect whereas low negative affect produces a state of calmness and serenity (Watson, et al., 1988). Positive affect descriptors include words such as happy, pleased, joyful, and fun whereas negative affect descriptors include words such as unhappy, angry, frustrated, anxious, and depressed (Adie, Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2008). In terms of well-being, people who report more positive affect and less negative affect report being more satisfied with life, are less self- 11 focused, hostile, abusive, and vulnerable to disease, and are more loving, trusting, energetic, decisive, creative, helpful, and sociable (Myers & Diener, 1995). Task-involving dance climates have been positively correlated to positive affect and negatively correlated to negative affect whereas the opposite is true with ego-involving climates (Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). Moreover, additional characteristics related to positive affect, the "hallmark of well-being" (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005, p. 820), include optimism, self-efficacy, likability, sociability, energy, prosocial behavior, immunity, physical well-being, and effective coping (Lyubomirsky, et al., 2005). In a meta-analysis of studies researching positive affect and happiness, Lyubomirsky and colleagues (2005) concluded that happy individuals are more successful than less happy peers in many life domains such as marriage, friendship, income, health, and longevity. Therefore, understanding the relationship between aspects of social psychological climate and affect could be valuable in shaping dance climates that foster positive psychological qualities and promote happiness. Such climates could subsequently produce dancers who are successful in many areas of their lives. Body-esteem The dance literature often addresses concerns for body image, weight, appearance, and evaluation by others, all of which are identified as dimensions of overall body-esteem (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, 2001). Lee (2001) identified body image as a major psychological issue in adolescent dancers. In addition to normal adolescent concerns with changing bodies, dancers feel an increased pressure for thinness. In studies comparing dancers to nondancers, researchers have found that dancers have a significantly greater drive for thinness than nondancers (Ackard, et al., 2004; de Bruin, et 12 al., 2009). In addition, dancers tend to indicate a smaller ideal BMI than nondancers (Ackard, et al., 2004). Also, dancers experience a higher level of anxiety due to worry over the way their bodies will be judged by others (Thompson & Chad, 2002). These findings plus the expectation of high performance in dance produce an ideal social climate for the manifestation of eating disorders in vulnerable adolescents (Garner & Garfinkel, 1980). Low body-esteem and high body dissatisfaction are thought to be precursors to disordered eating patterns among dancers (Anshel, 2004). Moreover, Bettle, Bettle, Neumärker, and Neumärker (2001) found that adolescent ballet dancers view themselves as less desirable, less attractive, less confident, less lovable, and more sensitive than age-matched nondancers. However, de Bruin and colleagues (2009) suggested that task-involving climates, in which the emphasis is not placed on social comparison, may protect against disordered eating. Although little is known about the relationship between climate and body-esteem, it is logical that dancers could feel less anxiety and doubts about their body within a climate where they feel valued and respected regardless of their physical shape or size. Therefore, understanding how the social psychological climate relates to body-esteem may provide solutions for preventing the development of eating disorders and other psychological concerns associated with low body-esteem. Friendships The development of interpersonal relationships is considered to be an important contributor to psychological well-being (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Raja, McGee, & Stanton, 1992). Moreover, individuals are often fundamentally motivated by a desire to form and maintain enduring interpersonal 13 attachments and seek caring relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). According to Armsden and Greenberg (1987), interpersonal relationships, or attachment relationships, are characterized with an enduring affectional bond of substantial intensity, usually between an individual and a parent or parent-like figure or between an individual and a peer or peers. This type of attachment relationship has been correlated with qualitative perceptions of close social relationships among sport participants and other adolescents and is often conceptualized simply as friendship (Carr, 2009; Weiss & Smith, 1999; Wilkinson, 2008). Additionally, Carr (2009) found that more secure attachments are indicative of higher quality friendships. The relationship between peers becomes especially relevant during the adolescent stages of development (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Bigelow & LaGaipa, 1980; Raja, et al., 1992; Wilkinson, 2008) with an expectation of stability beginning to characterize friendships at around 16 years of age (Bigelow & LaGaipa, 1980). Research in adolescent attachment and friendship emphasizes that the quality of friendships is often more important than the quantity of friendships (Weiss & Smith, 1999). Important characteristics of quality friendships include trust, communication, acceptance rather than alienation (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) companionship, emotional support, loyalty, intimacy, and assistance in conflict resolution (Weiss & Smith, 1999). Having things in common with and being in proximity to friends also improves the quality of the relationship (Wilkinson, 2008). Little is known about friendship and attachment specifically within dance settings. Results from other groups of adolescents, however, have shown higher attachment to be related to lower anxiety, lower depression, higher reported psychological strengths (Raja, 14 et al., 1992), higher self-esteem, greater life satisfaction (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), and better self-image (O'Koon, 1997). Moreover, less secure attachment has been related to maladaptive perfectionism (Rice & Mirzadeh, 2000). Although there is no direct evidence that these relationships occur in dancers, the relationships examined in these studies are pertinent to dancers given the psychological concerns in dance. A greater understanding of the relationship between the social psychological climate and friendship may provide needed insights for dance teachers who hope to foster dancers' ability to form quality social connections and therefore encourage psychological well-being in dancers. In summary, adolescent dancers typically train in either technical or competition dance studios. Teachers in these studios are responsible for establishing the social psychological climate. Motivational and relational features within the social psychological climate have been shown to be related to aspects of psychological well-being in sport, but little is known about these relationships within dance. Research in dance has primarily focused on negative psychological issues such as anxiety, neurotic perfectionism, and disordered eating while neglecting markers of psychological well-being such as positive affect, body-esteem, and friendship. This study investigated psychological well-being in adolescent dancers and further investigated the social psychological climate within dance settings. Significance The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate (task-involving, ego-involving, and caring) and aspects of psychological well-being (affect, body-esteem, and friendship) in both technical and 15 competitive late adolescent dancers. Late adolescent dancers (ages 15-18) are an important group to examine when considering that most dancers have been immersed in dance climates for several years by the time they reach this age. To date, no research has examined the potential differences in the social psychological climate of technical studios and competition studios. Considering the overarching goals of each type of studio differ, one would expect to see some differences between them. Although there is evidence that dancers are more likely to experience low body-esteem and poor mood, and, to a lesser extent, evidence that motivational climate plays a role in the psychological well-being of adult, professional dancers, there is no direct evidence for the relationship between motivational climate and body-esteem, especially among adolescent dancers. Moreover, the role that caring climates may play in dance and the relationship between caring dance climates and well-being have not presently been examined. Furthermore, according to Hamilton (1997), the coach-athlete relationship as discussed in sport literature is comparable to the dance teacher-student dyad, in which most dancers see the teacher as an authority figure, an authority figure who is in a position to create an environment safe from public humiliation and harsh criticisms. Much of the recent dance pedagogy literature has called for dance teachers to become more educated in ways to promote a task-involving climate within their classes (de Bruin, et al., 2009; Hamilton, 1997; Mainwaring & Krasnow, 2010; van Staden, et al., 2009). By establishing an ideal social psychological climate, dance educators working with adolescents may provide a nurturing environment conducive to optimal development of mind and body (Mainwaring & Krasnow, 2010). Lee (2001) reminds dance educators of 16 the important role they play in helping adolescents through a psychologically difficult stage of life. Ryan and Deci (2001) argued that how we define well-being influences our "endeavors to change humans for the better" (p. 142). Teaching is considered one of those endeavors. Consequently, understanding what psychological well-being is and how it is influenced would be useful for those in teaching positions, including dance teachers, in helping their efforts to change their students for the better. This study provides additional evidence of the influence that social psychological climate has with adolescent dance populations. Therefore, practical significance lies in being able to show dance teachers the importance of the role they play in establishing a favorable social psychological climate as well as in being able to provide dance teachers with possible teaching strategies to increase the psychological well-being of their dance students. Aims and Hypotheses The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of ego-involving, task-involving, and caring climates and markers of psychological well-being (affect, body-esteem, and friendship) in late adolescent dancers training at technical or competitive dance studios. AIM 1: Explore the differences between two groups of dancers, technical and competition, in perceptions of the social psychological climate. This is the first study to examine the differences between technical and competition studios. As a result, no hypothesis was offered. However, due to the experiences of this researcher within dance settings, the researcher expected technical dancers to report more task-involving and caring climates and less ego-involving climates than competition dancers. 17 AIM 2: Explore the differences between two groups of dancers, technical and competition, in self-reported psychological well-being. This is the first study to examine the differences between technical and competition studios. As a result, no hypothesis was offered. However, due to the experiences of this researcher within dance settings, the researcher expected technical dancers to report greater well-being than competition dancers. AIM 3: Examine the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate and psychological well-being in late adolescent dancers. Hypothesis 1: Dancers who perceived higher task-involving and caring climates and lower ego-involving climates would have higher loadings on positive affect, body-esteem, and quality of friendships and lower loadings on negative affect. Hypothesis 2: Dancers who perceived higher ego-involving climates and lower task-involving and caring climates would have higher loadings on negative affect and lower loadings on positive affect, body-esteem, and quality of friendships. Delimitations The following delimitations were implemented in this study: 1. Participants were late adolescent dancers between 15-18 years of age. 2. Only multiple-style dancers were included in the study. 3. Only dancers who have been at their current dance studio for a year or more were included in the study. 4. Every participant had some classical dance training. 18 Limitations The following were recognized as limitations in this study: 1. The results are only generalizable to adolescent dancers training at studios. 2. Dancers varied in skill level and dance experience. 3. Self-reporting bias may have occurred even though participants were encouraged to provide honest answers. 4. Some participants may have had difficulty understanding all of the items on the questionnaires. 5. Unequal group size and small sample size may have limited the ability to detect differences between technical and competition dancers. 6. Studio directors acted as gatekeepers to data collection, therefore limiting access to potential participants. 7. Variation existed in teaching styles and preferred dance styles. 8. Efforts were made to collect all data prior to participants' classes to avoid any impact on dancers' mood, but this was not always possible. Assumptions The following assumptions were made during this study: 1. There was a distinction between technical and competition dance schools. 2. Dancers were able to distinguish overall studio climate from individual class climate. Also, individual teachers within a studio had similar teaching styles, reflecting an overall studio style. 3. The primary investigator and any research assistants did not influence participants' responses. 19 4. Participants responded honestly and to the best of their ability. 5. Participation in the study was voluntary. Definition of Terms Body-esteem refers to one's evaluation of his/her body (Franzoi & Herzog, 1986). Body-esteem is multidimensional and incorporates concerns for body image, weight, appearance, and evaluation by others (Mendelson, et al., 2001). Caring climates are described as climates that are perceived as safe and supportive, and in which participants feel valued and respected (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). Competition studios are dance studios whose primary focus is on creating strong dance teams that can compete with other teams and win. Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a performance setting. Dance competitions are organized events in which contestants perform dances before a judge or judges for awards and, in some cases, monetary prizes. Dance studios are private sector dance schools in which most pre-professional dance training takes place. Ego-involving climates are ones in which the focus is placed on showing greater competence in comparison to others (Ames, 1992). Friendship refers to an interpersonal relationship, or attachment relationship, characterized by an enduring affectional bond of substantial intensity, usually between an individual and a parent or parent-like figure or between an individual and a peer or peers. 20 Important characteristics of quality friendships include trust, communication, acceptance rather than alienation (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), companionship, emotional support, loyalty, intimacy, and assistance in conflict resolution (Weiss & Smith, 1999). Motivational climate refers to the perceived evaluative structure and other aspects within a given context that influence goal-directed behavior (Ames, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). Two primary situational goal structures are characterized as ego-involving and task-involving climates. Multi-style dancers refer to dancers with a variety of dance training in styles such as ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, contemporary, and tap. Negative affect is a dimension capturing feelings of subjective distress and unpleasurable engagement (Watson, et al., 1988). Perfectionism is a personality trait characterized by striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high standards for performance, and is accompanied by tendencies toward overly critical evaluations of one's behavior (Hewitt, et al., 1995). Positive affect reflects the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, active, and alert (Watson, et al., 1988). Psychological well-being is included as one of the multiple dimensions of overall well-being. Psychological well-being is comprised not only of an absence of pathology such as depression or sadness, but the presence of positive qualities and strengths (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Social psychological climate consists of the social and psychological features within a given setting that influence perceptions of what is emphasized and valued. Research has generally focused on two dimensions, one stemming from motivational 21 aspects of the environment and the other stemming from social and relational aspects. These dimensions have been operationally defined as motivational climate and caring climate, respectively (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). Task-involving climates are ones in which the focus is placed on mastery, effort, and personal progression without comparison to others (Ames, 1992). Technical studios are dance studios whose primary focus is assisting students to become more technically proficient in one or more styles of dance. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE According to Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), there is a link between the environment and the individual (Bandura, 1989). More specifically, SCT embraces the idea of reciprocal determinism, meaning that while an individual may impact a given context, the context also has the potential to influence the individual. In other words, dancers may impact the culture and climate of dance. At the same time, the culture and climate of dance may influence the individual dancers. This chapter focuses on the role the context (or social psychological climate) plays in the psychological experiences of dancers. Research addressing aspects of the social psychological climate and areas related to the psychological well-being of adolescent dancers is examined. Gaps in the current body of research are also discussed. Social Psychological Climate In order to explore the thought processes of an individual within a dynamic social context, this study adopted a broader perspective of the social psychological climate than has traditionally been used. Previous research has been primarily aimed at examining only competence-based perceptions. However, taking a broader perspective accounts for both the predominant line of climate research, motivational climate, and a more recent area of inquiry focused on the social aspects of the climate, the caring climate. This 23 section concentrates on both the existing motivational climate and the caring climate literature, as it specifically relates to dance and well-being. Motivational Climate The motivational climate, from an Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) perspective, refers to the perceived evaluative structure and other aspects within a given context that influences goal-directed behavior (Ames, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). There are two primary situational goal structures within AGT, which are characterized as ego-involving and task-involving climates. Both ego-involving and task-involving climates are competence-based. In an ego-involving climate competence is determined through social comparison and demonstrated by showing greater competence than others performing within the same context. On the other hand, in a task-involving climate competence is self-referenced and focus is placed on mastery, effort, and personal progression without comparison to others (Ames, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). This means that a teacher or coach in an ego-involving climate will emphasize the outcome of performance situations, focus on differences in ability, and give rewards based on ability whereas a teacher or coach in a task-involving climate will emphasize the process, focus on exploring an individual's potential, and give rewards based on effort and improvement (Newton, et al., 2000). Extending Ames and Archer's work in the educational setting (1988), which examined performance and mastery climates within the classroom, Seifriz and colleagues (1992) developed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ) to measure motivational climate within sport settings. Adolescent male basketball players completed the survey and a subsequent exploratory factor analysis reduced the 40-item questionnaire to 21 items. A second factor analysis confirmed a two-factor solution with 24 12 items loading on the performance factor (ego-involving) and 9 items loading on the mastery factor (task-involving). These two factors demonstrate that task-involving and ego-involving perceptions are independent of one another and represent two distinct climates. Newton and colleagues (2000) extended the work further when they developed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2) aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the specific features and values within a context which may influence perceptions of the motivational climate and feelings of personal competence. In addition to examining task-involvement and ego-involvement as higher order scales, the PMCSQ-2 examined underlying task-involving dimensions (cooperative learning, effort/improvement, and important role) and ego-involving dimensions (intra-team rivalry, unequal recognition, and punishment for mistakes). The psychometric properties of the PMCSQ-2 were tested in a sample of female basketball and volleyball players (M age = 16.4 +/- 2.2 years). Since the development of these measures, perceptions of the motivational climate have been extensively investigated in sport settings (Duda, 2001; Fry & Newton, 2003; Gano-Overway, et al., 2005; Newton, et al., 2000; Olympiou, et al., 2008; Reinboth & Duda, 2006; Seifriz, et al., 1992; Treasure & Roberts, 1995; Walling, et al., 1993). The relationships between perceived motivational climate and various indices of well-being have been examined and it has been concluded that task-involving climates are related to higher self-esteem, increased motivation, more enjoyment, better mood, and subjective vitality (Reinboth & Duda, 2006; Walling, et al., 1993). Specifically within dance settings, however, motivational climate research is scarce. Relatively few studies have examined dancer's perceptions of the motivational 25 climate, and even fewer have related these perceptions to aspects of psychological well-being (Carr & Wyon, 2003; de Bruin, et al., 2009; Nordin-Bates, et al., 2012; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). Carr and Wyon (2003) were among the first to study perceptions of the motivational climate in dance. In their study, they were interested in whether climate perceptions impacted trait anxiety and perfectionism. Full-time dance students in the United Kingdom (M age = 18.5 +/- 2.0 years), reported perceptions of the motivational climate using the PMCSQ-2. They found that perceptions of an ego-involving climate related to higher levels of worry and concentration disruption as well as more concern over mistakes and doubts about actions. Perceptions of a task-involving climate, however, related to lower levels of anxiety and maladaptive perfectionism. Findings from this study indicate a relationship between perceived motivational climate and psychological well-being. In other research with dancers, high anxiety and perfectionism, particularly maladaptive perfectionism, have been linked to poor mood and low self-esteem (Bettle, et al., 2001; de Bruin, et al., 2009). More recently, a study of motivational climate in dance (de Bruin, et al., 2009) examined the influence of perceived motivational climate on disordered eating. Ninety-four adolescent gymnasts and dancers indicated experiencing more weight-related peer pressure, greater perfectionism, and lower self-esteem in ego-involving climates than in task-involving climates. Researchers concluded that emphasis on mastery, self-improvement, and self-referenced competence may be a protective factor against disordered eating. As indicated by other dance research, disordered eating is a serious concern (Anshel, 2004; Bettle, et al., 2001; Garner & Garfinkel, 1980; Pollatou, Bakali, Theodorakis, & Goudas, 2010; Reel, SooHoo, Jamieson, & Gill, 2005). Therefore 26 evidence, such as that found by de Bruin and colleagues (2009), that task-involving climates may protect against disordered eating is valuable in a very practical sense. Further support for the role of motivational climate in dance comes from a pair of studies (Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010) that examined the role of basic needs satisfaction (Ryan & Deci, 2000) in mediating the relationships between perceptions of the motivational climate and positive affect, negative affect, and burnout in dancers. The relationship between the motivational climate and burnout was not significant in either study. However, perceptions of a task-involving climate indirectly related to more positive affect and less negative affect through higher perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Quested & Duda, 2009). In addition, perceptions of ego-involving climates negatively predicted feelings of competence and relatedness (Quested & Duda, 2010). Dancers experienced more negative affect when these needs were not satisfied. The most recent study of motivational climate in dance was a longitudinal examination in changes in the perceived motivational climate comparing local dance schools in the United Kingdom to regional dance centers for advanced training (CATs; Nordin-Bates, et al., 2012). Dancers at the CATs initially reported their dance climate as more task-involving and less ego-involving. However, at a 6-month follow-up they reported that the climate had become more ego-involving and subsequently reported higher anxiety levels. Global self-esteem was measured at both times and no significant changes in self-esteem were found. Further research is needed examining the psychological consequents of ego-involving and task-involving climates in dance settings in order to ascertain which of the many well-being determinants may be influenced by given climate features. For example, 27 researchers could explore specific aspects of self-esteem such as body-esteem. Furthermore, because measures of the motivational climate are competence-based, there is only a shallow understanding of the influence the climate has on social/relational interactions. Researchers have shown the importance of experiencing a sense of belonging and feelings of connectedness to others (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Ryan & Deci, 2000). However, new areas of inquiry have studied the social aspects of the climate at a deeper level by investigating the caring climate. Caring Climate Caring climate research is a newly emerging area of interest that investigates social aspects of the psychological climate. This social and relational dimension has been previously identified in educational settings (Noddings, 1995) and has more recently been captured in physical activity settings as the caring climate (Newton, Watson, et al., 2007). Noddings (1992) conceptualized caring as two interrelated dimensions: engrossment and motivational displacement. Engrossment refers to the one-caring's ability to fully attend to the one being cared for or, more specifically, to see, feel, and care for another. Motivational displacement refers to the one-caring's being empathetic towards others and giving priority to others' needs. Caring depends upon not only the teacher-student or coach-athlete relationship but also on the relationships among all members of a given context. Therefore, caring climates are described as climates that are perceived as safe and supportive, and in which all participants feel valued and respected (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). A caring climate, rather than being focused on competence, is focused on the degree to which participants feel cared about and feel connected to those around them. 28 Conceptually, when all members within a setting are welcomed, treated with kindness, accepted as they are, respected for who they are, and supported by others, caring is maximized. Although the original philosophy of caring climates stemmed from education (Noddings, 1992), the Caring Climate Scale (CCS; Newton, Fry, et al., 2007) was developed in order to measure perceptions of feeling cared for in physical activity settings. Newton, Fry, and colleagues (2007) conducted an exploratory factor analysis on 20 items generated and agreed upon by experts and reduced the scale to 14 items. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis supported the reliability of the scale with 13 items. Researchers then examined the convergent validity of the CCS in a sample of 395 boys and girls from the National Youth Sport Program (NYSP) and found that perceptions of a caring climate were positively linked to intention to participate in the program in the future. Since the development of the CCS, several studies have examined the concept of caring in various youth sport programs. Results indicate young athletes who experience higher levels of caring are more likely to express and manage their positive emotions and therefore may allow for greater social connectedness (Gano-Overway, et al., 2009) and an increase in prosocial behavior. In addition, these young athletes are less likely to engage in antisocial behavior. Further studies have found that young athletes who perceived a caring climate on their soccer teams reported higher enjoyment, greater commitment to soccer, more positive attitudes towards their coaches and teammates, and engaged in more caring behaviors towards their coaches and peers (Fry & Gano- Overway, 2010). Additionally, the caring climate has been examined with underserved 29 youth sports participants (Gould, Flett, & Lauer, 2012). Results indicated that perceptions of caring (and task-involvement) in the climate indicated a greater likelihood of experiencing positive developmental gains such as better teamwork, improved social skills, and greater initiative (Gould, et al., 2012). Studies such as this support the need for the establishment of a positive, supportive climate (caring and task-involving) in optimizing the physical activity experiences of youth. Finally, perceptions of the caring climate have been linked to feelings of psychological well-being, specifically mediated by perceived affective self-regulatory efficacy (Fry, et al., 2012). Adolescent participants of the NYSP (N = 395) answered questions regarding their perceptions of the caring climate, perceptions of their ability to regulate their own emotions, and self-reported psychological well-being. It was found that through aspects of personal agency those who perceived greater caring experienced higher levels of hope and happiness and less depression and sadness. The Role of Leaders in Creating the Social Psychological Climate This section briefly examines what is known about the importance of good leaders in establishing the social psychological climate and the influence leaders have on the psychological well-being of dancers. According to Ames and Archer (1988), the teacher initiates and forms the achievement context, or motivational climate. There is a plethora of literature in sport on coach-athlete relationships, coaching effectiveness, and the role of the coach in establishing the motivational climate, however, the purpose of this section is to primarily examine the literature regarding the latter (Allen & Hodge, 2006; Pensgaard & Roberts, 2002; Smith, et al., 2007; Treasure, 2001). In a review of this literature, Allen and Hodge (2006) discussed the consensus among researchers that the 30 coach is a critical figure in the development of the motivational climate in sport. In a qualitative study of Norwegian Olympic skiers, Pensgaard and Roberts (2002) reported that athletes preferred having a supportive and caring climate and felt as though emphasis was placed on mastery. In addition, when asked about their coaches the athletes all agreed that the coach played an important role in establishing the climate. One stated "the coach is part of the puzzle" (p. 57). Others mentioned that the role of the coach may be different for each athlete depending on their relationship with the coach, suggesting the importance for understanding the quality of the teacher-student or coach-athlete relationship in evaluating perception of the climate (Pensgaard & Roberts, 2002). Other researchers have examined the influence of climate interventions on coaching and the relationship of these interventions to decreases in sport anxiety (Smith, et al., 2007). In a sample of 37 coaches and 216 athletes participating in community-based basketball programs, athletes whose coaches had participated in the experimental intervention (which included components to encourage positive reinforcement, mistake-contingent encouragement, corrective instruction given in a positive way, and sound technical instruction) reported greater perceptions of a mastery-oriented motivational climate. In addition, these athletes reported significantly less overall anxiety, somatic anxiety, and worry. Although there is little evidence of the role of the coach in creating caring climates, preliminary evidence exists that suggests caring-based interventions may be used to promote greater enjoyment and higher level of empathetic concern. In other words, youth in caring climates indicate greater feelings and concern for other kids in the climate (Newton, Watson, et al., 2007). In addition, Gould and colleagues (2012) 31 demonstrated that when coaches create more task-involving and caring climates, there is a greater likelihood for positive developmental gains. In 2007, Magyar and colleagues found that leader efficacy is related to their ability to care. The more confident leaders were in their knowledge and ability, the more welcoming they were. This suggests that interventions targeted at helping coaches feel more efficacious may also influence participants' perceptions of being cared for. Further inquiry into the efficacy of caring-based interventions is warranted. As in sport settings, the dance teacher is responsible for establishing the social psychological climate. In a study of dancers and dance teachers in the Netherlands, researchers determined the difference between the "ideal" teacher and the daily reality of dance teachers (Van Rossum, 2004). Dancers and teachers both cited having an emphasis on improvement and giving positive feedback as characteristics of the ideal dance teacher. When asked whether these were actually present in daily classes, dancers reported observing them at much lower levels than the teachers reported using them and at even lower levels than the reported ideal. Otherwise, very little is known about the influence of the dance teacher in creating the dance climate. Psychological Well-Being Psychological well-being is an important part of a person's overall sense of happiness, life satisfaction, and self-realization (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Psychological well-being research has captured well-being from both hedonic (happiness and life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (meaning and self-actualization) perspectives and has shown psychological well-being to be influenced by a variety of factors including achievement goal structure, competence, autonomy, emotion, and social attachment 32 (Ryan & Deci, 2001). In addition, Ryan and Deci (2001) suggested that well-being may be influenced by individual settings and the experiences and perceptions of members within those settings. In other words, the social psychological climate in a given setting may influence psychological well-being. However, even though psychological issues have been extensively studied in dancers, relatively little is known about the connection between the social psychological climate and psychological well-being and whether the establishment of certain climates may promote well-being and discourage ill-being in dancers, especially adolescent dancers. Researchers have suggested that dancers have a tendency to experience greater negative affect, poorer body image, and difficulty connecting to others when compared to nondancers (Anshel, 2004; Bettle, et al., 2001; Garner & Garfinkel, 1980; Pollatou, et al., 2010; Reel, et al., 2005). This section concentrates on what is currently known about the psychological issues faced by adolescent dancers as well as areas in which further inquiry is needed. Affect Affect, or mood, is separated into two dimensions, positive and negative (Watson, et al., 1988). Positive affect is a reflection of the extent to which a person feels energetic, active, and happy. On the other hand, negative affect refers to the level of distress, anger, and sadness that is felt. It has been shown that people who report feeling more positive affect and less negative affect are more likely to report being satisfied with life and more successful in a variety of life domains including marriage, friendship, and health (Lyobumirsky, et al., 2005). Various research studies suggest that dance is actually conducive to improving mood (Koch, Morlinghaus, & Fuchs, 2007; Lane, Hewston, Redding, & Whyte, 2003). 33 An entire line of research is devoted to investigating dance as a therapy for depression. Koch and colleagues (2007) found that a single dance intervention increased feelings of positive affect in depressed participants more than music alone and more than other forms of exercise. In addition, participating in modern dance was found to increase vigor in dancers (Lane, et al., 2003). However, there is contradicting evidence that suggests participation in dance actually relates to poor mood (van Staden, et al., 2009). Research suggests in relation to increased feelings of anxiety and maladaptive perfectionism dancers experience poor mood as well as low self-esteem and inability to connect to others (Bettle, et al., 2001; Carr & Wyon, 2003; van Staden et al., 2009). On the other hand, research conducted by Quested and Duda (2009, 2010) examined positive and negative affect in dancers and found that, dependent upon the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and connectedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000), perceptions of a task-involving climate are related to increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect. In short, there is mixed evidence for the relationship between dance participation and mood with conflicting results between dance as a form of exercise and more structured dance experiences, such as competitive dance. There may even be differences due to the style of dance (i.e., modern, ballet, jazz, etc.) Because there is evidence that dance is both beneficial and detrimental to mood it would be helpful to further examine characteristics of the dance climate, such as evaluative structure and level of caring, which may impact mood in dancers. Body-Esteem According to Rosenberg,Schooler, Schoenbach, and Rosenberg (1995), self-esteem is an individual's attitude toward him/herself as a totality. Self-esteem 34 encompasses both cognitive and affective components, meaning a person has an evaluative thought of him/herself and that thought has a direction (positive or negative). Positive evaluative thoughts lead to self-confidence (Rosenberg, et al., 1995). Researchers have theorized that global self-esteem is actually multidimensional in nature and comprised of different areas of specific self-esteem such as social, emotional, and physical (Marsh, 1986; Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). One specific dimension of self-esteem is body-esteem. Conceptually, body-esteem is thought to encompass a number of dimensions which might include physical condition, attractiveness, upper body strength (in males), weight concerns (in females; Franzoi & Shields, 1984), or appearance, weight, and attributions to others' evaluations (Mendelson, White, & Mendelson, 1997). In a broader context, body-esteem is related to physical self-perception (Fox & Corbin, 1989), which includes the previous dimensions as well as a dimension of perceived sport competence. Researchers have developed measures specifically to determine one's level of esteem for his/her body (Franzoi & Shields, 1984; Mendelson, et al., 1997). Body-esteem has been studied in a variety of aesthetic sports (e.g., gymnastics, diving, and synchronized swimming) and low body-esteem has been found to be a predictor of disordered eating behavior in each (de Bruin, et al., 2009; Ferrand, Champely, & Filaire, 2009). Only de Bruin and colleagues (2009) have examined the link between establishing the motivational climate, feelings of self-esteem, and disordered eating behaviors. They concluded that task-involving climates were better for self-esteem, and may protect against disordered eating. However, de Bruin and colleagues examined global self-esteem rather than specific body-esteem. 35 Within the dance literature, several constructs related to the body have been studied including body image, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating (Anshel, 2004; Bettle, et al., 2001; Garner & Garfinkel, 1980; Pollatou, et al., 2010; Reel, et al., 2005). Many studies both in sport and in dance have examined body issues in relation to global self-esteem (de Bruin, et al., 2009; Duda, 2001). However, the body-esteem dimension of overall self-esteem has been under-examined in dancers especially when considering that body issues are one of the biggest concerns regarding adolescent dancers (Lee, 2001). In fact, only one study (Clabaugh & Morling, 2004) has examined specific body-esteem in dancers and this was related to stereotype accuracy of body-esteem perceptions and not about examining predictors or consequences of low body-esteem. Although global self-esteem is related to body-esteem (Mendelson, et al., 1997) and there is some evidence that the social psychological climate, specifically a task-involving motivational climate, is related to higher self-esteem (de Bruin, et al., 2009), little is known about whether certain social psychological climates specifically relate to higher or lower body-esteem. Due to the high level of concern about body issues in dance and the search for strategies to prevent eating disorders, further research on this topic is warranted. Friendship Another area of psychological well-being that is relevant for adolescents is interpersonal attachment. In a review of the empirical literature regarding the need to belong, Baumeister and Leary (1995) discussed the idea that human beings have a "drive" to "form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonal relationships" (p. 497). In addition, Baumeister and Leary (1995) maintain that in order to satisfy this drive there are two criteria which must be 36 met: (a) frequent and affectively positive interactions with a few other people and (b) these interactions must take place in a stable environment in which there is a framework of emotional concern for each other's welfare. In other words, the need to belong combines both frequent interaction and constant caring. In further review, Baumeister and Leary (1995), discussed the plethora of literature, which suggests feelings of belonging are related to positive and negative affect. Specifically, a greater sense of belonging is linked to increases in positive affect whereas a lesser sense of belonging is linked to increases in negative affect. Similar to the need to belong, attachment is defined as an enduring affectional bond of substantial intensity (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). An important line of attachment research involves understanding the importance of relationships outside the family for adolescents. In order to study this topic, Armsden and Greenberg (1987) developed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), which includes items to measure the amount of trust, communication, and alienation felt towards an individual's parents and peers. Once the psychometric properties of the measure had been tested, the instrument was used to determine the relationship between attachment and psychological well-being, specifically self-esteem, mood, and life satisfaction (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). Results indicated when 86 (M age = 18.6 years) adolescents perceived a greater quality of attachment they reported higher levels of well-being. In a study of 493 adolescents ranging in age from 13-19 years, the emotional quality of the parent and peer relationships was positively related to self-esteem, social competence, and coping abilities (Paterson, Pryor, & Field, 1995). Additional research has found that better quality attachment is related to other aspects of psychological well-being such as lower 37 anxiety, lower depression, and higher perceived personal strengths (e.g., popular, reliable, lively, outgoing; Raja, et al., 1992). More recently, peer relationships have been studied in sport settings (Smith, 2003; Smith, Ullrich-French, Walker, & Hurley, 2006; Weiss & Smith, 1999) and researchers have determined that the quality of friendships (rather than the quantity) during youth sports participation is related to greater motivation, more perceived acceptance by peers, greater enjoyment, and decreased anxiety. However, there is little known about the importance of peer relationships in dance contexts, only evidence that dancers have trouble with interpersonal communication and poor social skills (van Staden, et al., 2009) Therefore, any study of the interpersonal relationships between dancers and teachers within their established social psychological climate would serve to provide initial evidence on the topic as well as a basis for future study. Any indication of ways to improve social connection between dancers would be beneficial, especially due to the already difficult nature of forming meaningful social relationships during adolescence. Summary According to the literature, motivational and relational features within the social psychological climate have been shown to be related to aspects of psychological well-being in sport, but little is known about these relationships within dance. Task-involving climates have been related to reports of better mood in adult dancers, but little is known about this relationship in adolescent dancers. However, creating a climate conducive to better moods may help dancers during this transitioning stage of life. In addition, creating a task-involving climate may protect against body issues typically exemplified in dancers. Unfortunately, research in dance has somewhat neglected probing the antecedents (e.g., 38 climate) of psychological well-being markers such as affect and body-esteem. Furthermore, there is no understanding of the relationship of dancers to their teachers and peers and their overall sense of feeling cared for and belonging at their dance studios. These relationships could play a role in dancers' overall sense of well-being as well as in their desire to strive and thrive as a dancer. There is no evidence of the caring climate in dance settings. Therefore, this study investigated psychological well-being in adolescent dancers and further investigated the social psychological climate within dance settings. CHAPTER 3 METHODS The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate (task-involving, ego-involving, and caring) and aspects of psychological well-being (affect, body-esteem, and friendship) in both technical and competitive late adolescent dancers. This chapter explains the selection of participants, measures, procedures, and the research design and statistical analysis used for this study. Participants Dancers were recruited from both technical and competitive dance studios along the Wasatch Front. In order to obtain a more homogeneous sample, only dancers in late adolescence were included in this study. More specifically, dancers who were 15-18 years old were used in order to obtain a sample of dancers who have had more experience dancing, who are typically considered to be more skilled, and who, in competitive schools, fall into the age limit for the senior competition level as outlined in competition rules and regulations for many national competitions (NYCDA, 2012). After contacting 45 dance studios, 11 studio directors chose to participate in this study, making the studio response rate 24.4%. Of these studios, 6 were purely competition schools, 2 had both competition and technical dancers, and 3 were purely technical schools. More of the studios which agreed to participate were considered 40 competition schools, but nearly half (49.4%) of the participants came from one of the technical schools. During the initial meetings with each studio, approximately 200 parental consent forms were sent home with dancers and 84 (42.0%) were returned. Only one male dancer completed the survey and was therefore excluded from any analyses. The remaining 83 female participants were included in all analyses. In order to ensure that their overall perception of the studio climate was fairly stable and well established, only dancers who had been at their current dance studio for a year or more were included in the study. In addition, dancers were included only if they trained in more than one style of dance, one of which was classical ballet. There were several reasons for employing this strategy. Most competition teams compete in more than one style category, thus training in competition studios occurs simultaneously in more than one style. Many technical studios encourage dancers to diversify their dance training and provide classes in multiple styles. Therefore, all participants were dancers who experienced multiple dance climates within their overall studio climate. Second, the majority of the studies that have been done examining social psychological climate and dance have not distinguished between dance styles (Carr & Wyon, 2003; Quested & Duda, 2010). Therefore, this study did not focus on any one style, but acknowledged that many dancers train in multiple styles. The assumption was that dancers responded in a way consistent with their overall dance experience, and did not limit their responses to experiences with one dance style or to the climate created when learning one particular style. Finally, some research has suggested that classically trained dancers may be more at risk than other dancers for psychological issues such as disordered eating, low self- 41 esteem, and fear of negative evaluation (Clabaugh & Morling, 2004; Hamilton, 1997). Many technical schools require dancers to spend a majority of class time in studying classical technique. However, ensuring that every participant had some experience in classical training climates helped maintain homogeneity within the groups. Measures Participants were asked to complete a series of self-report questionnaires which included demographic information, perceptions of the social psychological climate, and aspects of psychological well-being. Demographics A demographic questionnaire was used primarily to describe the sample. It was also used to confirm that participants met the inclusion criteria for age and multiple-style training. Dancers were asked to report their age, sex, ethnicity, number of years dancing, number of years with that studio, dance styles practiced (at least once per week), average hours spent in dance training each week at their studio, and whether they were on a competition team at their studio. Social Psychological Climate Perceived motivational climate. Perceptions of the motivational climate were assessed using the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2; Newton, et al., 2000). The PMCSQ-2 is a 33-item questionnaire compromised of two higher-order scales (ego-involving and task-involving), each consisting of three subscales. The 16 ego-involving items are divided between three subscales defined as 42 punishment for mistakes, unequal recognition, and intrateam member rivalry. The 17 task-involving items are divided between three subscales, which are defined as cooperative learning, important role, and effort and improvement. Participants were asked to respond to items while keeping in mind the typical overall atmosphere of their dance studio, rather than individual classes. The wording of the items was modified in order to better suit the dance environment. For example, the stem for each item was changed from "On this team…" to "At my dance studio…" and any mention of "the coach" was changed to "the teachers". Some example items that reflect perceived ego-involving climate include "the teachers have their own favorites" and "only the top dancers get noticed by the teachers". Some example items that reflect perceived task-involving climate include "dancers feel good when they try their best" and "the focus is to improve each performance/practice." Dancers responded to these items using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate their level of agreement to the statement (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Previous studies with dancers have demonstrated the internal consistency of the PMCSQ-2 (α ≥ .70; Carr & Wyon, 2003; Quested & Duda, 2009) and face, construct, and concurrent validity have been supported in a sample of adolescent female athletes (Newton, et al., 2000). In the current study, both higher order scales were found to be reliable with high internal consistency for both the ego-involving scale (Cronbach's α = .88) and the task-involving scale (Cronbach's α =.91). Perceived caring climate. Perceptions of the caring climate were assessed using the Caring Climate Scale (CCS; Newton, Fry, et al., 2007). The CCS was developed based on the writings of Noddings (1995) who identified engrossment and motivational displacement as dimensions of caring. The scale consists of 13 items that measure the 43 level to which participants perceive a context as a safe, supportive, and welcoming, as well as the extent to which they feel valued. Again, the items were modified to suit dance. Dancers responded to items with the stem "At my dance studio…" using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Example items include "dancers are treated with respect" and "the teachers want kids to be successful". The CCS has been found to have strong internal reliability (α = .91-.92; Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010; Gano-Overway et al., 2009) in youth sport and physical activity samples. In addition, the CCS has demonstrated convergent validity with a task-involving climate (r = .56), discriminant validity with an ego-involving climate (r = -.36; Newton, Fry, et al., 2007), and an exploratory factor analysis (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010) has provided evidence of the factor validity (i.e., all factor loadings were greater than .50). Cronbach's alpha was used in this study to demonstrate adequate internal consistency (α = .89). Psychological Well-Being Positive and negative affect. Positive and negative affect were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, et al., 1988). The PANAS is a 20-item questionnaire that uses words to describe different feelings and emotions. There are 10 words each in the positive and negative subscales. Participants indicated the extent to which they "generally feel this way at my dance studio" on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = very slightly or not at all, 5 = extremely). Examples of positive items include "excited" and "inspired". Examples of negative items include "irritable" and "jittery". The PANAS has been found to have strong internal reliability for both the positive and negative subscales (α = .84-.88; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010) in dance samples. In addition, Crocker (1997) found adequate reliability (NA α = .79, PA α = .88) and 44 confirmed the factor validity in a youth sport sample. In the present study, the measure of positive affect was reliable (α = .85), but the negative affect items demonstrated less internal consistency (α = .68) than the usually accepted value of α = .70. However, due to previously established reliability in other dance samples as well as the alpha value nearing the criterion even with a somewhat small sample, retaining all items from the negative affect scale was deemed appropriate for subsequent analyses. Body-esteem. Dancers' body-esteem was measured using the Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA; Mendelson, et al., 1997). The BESAA is a 23-item scale to assess participants' feelings about their bodies and appearance. There are three subscales which include BE-Appearance (10 items for general feelings about appearance), BE-Weight (8 items for weight satisfaction), and BE-Attribution (5 items for others' evaluations about one's body and appearance). Dancers indicated their degree of agreement using a 5-point Likert-type scale (0 = Never, 4 = Always). Examples of items include "I like what I see when I look in the mirror" (BE-Appearance), "weighing myself depresses me" (BE-Weight), and "I'm as nice looking as most people" (BE-Attribution). Internal consistency for appearance (α = .92), weight (α = .94), and attribution (α = .81) subscales and convergent validity with overall self-esteem have been demonstrated in a sample of adolescents and adults (Mendelson, et al., 1997). In addition, reliability for appearance (α = .90) and weight (α = .93) and the internal consistency of the overall body-esteem scale was demonstrated (α = .93) in this study. Despite a lower internal consistency for attribution (α = .67) it was decided to include the attribution scale for further analysis due to its value in understanding how perceptions of other's judgments contribute to the overall understanding of body-esteem. 45 Friendship. Friendship was measured in two separate ways. A single question assessed the number of friendships each dancer felt they have within their dance studio and a self-report questionnaire was used to assess the quality of the dancers' friendships. Each dancer indicated the quantity of friendships they felt they have within their dance studio, including peers and teachers. They were given a definition of a good friend and then asked to indicate the number of good friends they have at their dance studio. They were also asked to list those good friends by their first name. The quality of relationships to teachers and peers within the dance studio was assessed using a shortened form (Raja, et al., 1992) of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). The shortened IPPA is divided into two attachment scales, parent and peer. For this study the 12-item parent subscale was slightly modified to reflect the relationship to the dance teachers. For example, an item which reads "my parents expect too much from me" was rephrased to read "my teachers expect too much from me." An example item from the 12-item peer subscale is "my friends listen to what I have to say." Participants indicated the degree to which they felt the statement was true of their relationships to teachers and friends "at my dance studio" using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = almost never or never true, 5 = almost always or always true). Acceptable reliability (α > .70) has been reported with late adolescent and youth sport samples (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Coward, 2006). Convergent validity has been established, with the IPPA being correlated to other relationship and attachment measures (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). For the present study, the internal consistency of the parent subscale measured .84 and the internal consistency of the peer subscale measured .90, demonstrating the reliability of this measure. 46 Procedures After obtaining approval from the University of Utah's Institutional Review Board (IRB), the primary investigator began contacting studio directors to explain the study and receive permission to collect data at their dance studios. Forty-five studios were contacted via email, phone, letter, and/or personal contact. Eleven studios agreed to participate and information about the study was communicated to the studio directors and arrangements were made to either email parent consent forms directly to the parents of eligible dancers or to meet with the eligible dancers during scheduled class times. The study was explained to the dancers and permission forms were passed out. The investigator arranged a time with each studio to meet and collect the forms. At that time, those dancers under 18 who returned the parental consent were asked to sign an informed assent. Only those dancers who had both forms completed (excepting those who were 18 and did not need parental consent) were allowed to participate in the study. Data collection took place at either the beginning or end of a regularly scheduled class. When available, dancers participating in the study were taken into a separate room or lobby area of the studio while those not participating continued with regular activities. Once removed, dancers were instructed to spread out and find some personal space. Questionnaire packets were handed out to those dancers participating in the study. In order to help the dancers feel more comfortable giving honest responses, teachers and/or studio directors were asked to leave the area during data collection. Participants were then informed that their responses would be both anonymous and confidential. They were reminded that there were no right or wrong answers and to respond to each question as honestly as possible. In addition, they were given the option to skip any question they felt 47 uncomfortable answering. They were encouraged to ask any questions that arose during the collection process. The total time to complete the questionnaires was typically 15-20 minutes after which the researcher collected all packets and thanked the dancers for their participation. Design and Analysis This study employed a cross-sectional correlational design. The independent variable for the first two analyses was type of dance studio with two levels (technical or competition). The dependent variables for the first analysis were perceptions of social psychological climate and the dependent variables for the second analysis were aspects of psychological well-being. A third analysis examined the relationships among the perceptions of the social psychological climate and the aspects of psychological well-being. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results Data were collected and entered into SPSS 20.0. Technical and competition studios were dummy coded when entered. After data entry, the data were repeatedly checked for data entry errors and missing data. Missing data were imputated using expected maximization (Dempster, Laird, & Rubin, 1977). The appropriate items from each measure were reverse-scored. Mean subscale and mean total scale scores were calculated. The data were then screened for outliers. Although several potential outliers emerged, none exceeded the criterion for point for extreme outliers (greater than 3 standard deviations from the mean). Due to a smaller sample size than anticipated and the fact that there were no extreme outliers, none of the potential outlying participants were omitted from the study. After cleaning and screening, the data were tested for normality by visual inspection of frequency distributions and Q-Q plots, creation of box plots, and calculation of skewness and kurtosis. Although visual inspection suggested normality, the Shapiro-Wilks' test of univariate normality indicated several scales may have been significantly different (p < .05) from normal. Findings suggested that scale scores for caring, task-involving, and overall peer attachment were negatively skewed while negative affect and quantity of friends were positively skewed. In order to account for potential violations of the assumption of normality, data were transformed using standard 49 methods and subsequent analyses were conducted with both the raw data and the transformed data. No differences in the significant findings were evident between raw versus transformed data analyses. Therefore, for ease of interpretation, all reported findings are given using the untransformed data. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and sample size) were determined for each measure. Internal consistency was calculated for all scales. Demographics Demographic data obtained included age, ethnicity, number of years dancing, number of years with that studio, dance styles practiced (at least once per week), average hours spent in dance training each week at their studio, and whether they were on a competition team at their studio. Respondents' mean age was 16.28 years (SD = .93). Further breakdown of participants' age by years indicated that 20.5% (n = 17) were 15, 43.4% (n = 36) were 16, 24.1% (n = 20) were 17, and 12.0% (n = 10) were 18. The majority of dancers (88.0%, n = 73) identified themselves as Caucasian. Other reported ethnicities included African-American (3.6%, n = 3), Hispanic (3.6%, n = 3), Asian (2.4%, n = 2), and Native American (1.2%, n = 1). One dancer did not identify her ethnicity. The remainder of the demographic data refers to the specific dance training for each dancer. On average, participants reported having danced for 10.90 years (SD = 3.24). In addition, they reported dancing at their current studio ranging anywhere from 1 to 14 years with a mean of 8.45 years (SD = 3.89), indicating that, overall, dancers were well established in their current dance climate. Dancers reported spending an average of 8.33 +/- 3.10 hours in dance training at their studio each week. Almost one-third, 28.8%, 50 of dancers reported spending 10 hours or more each week, with the maximum time spent in dance training being 20 hours per week. The most commonly reported styles of dance training included ballet (which was a criteria for inclusion) jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop. Finally, of those dancers surveyed 39.8% (n = 33) identified themselves as competition dancers while 60.2% (n = 50) reported not being part of a competition team (technical dancers). In general, descriptive statistics (Table 4.1) showed that dancers reported relatively high perceptions of task-involving and caring climates and lower perceptions of ego-involving ones. In addition, the average values for each body-esteem subscale (appearance, weight, attribution to others) as well as the overall average for body-esteem indicated that most dancers reported valuing their bodies between "sometimes" and "often". When examining the means for teacher and peer attachment (M = 4.00 and M = 4.03, respectively) it was evident that dancers often felt as though they could trust and communicate with others and did not often feel alienated from them. Table 4.1: Summary of Descriptive Statistics for Scale Scores Scale Range Minimum Maximum Mean SD Caring 1-5 3.31 5.00 4.53 .42 Task 1-5 2.59 5.00 4.21 .53 Ego 1-5 1.19 4.00 2.39 .65 Positive Affect 1-5 2.30 5.00 4.19 .54 Negative Affect 1-5 1.00 3.00 1.56 .42 Appearance 0-4 .60 3.90 2.49 .78 Weight 0-4 .00 4.00 2.32 .99 Attribution 0-4 1.20 4.00 2.42 .66 Overall Body-Esteem 0-4 .61 3.78 2.41 .69 Teacher Attachment 1-5 2.42 5.00 4.00 .64 Peer Attachment 1-5 1.92 5.00 4.03 .76 # of Friends .00 20.00 7.45 4.87 51 Answering Aim 1 A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess differences between dance studio types (IV) on perceptions of the social psychological climate (DVs). Two groups, competition dancers and technical dancers, were compared to determine whether differences exist in their perceptions of the social psychological climate, namely task-involving, ego-involving, and caring. Differences between dance studios have not been previously investigated, therefore the goal of this aim was to determine whether differences exist at all, and, if they do, the directionality of the difference. An initial summary of the data (Table 4.2) showed that competition dancers generally reported higher perceptions of task-involving and caring and lower perceptions of ego-involving than technical dancers. Homogeneity of variance/covariance matrices was assumed and tested using a Box's M test, which was nonsignificant (Box's M = 8.55, p = .23), indicating that the assumption was met. For the omnibus MANOVA, Pillai's Trace was used as the test Table 4.2: Average Perceptions of the Social Psychological Climate by Group Mean SD N Competition Task 4.46 .56 33 Ego 2.22 .72 33 Caring 4.69 .41 33 Technical Task 4.05 .45 50 Ego 2.50 .58 50 Caring 4.42 .39 50 52 statistic because there were unequal group sizes and Pillai's Trace is also considered more robust to violations of the assumption of normality. There was a significant difference between groups on the social psychological climate variate, V = 0.151, F (3, 79) = 4.686, p = .005. In order to understand the nature of this variate, the initial MANOVA was followed up using a discriminant function analysis, which revealed one discriminant function with a canonical R2 = .151. The discriminant function significantly differentiated between groups of dancers, Wilks' Lambda = .849, χ2 (2) = 13.02, p = .005. Examination (Table 4.3) of the structure matrix and standardized coefficients (β) indicated that the root was comprised primarily of increased perceptions of task-involving and caring climates and decreased perceptions of ego-involving climates (representing a positive social psychological climate). Finally, a classification analysis was used to determine how well the function predicted group membership (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Results demonstrated that 68.7% of the sample were classified correctly, compared to the 52.1% who would be correctly classified by chance alone. A comparison of group centroids indicated that competition dancers had a higher mean variate score (M = .513) than technical dancers (M = -.339) on the social psychological climate variate. In general, this variate demonstrated that the largest distinguishing factor between the two groups was their perception of the degree to which Table 4.3: Summary of Canonical Discriminant Function of Social Psychological Climate Variable B Structure β Task 1.566 .963 .780 Ego -.360 -.523 -.229 Caring .405 .789 .163 53 the dance climate was task-involving. Thus, the two groups were slightly different. Competition dancers perceived the social psychological climate in their studio to be more task-involving than technical dancers. Answering Aim 2 A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess the differences between dance studio types on aspects of psychological well-being. Two groups, competition dancers and technical dancers, were compared to determine whether differences exist in their reported psychological well-being with regards to the combination of positive affect, negative affect, body-esteem, teacher and peer attachment, and the number of friends. Once again, due to a lack of preliminary evidence for potential differences, this analysis was exploratory. An initial summary of the data (Table 4.4) showed that competition dancers generally reported more positive and less negative affect, greater body-esteem, better quality attachment to teachers and peers, and more friends at their dance studio in comparison to technical dancers. Homogeneity of variance/covariance matrices was assumed and tested using a Box's M test, which was nonsignificant (Box's M = 31.91, p = .109), indicating that the assumption was met. For the omnibus MANOVA, using Pillai's Trace, there was a significant difference between groups on aspects of psychological well-being, V = 0.240, F (6, 76) = 3.989, p = .002. In order to understand the nature of this variate, the initial MANOVA was followed up with a discriminant function analysis, which revealed one discriminant function with a canonical R2 = .239. The discriminant function significantly 54 differentiated between groups of dancers, Wilks' Lambda = .760, χ2 (6) = 21.36, p = .002. Examination (Table 4.5) of the structure matrix and standardized coefficients (β) indicated that the psychological well-being root was represented by increased body-esteem, better quality attachment to teachers and peers, more friends, high positive affect, and low negative affect. Finally, a classification analysis was used to determine how well the function predicted group membership (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Results demonstrated that 73.5% of the sample were classified correctly, compared to the 52.1% who would be correctly classified by chance alone. Table 4.4: Average Reported Psychological Well-Being by Group Mean SD N Competition Positive Affect 4.26 .54 33 Negative Affect 1.48 .35 33 Body-Esteem 2.67 .65 33 Teacher Attachment 4.29 .49 33 Peer Attachment 4.38 .47 33 # of Friends 9.91 4.38 33 Technical Positive Affect 4.15 .54 50 Negative Affect 1.62 .46 50 Body-Esteem 2.25 .67 50 Teacher Attachment 3.81 .66 50 Peer Attachment 3.80 .82 50 # of Friends 5.82 4.51 50 55 A comparison of group centroids indicated that competition dancers had a higher mean variate score (M = .682) than technical dancers (M = -.450) on the psychological well-being variate. In general, this variate demonstrated that the largest contributor to differences between the two groups was the reported quality and quantity of relationships with peers. In other words, competition and technical dancers differed in psychological well-being. Competitive dancers self-reported greater body esteem, more friends, and better peer relationships than technical dancers. Answering Aim 3 The goal of aim three was to examine the relationship between dancers' perceptions of the social psychological climate and psychological well-being. Simple bivariate correlations were used in order to investigate relationships between individual variables (Table 4.6). Perceptions of task-involving and caring climates were highly positively correlated (r = .730) with each other and negatively correlated with ego-involving climates. Of particular interest, perceptions of task-involving and caring Table 4.5: Summary of Canonical Discriminant Function of Psychological Well-Being Variable B Structure β Positive Affect -.211 .193 -.114 Negative Affect .286 -.275 .121 Body-Esteem .555 .554 .369 Teacher Attachment .389 .709 .232 Peer Attachment .491 .738 .345 # of Friends .119 .809 .533 56 climates were positively correlated with all of the indicators of well-being (r = .333 - .681) and negatively correlated to negative affect (r = -.249 and r = -.297, respectively). In general, the positive indicators of well-being (positive affect, body-esteem, attachment, and # of friends) were all positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with negative affect. In other words, greater reports of positive well-being were related to fewer reports of negative well-being. In fact, of the well-being indicators, positive affect was the only positive well-being indicator not significantly correlated to negative affect. Table 4.6: Pearson Product Moment Correlations Among Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. Caring .730** -.405** .613** -.297** .396** .674** .333** .496** 2. Task -.354** .487** -.249* .473** .681** .574** .497** 3. Ego -.119 .456** -.428** -.403** -.311** -.355** 4. Positive Affect -.166 .066 .386** .172 .343** 5. Negative Affect -.499** -.276** -.350** -.181 6. Body- Esteem .387** .315** .279** 7. Teacher Attachment .602** .548** 8. Peer Attachment .536** 9. # of Friends * Significant at p < .05 ** Significant at p < .01 57 Initially, it was thought that a canonical correlation analysis (RC) would be used to examine the multivariate link between perceived social psychological climate and aspects of psychological well-being. Canonical correlation coefficients provide a measure of relationships between two composite sets of variables (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The composite IV was to be perceptions of ego-involving, task-involving, and caring climates. The composite DV was to be positive and negative affect, body-esteem, and friendship. However, several problems emerged that prevented the use of the canonical correlation analysis. First, there was a smaller sample size than originally anticipated, resulting in less overall variance between participants. Second, task-involving and caring climates were highly correlated and therefore perceptions of a task-involving climate accounted for most of the variance while a caring climate accounted for almost none. Thus the canonical correlation analysis did not allow for distinguishing the explained variance between them. Due to these problems, it was determined that using a second-order factor analysis to determine the factor structure among the social psychological climate and psychological well-being variables would be appropriate. Field (2009) suggests that factor analysis is used to group variables that correlate highly to other variables in the group and badly with variables not in the group. In other words, intercorrelation between variables, such as perceptions of task-involving and caring, is not an issue in factor analysis. Therefore, a second order factor analysis of the subscale scores was conducted using a principal component analysis with an orthogonal (varimax) rotation. An orthogonal rotation was chosen because the climate variables are independent of each other, meaning each climate was characterized by distinctly different features than the 58 other two. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure (KMO = .776) verified the sampling adequacy for the analysis. Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ² (36) = 344.71, p<.001) indicated that correlations between items were sufficiently large for factor analysis. Correlations between items indicated that extreme multicollinearity and singularity of the items was not present. Significant factors were determined using a scree plot and Eigenvalues that were greater than the minimum Kaiser criteria of 1. An a priori criterion of .32 or greater (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001) was used to determine adequate factor loading for the inclusion of variables on each factor. As demonstrated in Table 4.7 two factors emerged, with each variable loading on at least one of the two factors. The first factor (Eigenvalue of 4.314) accounted for 47.93% of the variance and included aspects of a positive climate (task, caring) and positive well-being (positive affect, attachment, and quantity of friends). As Field (2009) suggests, the factor is representative of a new dimension and can be named to represent that dimension. "Thriving" is a suitable name for this factor because the factor encompassed the social, motivational, and psychological features of a positive climate and a dancer in this climate of optimal engagement was more likely to be thriving in terms of her psychological well-being. In order to better interpret the second factor, the PCA axis was flipped 180 degrees (each value was multiplied by -1), thereby reversing the signs on each loading (DeCoster, 1998). Rather than trying to interpret a climate with an extreme absence of ego-involving features, this process resulted in values that demonstrated what occurs when there are high perceptions of ego-involving features. The magnitude of the relationships remained the same. This allowed for a better comparison between the 59 factors and logical interpretation of the underlying meaning of the second factor. This factor was interpreted to represent a "Threatening" dance climate in which high perceptions of an ego-involving climate were related to lower reports of well-being, especially in regards to body-esteem and high negative affect. This dimension (Eigenvalue of 1.324) accounted for an additional 14.71% of the variance and exemplified a climate in which dancers were more likely to experience diminished engagement and threats to their well-being. Discussion The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the social psychological climate and psychological well-being in adolescent dancers. In addition, this study explored potential differences between two groups, competition and Table 4.7: Factor Analysis of All Variables (varimax rotation) Thriving Threateninga h2 Caring .828 -.251 .748 Task .804 -.325 .753 Ego -.225 .715 .562 Positive Affect .769 .149 .614 Negative Affect -.074 .786 .623 Body-Esteem .192 -.773 .634 Teacher Attachment .759 -.365 .709 Peer Attachment .515 -.464 .480 # of Friends .669 -.261 .516 Variance Explained (%) 47.93 14.71 a. All values in column are multiplied by -1 60 technical dancers, in regards to their perceptions of the climate and their reported well-being. On one hand, the findings from this study support previous research about motivational climate in dance. The consensus in the literature has been that dancers perceive more task-involving features than ego-involving features in the climate (Carr & Wyon, 2003; de Bruin, et al., 2009; Nordin-Bates, et al., 2012; Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010). The results in this study support these findings. The present findings also contradict the view offered by some individuals interested in dance psychology (Hamilton, 1997; Van Rossum, 2004) who characterize dance teachers as authoritarian in nature and more prone to promote ego-involving climates. Perhaps either the outsiders' perceptions of the typical dance climate are erroneous or the seemingly impossible endeavor to change the culture of dance (van Staden, et al., 2010) is not so impossible. On the other hand, this study tends to refute prior research in the area of dancer well-being. Many studies suggest that dancers are prone to experiencing a variety of ill-being factors (Ackard, et al., 2004; Anshel, 2004; Bettle, et al., 2001; de Bruin, et al., 2009; Noh, et al., 2007; van Staden, et al., 2009). This study shows relatively high mean scores across the postive markers of well-being, indicating that adolescent dancers are doing better than other researchers suggested. Previous concerns included low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, and negative affect (Anshel, 2004; Bettle, et al., 2001; de Bruin, et al., 2009; van Staden, et al., 2009). However, the dancers in this study valued their bodies to a greater extent and reported more positive affect than demonstrated previously. 61 Differences Between Competition and Technical Dancers The first aim of this study was to explore the differences in perceptions of the social psychological climate between two groups of dancers. There is an absence of literature examining this relationship. This study serves as initial support that dance experiences differ according to the type of dance studio where training occurs. Because there was no preliminary evidence to suggest the differences, no hypothesis was given for this aim. However, the researcher, through personal experience and anecdotal evidence, expected competition dancers to report greater perceptions of an ego-involving climate and less of a task-involving and caring climate than technical dancers. Reasoning for this expectation included the perception that competition dancers are encouraged to compare themselves with other dancers, are often demonstrating competence through winning, are judged and awarded higher scores for successful performances, and are punished with lower scores for making mistakes, all of which are characteristic of ego-involving climates (Ames, 1982; Newton, et al., 2000; Nicholls, 1984). Yet, this was not demonstrated by the results in this study. The second aim of the study was to explore the differences in reported psychological well-being between the two groups. Again, although no hypothesis was given, the researcher expected that competition dancers would report less psychological well-being (indicated by more negative affect) due to dealing with the ups and downs of winning and losing. In addition, research has shown that dancers are preoccupied with their body and anxious about how they present themselves (Thompson & Chad, 2002). Because competition dancers face judgment more often due to the frequency of competitions it was thought that they may experience this to a greater extent than other 62 dancers. Finally, because competition dancers often compete with their teammates for openings in group numbers and against each other in solo competitions, it was thought that they might have more difficulty forming quality attachments with their peers. The findings contradicted these expectations. First, competition dancers actually reported significantly higher perceptions of task-involving and caring climates and lower perceptions of ego-involving climates than technical dancers. There may be several explanations as to why competition dancers may perceive a more positive climate than other dancers. First, as the demographics demonstrated, most dancers had been dancing at the same studio for an average of 8.45 years. For a dancer to choose to remain at the same studio for that amount of time, it is reasonable to consider that they enjoy themselves in that climate and are more committed to staying there. The relationship between motivational climate, enjoyment, and commitment has been established (Kavassanu & Roberts, 1996; Ntoumanis, Taylor, & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2012; Seifriz, et al., 1992). In addition, dancers who are not happy at a given studio are likely to have self-selected out of that climate and moved on to another studio or out of dance altogether. As evidence suggests, individuals who are not enjoying their experience will drop out and pursue other interests (Hedstrom & Gould, 2004; Seefeldt, Ewing, & Walk, 1992). Moreover, it is possible that dancers have a skewed perception of the motivational climate. Researchers have shown that dancers are more likely to have an ego-oriented disposition (Carr & Wyon, 2003) which may allow for them to perceive an ego-involving motivational climate as more positive than an outside observer might and actually interpret it as a task-involving climate. This study did not account for dispositional differences in dancers. In addition, dancers may have had some experiences with extreme 63 expectations in competitive climates but if expectations were lower at the time of this study it may have resulted in dancers reporting feelings of a more positive climate in comparison to their past experiences. Another explanation for these findings could be that the influence of the team was not taken into account for this study. It is possible the researcher underestimated the impact of team success (i.e., task cohesion; Estabrooks & Dennis, 2003) and team identity (i.e., social cohesion; Estabrooks & Dennis, 2003) on perceptions of the climate and on mood, body-esteem, and relationships. Teams who strive together for a common goal may be more likely to experience higher levels of respect and caring for each other. Estabrooks and Dennis (2003) stated "satisfaction and a sense of belonging are affective outcomes associated with a highly cohesive group" (p. 101), suggesting that associations within a cohesive team can influence an individual's emotions. In addition, because motivational climate is achievement goal-oriented, it is reasonable to expect that situations in which goals are reached are perceived as positive. Teams who succeed together form bonds (Estabrooks & Dennis, 2003). Additionally, competition dancers often spend time outside of the studio travelling and socializing together while going to various competitions. This is not experienced by the technical dancers who generally see their classmates only within dance contexts. Finally, there were several limitations in the research design of this study that may have led to the unexpected results, which showed competition dancers perceive positive climates and report well-being to a greater extent than technical dancers. First, only half of the originally projected sample was obtained and of those sampled, nearly half came from a single dance studio. Therefore the findings underrepresent the variety of dance 64 studios and dancers that exist in the area and may have been influenced by a single dance climate more than the others. In addition, although there were more competition studios involved in this study than there were technical studios, the competition studios which chose to participate may not represent all competition studios. In fact, several of the biggest (and most well-known for their team success) competition studios either refused to participate because they did not have time to spare or simply ignored the researchers attempts at contacting them. Studios such as this may fit the preconceptions that competition studios are more ego-involving whereas the studios that willingly participated may actually represent a subset of competition schools in which the primary goal of the studio is centered on enjoyment rather than on winning, making them more likely to be task-involving climates in the first place. As suggested by the classification analyses, which demonstrated that members of the two groups were correctly identified more often than was expected by chance alone, there is room for improvement in the ability to correctly predict whether a dancer is either a competition or a technical dancer. Due to these limitations, the generalizing of these findings to the broader dance community should be conducted with extreme caution. More inquiry into the differences between types of studios is necessary. Possibly the most interesting finding from the multivariate discriminant function analysis of psychological well-being was the contribution of the quality and quantity of friendships to the overall well-being of dancers. With the high level of perceived caring in the dance climate, it is reasonable to expect to see indications of good social connection and well-being on the relationship-related variables. It is interesting that caring was not as strongly related to these variables as perceptions of a task-involving 65 climate were. However, it is rational to expect that the less comparison and intra-team (intra-class) rivalry between dancers there is (i.e., the more task-involving a context is), the more personal connection and friendship can be encouraged between members of the group. Overall, very little is known about the antecedents to and the impact of dancers' relationships with their teachers and peers. This study demonstrates that these relationships are important, especially for adolescent dancers, and more research should be done focusing on the nature of these relationships. Relationship of Social Psychological Climate to Psychological Well-Being The third aim of the study was to explore the relationship between social psychological climate and well-being. Given the results of the simple bivariate correlational analysis, it is evident that task-involving and caring climates consistently relate to a host of positive well-being indicators, supporting the hypothesis. These results support previous research findings of dancers, which have shown task-involving climates were related to less negative affect and more positive affect (Quested & Duda, 2009, 2010) and more satisfaction with one's body (de Bruin, et al., 2009). In addition, these findings demonstrated that there are similarities between findings from sport and dance. For example, Reinboth and Duda (2006) found that task-involving climates were related to greater subjective vitality (more energy), which may be related to experiencing more positive affect. Researchers of the caring climate in sport contexts have also provided evidence that caring is related to greater hope and happiness and less sadness and depression, indicators of affective well-being (Fry, et al., 2012). Knowing that sport and dance have overlapping characteristics, it becomes easier to justify applying sport psychology concepts in dance settings. 66 Furthermore, this study indicated that task-involving and caring climates are not only related to better affect, they are also related to greater body-esteem and better relationships with teachers and peers. Little has been done examining the relationships between these constructs in the past. These findings provide further support for the need to study the broader social psychological climate in both dance and sport settings with the aim of understanding ways in which teachers and coaches might better foster psychological well-being. In general, two factors were identified that characterize a more complex relationship among the multiple variables. Dancers are likely to thrive, especially socially, in a climate they perceive as task-involving and caring. On the other hand, and to a lesser extent, dancers who perceive an ego-involving climate have their well-being, body-esteem and affect in particular, threatened. There may be several explanations for this. First, by perceiving a task-involving climate dancers are more likely to feel as though they are not expected to live up to an impossibly high standard or compare themselves with their peers, thereby limiting the amount of pressure/stress they feel and improving their mood, as lower anxiety has been related to increased positive affect (Watson, et al., 1988). Moreover, when dancers do not compare themselves to their peers, they have more opportunities for collaboration and greater ability to connect to others. This may account for the higher quantity of friendships that occur in a positive climate as well. However, in an ego-involving climate it could be more difficult to relate to peers because of intra-class rivalry and unequal recognition. In an ego-involving climate, dancers are more likely to be in competition with their peers than they are to trust and communicate with them. There was an advantage to using the PMCSQ-2 which separates 67 perceptions of the climate into subscales which are aimed at measuring the constructs discussed above such as cooperative learning, intra-team rivalry, and unequal recognition. Unfortunately, due to a smaller sample size, it was not suitable to analyze the data at the subscale level. Within the thriving dimension, a strong positive relationship with teachers was also reported. As part of the dance culture, dancers tend to receive a lot of critical feedback, which has the potential to discourage them. Fortunately, in a positive climate, mistakes are viewed as a valuable source of feedback (Walling, et al., 1993) and a demonstration that the teacher respects and cares for the dancer enough to help them improve, resulting, in this study, in less feelings of fear, distress, nervousness, and shame. On the other hand, critical feedback can be threatening to a dancer when they feel as though they are being punished for their mistakes, which tends to happen in ego-involving climates (Walling, et al., 1993). This has been shown to be related to high levels of negative affect in individuals who fear failure (Smith, et al., 2007). Findings from the threatening factor support this. Dancers who perceived an ego-involving climate also reported high negative affect. Although the threatening factor accounted for less of the variance between individuals, it included one relationship of particular interest. As climates became more ego-involving, dancers' body-esteem got lower. This may be due to dancers placing value on their own opinions and on others' opinions of their appearance and being more concerned with weight than nondancers (Bettle, et al., 2001), as supported in this study. Further complicating the issue body-esteem, it is difficult to clearly define what a "winning" standard is in a subjective, aesthetic activity such as dance, but dancers have a 68 tendency to strive for perfection, which cannot be achieved. During this process of striving, dancers have many opportunities to be judged. This may lead to feelings of social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction (Ackard, et al., 2004; Anshel, 2004; de Bruin, 2009). In a threatening climate, one in which winning at all cost is emphasized, dancers may feel even more pressure to fit the "ideal" physical concept embraced in the dance culture (Reel, et al., 2005) and therefore feel worse about their body when it does not match up. Findings from this study suggest that teachers who have dancers struggling with low body-esteem would benefit from understanding how to promote a task-involving and caring climate rather than an ego-involving climate. Students in positive climates are more likely to have good quality relationships with their dance teachers and may respond better to expressions of concern when they are given by their teachers. In addition, by learning to promote a more positive climate teachers can encourage optimal engagement in the dance class and promote a thriving social psychological climate. CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Summary Eighty-three, late adolescent female dancers from studios throughout Salt Lake City and surrounding areas participated in this study aimed at understanding the relationship between perceptions of the social psychological climate and aspects of psychological well-being among pre-professional dancers. A cross-sectional correlational design was used and self-report data were collected from each participant. The primary investigator contacted various dance studios to gain entry to dancers who fit the designated inclusion criteria. Parental consent forms were sent home and participants returned them