A cross-cultural examination of university students’ motivation toward band and academics in Singapore and the United States

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate how university band students’ (non-music majors) motivational goal orientations towards band and academics differ across participants from Singapore (n = 200) and the US (n = 227), and examine how they relate to a suite of adaptive dispositions (i.e., flow, grit, and commitment) relevant for twenty-first century learning. Data were gathered via a self-report questionnaire that measured achievement goal orientations towards academic major, individual and collective goal orientations towards band, flow during rehearsals, grit while practicing, and commitment to band. An unexpected lack of cross-cultural differences was found, with participants from both cultural groups reporting higher levels of motivation towards their major academic field compared to band, indicating that achievement domain rather than culture accounted for differences in motivational goal orientations. Results also suggest that the optimal motivational profile to cultivate in large ensemble is a combination of individual mastery-approach and collective performance-approach goals.