Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Psychology of Music
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ryan, C.
Right arrow Articles by Darrow, A.-A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The effects of various physical characteristics of high-level performers on adjudicators’ performance ratings

Charlene Ryan

Joel Wapnick

Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada

Nathalie Lacaille

Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada

Alice-Ann Darrow

Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fl, Usa

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical attractiveness and performance ratings of high-level pianists. Eighteen of the 30 competitors who participated in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were rated by undergraduate and graduate music students and faculty. Participants were divided into three groups who rated the performances under either audio, audiovisual, or visual-only conditions. Visual-only participants rated performers on physical attractiveness, dress, and stage behaviour. Results suggest that high-level pianists are not affected in the same way by the apparent attractiveness bias that has been found in studies of novice and college-level musicians. Performers rated low on behaviour received consistently higher performance scores than high behaviour performers regardless of treatment condition (audio or audiovisual). Performers who rated high on each of the visual components benefited from the audiovisual condition, as compared with the audio-only condition, on note accuracy, but not on five other measures of performance. Interactions between each visual component (attractiveness, dress, and behaviour) and gender of the rater raise questions about gender differences in the perception of attractiveness.

Key Words: adjudication • attractiveness • dress • performance ratings • physical appearance • stage behaviour

Psychology of Music, Vol. 34, No. 4, 559-572 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735606068106
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?