Music performance anxiety (MPA) is most often defined as a negative experience that is harmful to successful performance, but potential facilitating effects of MPA often are acknowledged. The distinction between facilitating and debilitating effects often is attributed to various cognitive frameworks based on the quantity of anxiety, where smaller amounts may be helpful and larger amounts harmful. The hypothesis underlying the present study holds that the difference between facilitating and debilitating MPA is more a matter of quality than quantity, specifically the qualities associated with the other positive and negative emotions that accompany MPA. A web survey recruited 114 musicians to test for differences in MPA and accompanying emotions by responding to descriptions of four specific musical contexts. Results show that between roughly one-quarter and one-half of the musicians in the study viewed MPA as facilitating, depending on context. Respondents endorsing the facilitating quality of MPA (compared with the debilitating group) showed significantly higher levels of positive emotion accompanied by lower levels of both MPA and negative emotion in three of four contexts. Results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that emotions accompanying MPA shape the quality of its effect on musical performance.

中文翻译：

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音乐表演焦虑可能会促进或削弱：情感伴奏会产生影响

音乐表演焦虑 (MPA) 通常被定义为对成功表演有害的负面体验，但 MPA 的潜在促进作用通常得到承认。促进作用和削弱作用之间的区别通常归因于基于焦虑程度的各种认知框架，其中较小的量可能是有益的，较大的量可能是有害的。本研究的假设认为，促进和削弱 MPA 之间的区别更多的是质量问题而不是数量问题，特别是与 MPA 伴随的其他积极和消极情绪相关的质量。一项网络调查招募了 114 名音乐家，通过回应四种特定音乐背景的描述来测试 MPA 和伴随情绪的差异。结果显示，研究中大约四分之一到二分之一的音乐家认为 MPA 具有促进作用，具体取决于具体情况。认可 MPA 促进质量的受访者（与衰弱组相比）在四分之三的情况下表现出显着较高的积极情绪水平，同时 MPA 和消极情绪水平较低。结果被解释为支持这样的假设：MPA 伴随的情绪决定了其对音乐表演的影响质量。