Page 15 - How to Shine on Stage

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Successful Musical Performance

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1.1 Psychological Definition of Success
The Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language defines success as a no-
tion of someone achieving what they want or expect through their work
and efforts, and also as a positive result of some kind of work or effort (IS-
JFR ZRC SAZU, s.a.). The definition of the English word “success” in
the online Merriam-Webster dictionary reveals with even greater clar-
ity the duality between objective and subjective criteria of success; the
definition of success as the achievement of something one has aspired to
is grounded primarily in subjective perception, while the definition of
success as the attainment of wealth, favour, or eminence is more reflec-
tive of the objective, measurable side of success (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
Success is therefore largely based on the individual perception of each
person.
It is important to consider the psychological definition of success be-
fore entering the territory of musical performance success.
In psychology, success is addressed in the framework of the psychol-
ogy of motivation. The need for success is often listed among psychogen-
ic needs (Murray, 1938, in Ryan, 2019) and is linked to goal attainment.
It was already Lewin (1958, in Ryan, 2019) who pointed out in his pa-
per on the psychology of success and failure that a sense of success oc-
curs when we achieve or overachieve a goal, whereas McClelland et al.
(1976, in Ryan, 2019) noted that the achievement mindset is a relatively
permanent personality trait. In this respect, a distinction was made be-
tween positive and negative motivation; when an individual is motivated
in their work by a desire for achievement and success, we speak of pos-
itive achievement motivation, whereas when they perform an activity
only to avoid punishment, unpleasant consequences, or failure, we speak
of negative achievement motivation.
Weiner’s attribution theory (1986, in Ryan, 2019) also addresses the
experience of success, namely by examining the factors to which individ-
uals attribute causes of their success or failure. The most important divi-
sion of attributions distinguishes between external and internal factors.