Page 99 - How to Shine on Stage

means that a performer’s goal can be to experience and express emotions
(goal 1), to experience emotions and not express them (goal 2), to express
emotions but not experience them (goal 3), or to neither experience nor
express emotions (goal 4). Although researchers and practitioners have
so far assumed that music performers always want to reduce pre-perfor-
mance anxiety, current findings suggest that this is not always the case.
In fact, some performers seek to experience excitement when they per-
form, probably due to a belief that excitement actually contributes to a
better performance. We could link this case to goal no. 2, where the per- 97
former wants to feel the excitement, but does not want to reveal it to the
audience (Brooks, 2014). The modern notion of emotional goals in the
regulation of pre-performance excitement can help us to design optimal
emotion regulation strategies, while acknowledging that performers may
pursue differing goals in terms of their performance emotions (Osborne
et al., 2020).

Emotion Regulation Strategy Based on the IZOF Model
The ideal performance state depends on the regulation of many emo-
tions in terms of valence and intensity. The Individual Zones of Optimal Direct Factors of Musical Performance Success
Functioning model is a theoretical framework and simultaneously a prac-
tical approach that enables qualitative and quantitative analyses of
pre-performance excitement in relation to the performance (Hanin,
2007). The model is derived from sports psychology, where it is exten-
sively used. It monitors the mental states which significantly influence
and predict an athlete’s success. Using the model increases consisten-
cy of the achievement of good competition results. It is about identifying
individual emotional patterns which shape performance. The model is
grounded in the assumption that the ideal competitive or performance
state is associated with a certain intensity range of particular emotions.
It is also grounded in a multidimensional concept of competition anxiety
as an integral component of the mental state and the performance pro-
cess (Hanin, 2007).
Studies on anxiety in sport have revealed that the optimal anxie-
ty state curve is highly individual, that the best performances are linked
to certain anxiety zones, that performance is worse when the athlete’s
anxiety does not match their individual zones, and that the relationship
between anxiety and performance is highly specific to the task type (Ha-
nin, 2007).
The IZOF model serves as the baseline for the identification of the
IZOF profile. It concerns the recognition of indicators of emotions that