Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
Executive Summary
A useful strategy for understanding the benefits of participating in the arts is to focus on audience members rather than on artists or performers (Brown & Novak, 2007). Previous research employing this strategy provided a framework for the present study. Polzella & Forbis (2013, 2014) used logistic regression to analyze data from 6257 households who took part in the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). Three pro-social behaviors (voting in the 2004 presidential election, making charitable donations or volunteering time, and attending community meetings) were regressed on what the NEA considers “traditional” music audience participation (attending classical, jazz, or opera music performances). After controlling for the effects of age, race, sex, income, education, marital status and occupation class, it was found that individuals who attended a greater number of traditional music performances over the course of the previous year were approximately one and one-half times more likely to have voted, two times more likely to have volunteered time or contributed to charities, and two times more likely to have participated in community activities.
In a follow-on study, Polzella & Forbis (2015) analyzed data from the 2012 SPPA and found the same pattern of results for live arts-related experiences other than traditional music concerts (e.g., dance, theater, visual arts, nontraditional music concerts) and, unexpectedly, for recorded/electronic arts-related experiences. They also analyzed data from the 2012 General Social Survey (GSS) to explore individuals’ motivation for attending arts-related events. While there were numerous reasons that individuals were drawn to the arts, the reasons for attending did not operate independently of one another, and considering them in isolation would be misleading.
The major objective of the present study was to propose a hypothetical model for arts-related behaviors that incorporated a broad spectrum of four clusters of predictor variables: demographic, quality of life, prosocial behaviors, and prosocial interests. Two survey cohorts of 2023 and 2867 individuals, obtained from the 2012 GSS or 2016 GSS surveys, respectively, provided the data for this study. They were analyzed using binary logistic regression, a form of logistic regression where both response and predictor variables are dichotomous. Each analysis included one arts-related response variable and a set of predictors consisting of one or more prosocial variables along with the demographic variables to control for their effects.
These were the findings:
- Individuals who described themselves happy or having an exciting life were more likely to be engaged in the arts, whereas those who described themselves as being successful or meeting their goals were not more likely to be engaged.
- Individuals who engaged in prosocial behaviors, including voting, being religiously active, or supporting environmental causes, were more likely to be engaged in the arts.
- Individuals who expressed an interest in local education, environmental issues, international issues, scientific discoveries, or technologies were more likely to be engaged in the arts, whereas those who expressed an interest in economic issues, farm issues, military policy, or medical discoveries were less likely to be engaged.
- Individuals with more education or income were the ones most likely to be engaged in the arts.
A hypothetical model for the findings was obtained by mapping the predictors onto NEA’s new arts participation research agenda (National Endowment for the Arts Office of Research & Analysis, 2016). The agenda comprises two research frameworks: (a) arts participation, and (b) arts and cultural assets. This study rested within the arts participation framework. The input variables included education, income, and prosocial interests. The arts participation indices included attending art exhibits or live performances and visiting museums or other arts-related venues. The social and emotional outcomes included the significant prosocial behaviors and quality of life indicators. The model is hypothetical because the relationships among the variables may not be causal. Nevertheless, it suggests a plausible explanation that can be tested in future studies.
Place of Publication
Washington, DC
Keywords
Arts Participation, Prosocial Indicators
Sponsoring Agency
National Endowment for the Arts
eCommons Citation
Polzella, Donald J., "Prosocial/civic interests, prosocial/civic behaviors, and participation in the arts" (2017). Psychology Faculty Publications. 95.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/psy_fac_pub/95
Comments
National Endowment for the Arts Final Report, Grant No. FDR 16-3800-7015