Identity and learning from feedback

: the case of orchestra musicians

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to examine how social identity affects orchestra musicians’ perceived competence to interpret and respond to feedback, and the degree to which this ultimately affects work performance. Qualitative interviews were first conducted to gain insight into topics of social identity, feedback self-efficacy and performance of music players, and later operationalize these constructs in follow-up quantitative analysis. Research hypotheses were tested by means of survey data collected from 152 musicians. Findings suggest that feedback self-efficacy mediates the effect of the repertoire of social identities on all dimensions of orchestral performance. In particular, orchestra musicians who have a greater identities repertoire tend to have more confidence in dealing with feedback and, as a result, report better results. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for organizations and promising directions for future research.

Date of Award	22 Oct 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Irina Cojuharenco (Supervisor)