Exploring Perceived Motivating Factors Of Busy Adults To Participate In Shanghai Auditioned Choirs

Choral music has been continuously developing in China and achieved prosperity over the past century,cultivating an epochal feature instilled with Chinese characteristics.Compared with that of the past,which relied on "mass singing" as its principal carrier and played a significant role in national politics and religion,Chinese choral music now has fostered diversity and inclusiveness since the reform and opening up,especially in the 21 st century.In this context,a new type of community choir with busy urban adults as the main body has emerged in some Chinese cities,showing new cultural phenomena.The members understand the Chorus concept as vocal art,most of whom have received higher education.Therefore,pursuing the sound esthetics of excellence and continuously participating in choirs have become an essential part of their busy life.Currently,many researchers pay attention to the Chinese chorus literature,the vocal training at rehearsal,and the conducting methods.More studies focus on the senior citizens and the college students as far as the members who participate in choirs.Therefore,the purpose of this study was to profile and understand the chorus participants,to explore the motivating factors of busy urban adults for continuing their musical engagement,and try to build a theoretical framework to explain the related affecting factors,using the qualitative and quantitative methods.First,selected members(N=15)of three typical Shanghai community auditioned choirs were interviewed in-depth to explore the perceived motivation and influencing factors to participate in the current choir based on the grounded theory.Three waves of data collection and analysis revealed a dynamic motion factors model of "Music Literacy-Psychological Needs-Urban Context"(MNC)covering eight main categories.Based on this model,the structural path framework for further research is built.This paper proposes the hypotheses that the growing support of adolescence,the experience of participating in Chorus in and out of school,and the current humanistic environment in Shanghai are the important influencing factors which related to the current multi-dimensional psychological needs of busy adults and contribute to the motivating factors of busy adults to sing in choirs continuously.Furthermore,the music literacy of individuals has a mediator effect between growth support and psychological needs.Then,combined with grounded theory research results,this paper borrowed ideas from measures of different influencing factors used by previous western researchers,developed the scales,and designed the questionnaire.Data were collected from young individuals participating in Shanghai auditioned community choir and university students' choirs through an online survey(N=558)and were used to address past in-and out-of-school musical experiences,perceived music literacy,choral genre preferences,psychological needs,and barriers.Research objectives were answered using descriptive statistics,difference analysis,exploratory and confirmatory analysis by using the SPSS 23.0 and Amos 21.0software.Based on the above steps,the main conclusions of the study are as follows: 1.Youth growth support,including family support,in and out of school support,significantly affects the spiritual needs,aesthetic needs,knowledge needs,and self-actualization needs of individuals in adulthood;2.The experience of singing in Chorus in the youth has no significant effect on the knowledge needs of individuals in the majority;3.Shanghai chorus environment has no significant impact on the self-actualization needs and social needs of the participating Chorus;4.The urban cultural and creative environment has no significant impact on individuals' spiritual needs and aesthetic needs participating in the Chorus.Apart from that,the hypothetical relationships in other paths proposed in the study are significantly positive.Results indicated that participants tend to be middle-income individuals with at least one college degree and nearly equally male and female.Members described themselves as dedicated to and serious about their choral activity.And more than half of them were involved in choral activities in school.University students' choir was the most frequently cited during formal music participation,in particular,subjects most commonly participated in private piano lessons out of school.Men are more accustomed to the use of the movable-do system.Women have a more substantial need to relieve psychological pressure by singing in Chorus.The perceived music literacy of busy adults is higher than that of university students.Participants also shared many perceived potential barriers and problems which might prevent Chinese community choirs from developing better in the future,such as choral competition results were too much emphasized.In contrast,the school choral teaching or class teaching process was generally ignored—the idea of "music education for everyone," which the government advocates were inefficiently implemented.Subjects also shared a strong expectation for contemporary Chinese original choral works reflecting current people's minds and lives.Combined with the data and text analysis,from the standpoint of lifelong music education,this study concluded that: on the one hand,instrument learning,parents' attitude on music education,teachers' professional abilities,and the musicianship cultivation during general school education in different levels are of great significance to the establishment of stable interests in choral music;on the other hand,the development of cultural industry calls for the cultivation of arts management compound talents with one specialty and multiple abilities.It also points that creating an urban artistic atmosphere and the reconstruction of the Chinese local choir concept of cultural managers will be the guarantee for the prosperity of the Chinese amateur Chorus.