Department of Psychology

Özet:
Müzik Performans Kaygısı (MPK) her yaştan profesyonel ve amatör müzisyenin yaşayabileceği ve gerçek performans üzerinde olumsuz etkileri olan bir kaygı problemidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, MPK ile ilişkili değişkenleri ve  bunlara ait araştırma bulgularını gözden geçirmek, başa çıkma ve müdahale yöntemleri ile sık başvurulan ölçüm araçları hakkında yazın temelli bir çerçeve çizmektir. MPK’nın belirtileri genel olarak bilişsel, somatik ve davranışsal olmak üzere üç temel grupta ele alınmaktadır. Gözden geçirilen çalışmalarda yüksek düzeyde MPK yaşayan müzisyenlerin oranı farklılık göstermektedir. Bu yazıda değinilen araştırmalarda oran %21 ile %59 arasında değişmektedir. Ancak bu verilere dayanılarak MPK’nın müzisyenler arasında sık karşılaşılan bir problem olduğu söylenebilir. Yapılan araştırmalar MPK’nın içedönüklük, mükemmeliyetçilik ve sürekli kaygı gibi kişilikle özellikleriyle ilişkili olabileceğini göstermektedir. Özellikle, MPK ile mükemmeliyetçilik ve sürekli kaygı arasında pozitif ilişkiler bulan görgül çalışmalar benzer bulgular sunmaktadır. MPK’nın etkilerini azaltmak için müzisyenlerin kullandığı başa çıkma çalışmaları geniş bir repertuar oluşturmaktadır. Bunlar arasında gevşeme ve solunum egzersizleri yapmak, ilaç kullanmak, olumlu tutumu korumaya çalışmak, doğal maddeler almak, alkol kullanmak gibi işlevsel olan ve olmayan stratejiler yer almaktadır. MPK’ya müdahale yöntemlerini kontrollü çalışmalarla sınayan çalışmaların sayısının azlığı dikkat çekicidir. Bu sınırlılığa karşın, yapılan çalışmalar davranışsal yöntemlerin ve Bilişsel Davranışçı Terapi uygulamalarının etkili sonuçlar verdiğini göstermektedir. Bu yazıda ilgili yazın belirli başlıklar altında özetlenmiş ve gelecekteki çalışmalar için bazı öneriler getirilmiştir.

Abstract:
The Music Perfomance Anxiety (MPA) is an anxiety problem that professional and amateur musicians of all ages can experience and that has negative effects on real performance. The aim of this study is to review MPA-related variables and their research ndings and to create a literature-based framework concerning coping and intervention strategies and frequently used measurement tools. The symptoms of MPA are usually categorized in three main groups: cognitive, somatic and behavioral. The studies that are reviewed have differing percentages of musicians experiencing high levels of MPA. These percentages range between 21% and 59% in the studies referred to in this article. Based on this data, however, it can be argued that MPA is a frequently experienced problem among musicians. Research indicates that MPA can be related to personality traits such as introversion, perfectionism and trait anxiety. Especially empirical studies report similar ndings regarding positive relationships between perfectionism and trait anxiety. There is a wide variety of coping strategies used by musicians in order to decrease the effects of MPA. Among these are both functional and dysfunctional strategies, such as doing relaxation and breathing exercises, using medication, trying to preserve a positive attitude, using natural products, and drinking alcohol. It is striking to observe how there are very few studies testing MPA intervention strategies through controlled studies. Despite this limitation, the existing studies indicate that behavioral techniques and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy lead to some effective results. This article summarized the related literature under certain headings and made some suggestions concerning future research.

In the present research, the Performance Anxiety Scale for
Music Students (PASMS) was developed in three successive
studies. In Study 1, the factor structure of PASMS was
explored and three components were found: fear of stage
(FES), avoidance (AVD) and symptoms (SMP). The internal
consistency of the subscales of PASMS, which consisted of 27
items, varied between 0.89 and 0.91. The internal consistency
for the whole scale was found to be 0.95. The correlations
among PASMS and other anxiety-related measures were significant
and in the expected direction, indicating that the
scale has convergent validity. The construct validity of the
scale was assessed in Study 2 by confirmatory factor analysis.
After several revisions, the final tested model achieved
acceptable fits. In Study 3, the 14-day test-retest reliability of
the final 24-item version of PASMS was tested and found to
be extremely high (0.95). In all three studies, the whole scale
and subscale scores of females were significantly higher than
for males.

Translated 30 items taken from S. M. Pedersen's (1979) Privacy Questionnaire into Turkish. Using data from 104 Turkish students, 26 of Pedersen's items and 4 new items were selected to be used in this study. Factor analysis of responses by 375 Turkish high school and college students (mean age 19.2 yrs) to this list of 30 items confirmed Pedersen's (1979) 6-dimensional model of privacy. Scale scores were computed for these dimensions. An analysis of these scores indicated differences in the mean frequencies of preferences for each type of privacy. Results are discussed with respect to sex and culture.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the problem solving and decision making strategies of Turkish university students under uncertainty. Previous studies showed that individual prefer heuristics to rational, mathematical and statistical decision making. Examining the quality and quantity of the relationship between critical thinking and decision making is another purpose of the present thesis. Finally, in this study, the effects of critical thinking training on the students' critical thinking dispositions are studied.

With these purposes in mind, subjects were asked to answer some questions tapping problem solving and decision making styles. In order to use in the present study, a scale named California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory was translated into Turkish and reliability and validity analyses were performed. High and low critical thinkers were compared according to their decision making preferences with reference to rational decision models. In addition, to find out whether training would increase the critical thinking disposition or not, university students in the experimental group were received 10-hour-training about critical thinking and then compared with control group who did not receive such treatment.

Results showed that not for all but probability related problems, subjects those who were high in critical thinking disposition prefer more rational solutions. In addition, university students who had treatment on critical thinking and received psychology education showed a significant increase in critical thinking disposition as compared with students in the control group.

This paper reports a study on university students' attributions for the causes of and cures for depression conducted in a Turkish sample. Results revealed six components for causes, which were trauma, job-related problems, loss, disposition, intimacy, and isolation. Seven components were found for cures, which were hobby, sensation seeking, avoidance, professional help, religious practices, esteem, and spiritual activities. Men rated religious practices as more useful than women did. No other differences pertaining to gender or previous contact were found. Results are discussed together with the limitations of the study.

To expose perceptions of – and explanations for – emotional and sexual infidelity, an Infidelity Questionnaire (INFQ) was developed for this study and was administered to university students. The structure of the INFQ included different causes under six components which are legitimacy, seduction, normalization, sexuality, social background, and sensation seeking. Results are discussed with reference to differences in the sex of participants and the sex of betrayers.

The mortality salience hypothesis of terror management theory was tested in a predominantly Muslim country. In Study 1a, private university students primed with thoughts of death reported more negative evaluations of a paragraph arguing state universities’ superiority to private ones, compared to a control condition in which ‘‘death’’ was replaced by ‘‘an important exam.’’ Study 1b conceptually replicated this finding at a state university. Study 2 found that MS participants wanted their home country to have stronger relations with Turkmenistan and weaker relations with England and Greece. Results were discussed with reference to university and national identity, and implications for future
research were noted.

Person-environment relationship was examined employing selfdisclosure behavior. Subjects were 621 high school and university students. They were given 16 disclosure items representing eight different topics and asked to indicate the person to whom they disclosed the information in each item last and where this disclosure took place. Subjects were also asked to report the degree of appropriateness of the place where each disclosure occurred and the overall satisfaction obtained from each disclosure. Results showed that adolescents and young adults disclosed information to different targets at different places. Parents and friends appeared as the major targets of disclosure, and among a variety of places, home, academic settings, and public places were the main settings in which most disclosure took place. Friend disclosure was more frequent than the parent disclosure and in parental disclosure, mother disclosure was more than father disclosure.

Disclosures at home occured more often than disclosure at academic settings and public places. As expected satisfaction obtained from disclosure was varied as the function of place appropriateness. The results were discussed with special reference to the behavior-environment congruence. New procedures were also proposed.

Bu çalışmada kişilerin zihinlerindeki "akıl hastası" ortaya çıkarabilmek için deneklere herhangi bir hastalık adı ya da bir vaka sunulmamıştır. Bu yüzden elde edilen 7 faktörün Türk insanının akıl hastalarına vermiş olduğu genel özellikleri yansıttıkları düşünülebilir. Deneklerin yarısından fazlasının (N = 94) akıl hastası olan birisini tanıyor olması ve bu tanımanın
diğer deneklere oranla bir farklılık yaratacağı beklentisi kanıtlanmamıştır. Bir akıl hastasını tanıyıp tanımamanın hastalıkla ilgili davranışların sıklığını, duyulabilecek rahatsızlığı ve başa çıkıp çıkamamayı belirlemekte etkisinin olmayışı ilgi çekicidir.