Display candidate transaction variables for article
| Id | 835 | |
| Author | Pearce E., Launay J., Machin A., Dunbar R.I.M. | |
| Title | Is Group Singing Special? Health, Well-Being and Social Bonds in Community-Based Adult Education Classes | |
| Reference | Pearce E., Launay J., Machin A., Dunbar R.I.M.; Is Group Singing Special? Health, Well-Being and Social Bonds in Community-Based Adult Education Classes ;Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology vol:26.0 issue: 6.0 page:518.0 |
Link to article | https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84992128513&doi=10.1002%2fcasp.2278&partnerID=40&md5=7759d3eefd46d9dc415703817e0b95ea |
| Abstract | Evidence demonstrates that group singing improves health and well-being, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. Given that cohesive social networks also positively influence health, we focus on the social aspects of singing, exploring whether improvements in health and well-being are mediated by stronger social bonds, both to the group as a whole (collective-bonding) and to individual classmates (relational-bonding). To do so, seven newly formed community-based adult education classes (four singing, N = 84, and three comparison classes studying creative writing or crafts, N = 51) were followed over seven months. Self-report questionnaire data on mental and physical health, well-being and social bonding were collected at Months 1, 3 and 7. We demonstrate that physical and mental health and satisfaction with life significantly improved over time in both conditions. Path analysis did not show any indirect effects via social bonding of Condition on health and well-being. However, higher collective-bonding at timepoint 3 significantly predicted increased flourishing, reduced anxiety and improved physical health independently of baseline levels. In contrast, relational-bonding showed no such effects, suggesting that it is feeling part of a group that particularly yields health and well-being benefits. Moreover, these results indicate that singing may not improve health and well-being more than other types of activities. Nonetheless, these findings encourage further work to refine our understanding of the social aspects of community-based adult education classes in promoting health, well-being and community cohesion. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Higher summed scores indicate higher well-being in both cases. . | These shared goals, attention foci and successes are all likely to enhance feelings of closeness and affiliation with the group. . | These were taken to represent how close or connected a participant felt to their class as a whole group. . | Evidence demonstrates that group singing improves health and well-being, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. . | As well as these physical effects, singing may improve health and well-being psychologically, by encouraging positivity. . | The elevated positive affect and hedonic feelings associated with group singing may lead to perception of greater well-being, which may also be tied into better mental health. . | As well as these health-promoting individual physical and psychological effects, singing has strong social effects. . | Consequently, it may be that some of the health benefits attributed to group singing occur because of the social bonding effects of musical engagement in a group. . | Moreover, the hedonic impact of singing in lifting positive mood, combined with the eudaimonic outcomes associated with feeling part of something bigger than oneself, are together likely to yield an improved sense of well-being and satisfaction with life in regular singers (Hillman, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2001). . | In other words, as well as the physical and psychological processes linking singing and improved health and wellbeing, the social aspects of group singing are also likely to play a key role in health and well-being outcomes. . | Consequently, we hypothesise that some of the health and well-being benefits previously associated with group singing are driven by heightened social cohesion. . | (iii) singers show a greater positive change in well-being over time than non-singers; and . | (ii) singers show a greater reduction in self-reported mental ill-health over time than non-singers; . | This contrasts with previous findings that singing reduced anxiety and improved mental health compared to not singing (Coulton et al., 2015; Sanal & Gorsev, 2013). . | In turn, this implies that some of the health well-being benefits of community adult education classes in general may lie in the opportunities they provide for social engagement with a wider social network. . | Nonetheless, these findings encourage further work to refine our understanding of the social aspects of community-based adult education classes in promoting health, well-being and community cohesion. . | These classes were run by a national charity that promotes lifelong learning in the community (the Workers Educational Association, WEA) and took place in venues utilised by the local community, including a library, community halls and a school. . | For instance, a number of crafters reported enjoying the sharing of ideas and learning new techniques from each other: We all seem to talk and help each other with ideas. . |
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