In this study, I sought to identify the characteristics of musical experiences that contribute to young musicians’ motivation for musical engagement. A comprehensive review of the literature produced 15 characteristics in three broader categories of contextual, process, and affective characteristics. These formed the basis of the coding scheme used in a content analysis of narratives provided by 102 music education majors. Participants wrote two narratives: one about an intrinsically motivated musical activity and one about an extrinsically motivated activity. The resulting narratives were coded according to whether they showed each of the 15 characteristics. The work of a second coder indicated that the coding had very high reliability. The content analysis offered several important findings. The characteristics supporting intrinsic motivation were varied and multi-layered. They included Enjoyment, Social connection, Expression, Learner-directed/autonomy, Creativity/experimentation , and Identity . In contrast, the characteristics of extrinsically motivated activities were more simply—and sometimes even singularly—supported, and they emphasized Virtue/value and Achievement . Subsequent analyses and discussion focused on instances in which characteristics more associated with intrinsic motivation appeared in narratives about extrinsically motivated activities, and vice versa.
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