Motives for Dancing Among Finnish Folk Dancers, Competitive Ballroom Dancers, Ballet Dancers and Modern Dancers

The present study was designed to assess and compare participation motives among 308 non‐professional folk dancers, competitive ballroom dancers, ballet dancers and modem dancers. As in many studies of motives for sport participation, the dancers surveyed here cited several reasons for being attracted by dance. Factor analyses revealed four meaningful motivational factors: 1) Self‐Expression, 2) Social Contacts, 3) Fitness, and 4) Achievement/Performing. Two contradictory motive items, Breaking Away From Daily Routines and Preparing for a Career, were considered as individual motive items. The most important factors were Self‐Expression, Achievement/Performing and the individual motive item Breaking Away From Daily Routines. There were significant differences in the ratings of all four motivational factors and the two motive items between dance groups. Three motivational factors, Social Contacts, Fitness and Achievement/Performing, were similar to those most often found in sport studies. The comparison of participation motives among the four dance forms indicated that the greatest differences obtained were between the participation motives of folk dancers on the one hand and modem dancers on the other. The broadest motivational background was found among folk dancers. It is reasonable to assume that folk dance has adopted some hew art‐ and performance‐oriented functions in addition to its previously established social and recreational functions. Additional informationNotes on contributorsPipsa Nieminen Pipsa Nieminen is with the Department of Physical Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.