Buzzes and barriers: young people's attitudes to participation in the arts

SUMMARY: This article draws on evidence collected through interviews with 700 young people between the ages of 14 and 24 in five different regions of England. Material from this source is used to construct a tentative typology of attitudes towards participation in the arts. This typology contains a set of twelve positive attitudes (or motivations) associated with arts involvement, followed by a set of eight negative attitudes which emerge as barriers to participation. In addition, an attempt is made to identify those positive attitudes which most frequently appeared to accompany high levels of involvement in the arts. It is suggested that a self‐identity or self‐expression motive (‘I participate in the arts because it's how I define myself, it's a means of self‐expression’) and a physiological motive (‘I participate in the arts because of feeling a real buzz’) are particularly evident among arts enthusiasts.