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Rethinking Motivation in Choir

Participation: Proposing a
Contextual Model of Motivation
Øyvind Johan Eiksund
Norwegian University of Technology and Science

Abstract: Choir singing is a worldwide, multifaceted phenomenon, thus, to some

extent choral research can be described as a multidisciplinary field. However,
research on motivation in choir participation does not show the same multifaceted
diversity, which would create opportunities for expanding present discourse. The
aim of this chapter is to rethink the notion of motivation in choir participation by
emphasising the importance of cultural and social contexts, and by doing this, offer
a deeper and more nuanced understanding, which also includes sociological, cul-
tural, and emic bottom-up perspectives. The data for this study were generated in
Sunnmøre, Norway, and includes twelve interviews, notes from participant obser-
vation periods with four choirs, and a larger online survey. Through a “near-to-the-
data” analysis the findings are expressed through a contextual model of motivation,
where a range of motivational factors were sorted according to whether they are
perceived to be central or peripheral to the informant. The model proposes connec-
tions and dynamics providing insight into how motivation may evolve both individ-
ually and collectively, and offers alternative ways of speaking and thinking, creating
opportunities for changing how we experience and do choral work and research.

Keywords: choir singing, choral research, motivation, motivational culture,

motivational profile, field of tension

This chapter will reconsider the notion of motivation in choir participa-

tion by pursuing the following research question: How may emphasising
the importance of context expand our understanding of motivation in choir

Sitering: Eiksund, Ø. J. (2022). Rethinking Motivation in Choir Participation: Proposing a Contextual

Model of Motivation. In R. V. Strøm, Ø. J. Eiksund & A. H. Balsnes (Eds.), Samsang gjennom livsløpet
(MusPed:Research No. 5, Chap. 8, pp. 229–255). Cappelen Damm Akademisk. https://doi.org/10.23865/
noasp.162.ch8
Lisens: CC-BY 4.0

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participation? A premise for this line of questioning is the straightforward

claim that a person’s motivation for a certain behaviour depends on the
context encompassing the person and the behaviour. The context of choir
participation is here built on the understanding of the choir as a com-
plex and dynamic field of tension (Eiksund, 2019), expressing the many
parallel and different meanings a choir may have to its members, where
varying emphases on motivational factors, ownership, identity forms and
group functions play a part. In the doctoral thesis1 this chapter is based
on, motivation stood out as a central category, and the present chapter is
an elaboration and refinement of the findings from that study. The study’s
data were generated through a broad ethnographic approach in the study
of amateur choirs in Sunnmøre, Norway, and included a survey, partici­
pant observation, and interviews. Departing from a traditional indivi­
dualistic-psychological pathway of basic needs (Maslow, 1943, 1962, 1970a),
and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000), this chapter pro-
poses a contextual model of motivation, which includes a wide range of
motivational factors in an effort to incorporate sociological, cultural, and
emic bottom-up perspectives (King et al., 2018).
In what follows, I will contextualise the study by presenting aspects
of choir singing, choral research and theoretical perspectives on human
motivation. The study’s scene and methodological considerations will
then be followed by a presentation of the results in the form of a selection
of central and peripheral motivational factors. In the discussion I will
propose the concepts “personal motivational profile” and “motivational
culture”, both integral parts of the contextual model of motivation.

Background
Choir singing is a popular activity in Norway, engaging somewhere
between 2% and 4% of the population on a weekly basis (Eiksund, 2019,
pp. 17–18). Chorus America (2009) estimated that 42.6 million adults
and children regularly sing in one of 270,000 choruses in the US, while
in Europe it is suggested that more than 37 million adults take part in

1 The Choir as a Field of Tension – Between the Minor and the Major (Eiksund, 2019).

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group singing (Welch et al., 2019, p. v). Naturally, such a phenomenon has
attracted an increasing amount of research. Choral research is difficult
to define, but can be described as a multidisciplinary field, requiring a
range of research strategies, theoretical perspectives, and methodologi-
cal approaches (Geisler & Johansson, 2014, 2019). In a Norwegian con-
text, existing choral research may be structured according to whether
it emphasises factors like society, musical practices, or human proces-
ses (Eiksund, 2019, pp. 20–23). This aligns with the findings in Geisler’s
(2010) global choral research bibliography, where most titles fall under
the categories of choir history and sociology, choir pedagogy, and choir
music and health. In the newly published Oxford Handbook of Singing
(Welch et al., 2019), seven chapters are dedicated to the “collective ‘choral’
voice”, with contributions focusing on e.g., youth choirs, social identity,
intonation, and musical leadership, revealing the great variety of topics in
which choral research is developing today.
One topic in choral research that does not show a similar multifac-
eted diversity of strategies and perspectives, is the notion of motivation
in choir participation. To ask why human beings sing in choirs seems
like an obvious question, and this may be the reason why research on
this topic accordingly offers obvious findings. On the one hand, studies
emphasise musical factors as important for choir participation (Balsnes,
2009; Einarsdottir & Gudmundsdottir, 2016; Schjelderup, 2005); while on
the other hand the emphasis is on social factors as crucial for choir par-
ticipants’ motivation (Einarsdottir & Gudmundsdottir, 2016; Follestad,
2013; Hollen, 2010; Lindland, 2011; Myrmel, 2007; Stewart & Lonsdale,
2016; Theorell et al., 2020; Weinstein et al., 2016). Balsnes (2009) also
suggests combining these two factors, the musical and the social, as a
central theme in choral practice: “Choral practice must continually
balance between these two dimensions to let people enjoy themselves”
(pp. 236–237, my translation). This established dichotomy between musi-
cal and social factors in choral practice contributes to a clear and simple
understanding of how motivation in choir participation manifests itself,
giving choir member and choral researcher alike a conceptual approach
to the inner motivational workings of a global phenomenon. Still, con-
sidering the richness of contexts encompassing the many forms of choir

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participation, it is well worth exploring further the notion of motivation

in choir participation, something this chapter aims to do.
Research on the complex field of human motivation, especially in
relation to the arts, is considered important in order to understand the
human need and drive for musical and other artistic activities (Kemp,
1997), but the way forward is not as straightforward as it may seem in
established choral research discourse: “The set of human motivations is a
pie that can be sliced any number of ways” (Elster, 2007, p. 65). One way
of slicing this pie, in terms of educational psychology, is by distinguishing
between those who use more prevalent psychological theories, and situ-
ative theorists (Nolen et al., 2015). The psychological study of motivation
in formal and informal learning contexts aims primarily to create some-
what generalisable models that can explain what, how, and why learners
are motivated. One of the most well-known of these theories is self-de-
termination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000). On the other hand, a situ-
ative approach aims to: “(a) account for both the dynamic complexity of
motives of different individuals to learn (or not learn) within and across
particular social contexts over time; and (b) to identify useful patterns
and dimensions in activity within contexts that can inform the more
effective design or redesign of learning environments” (Nolen et al., 2015,
p. 236). A similar point is made by researchers promoting the importance
of culture and context when studying motivation in an increasingly multi­
cultural world. The recognition that motivation is strongly influenced
by contextual factors (through social-cognitive, socio-cultural, and situa-
tive theories of motivation), as well as the growing acceptance of the uni-
versalist perspective acknowledging the existence of both etic (culturally
universal) and emic (culturally specific) psychological processes, allows
a more nuanced understanding of the interface between culture and
key psychological processes (King & McInerney, 2016, pp. 1–2). The etic
approach usually places the researcher outside the cultural system he/she
is studying, while the emic approach involves exploring indigenous theo-
ries, models, and constructs. Building on a native’s perspective, it empha-
sises understanding psychological phenomena and the inter-relationship
with other phenomena. Criticism has been raised against research that
proceeds as if most psycho-educational processes are culturally invariant,

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and that Western theories are universally applicable and culturally inde-
pendent (King et al., 2018). Even though the current study does not focus
exclusively on learning per se, and is placed geographically on the west
coast of a Western country, I still believe the points made are very helpful
in interpreting the data. In the spirit of a universalist perspective, I will
in what follows advance theories, which in different ways highlight moti-
vation as a phenomenon, from a psychological, sociological, as well as a
culturally imaginative (King et al., 2018) point of view. Maslow’s (1943)
theory of human motivation, and Ryan and Deci’s self-determination
theory (2000) are chosen as starting points as they represent etic
individual-psychological approaches, which have also been used in rele-
vant choral and music research.

Theoretical Perspectives on Human Motivation

In the essay “A Theory of Human Motivation”, Maslow (1943) presents the
well-known hierarchy of needs consisting of basic physiological needs,
safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and the need for self-actualisation.
If the needs on one level are met, the organism “moves on” to needs on
a higher level – for instance from safety needs to love needs. In the same
way, the want of needs on a lower level, for instance lack of food and sleep,
demands priority over needs on the levels above. Without going deeply
into the intricacies of this theory, two issues are relevant for this study.
One concerns the difference between deficiency needs and growth needs
(Jerlang et al., 2008, p. 279; Maslow, 1962, pp. 24–25). Deficiency needs
motivate when the organism lacks something, and disappear when the
needs are met. Growth needs relate to self-actualisation, growth, and per-
sonal development, and give “positive health” when attended to. Needs
for safety, social relations, love, respect, and esteem depend on other peo-
ple, i.e., the social surroundings to be attained, and people motivated by
these needs are hence more dependent on these surroundings (Maslow,
1962, pp. 24–33). The second issue concerns the conditions that must be
in place to meet the needs. A threat to these conditions will be perceived
as a threat to the needs themselves, and will demand priority (Maslow,
1970a, p. 47).

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The classification of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is a central ele-

ment in self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000). SDT is
an approach to human motivation and personality that uses traditional
empirical methods while employing an organismic metatheory high-
lighting the importance of humans’ evolved inner resources for person-
ality development and behavioural self-regulation. Intrinsic (or natural)
motivation occurs when the motive for an action is to gain inner satisfac-
tion, or when you engage in an activity for its own sake. Extrinsic moti-
vation contrasts with this as it refers to the performance of an activity to
attain some separable outcome. In this theory, three basic psychological
needs are essential to foster self-motivation and personal integration: the
need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
A large-scale study using SDT on motivation for musical activities has
shown that intrinsic motivation increases with the level of musical activ-
ity (Appelgren et al., 2019). Stewart and Lonsdale (2016) compare choral
singing to two other relevant leisure activities, solo singing and playing
a team sport, to examine if and how singing in a choir might be benefi-
cial for an individual’s psychological well-being. The study suggests that
group membership is more important than singing for perceived well-
being, and the choir members reported stronger feelings of entitativity
(Lakens, 2010; Lakens et al., 2011), meaning an experience of group mem-
bership as meaningful or “real”. Another interesting finding was that the
choir members reported the lowest experience of autonomy. Still, choir
members reported significantly higher levels of well-being than solo sing-
ers. Stewart and Lonsdale (2016, p. 1250) point out the role the basic need
of autonomy plays in SDT in a choir setting as an area for future research.
SDT is a very interesting framework for exploring human motiva-
tion. What is especially helpful is the connection it makes between inner
motivation and a range of positive consequences, including improved
performance, increased persistence and enhanced subjective well-
being (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Stewart & Lonsdale, 2016, p. 1243). However,
it diminishes some aspects of a very complex phenomenon. Many activ-
ities are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated (Renolen, 2008,
pp. 42–44), and as the study by Stewart and Lonsdale (2016) shows, it may
not fully account for the specific context of the choir members, especially

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the role of autonomy and entitativity. Also, SDT has received criticism
for not adequately exploring culturally and contextually sensitive bottom-
up phenomena (King & McInerney, 2016; King et al., 2018; Nolen, 2020;
Nolen et al., 2015).

Changing Perspectives on Human Motivation

As mentioned above, the importance of culture and context when study-
ing motivation has been emphasised by a growing number of research-
ers (King & McInerney, 2016; King et al., 2018; Nolen et al., 2015).
Sociologically, motivation is considered a piece of a larger puzzle, some-
thing well illustrated by the concept of pathways (Finnegan, 1989). The
pathways that exist in a certain society guide our choices by being essen-
tial for the way we structure our lives. Both Giddens (1984) and Bourdieu
et al. (1995) point out that our actions must be understood in connection
with larger social structures or fields, anchoring motivation in a social
and cultural context.2 One can argue that the role the basic need for relat-
edness plays in internalising extrinsically motivated behaviour in SDT
(Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 73), somewhat accounts for this larger picture,
since it makes a connection between motivation and the support of the
community or social group. Still, in my view, these sociological perspec-
tives indicate a contextual understanding of motivation, making human
motivation less of an individual phenomenon, and more fundamentally
dependent on the surroundings. For the participants in the current study,
choir participation constitutes this context, surrounding them in value
patterns and complex social codes, which in turn guide the development
and goals of their motivations. To examine human motivation in a cer-
tain context while including the specifics of that context in the exam-
ination, may hopefully contribute to a deeper and culturally imaginative
understanding of this topic.

2 In Bourdieu’s philosophy of science, «motivation» in a traditional sense does not have a place.
His philosophy of human action breaks with concepts like «motivation», «subject», «agent» and
«role», but focuses more on the relationship and mutual influence of the objective structures
(fields) and the embodied structures (habitus) (Bourdieu, 1997, p. 12).

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The Study’s Scene and Methodological

Considerations
The data of the study were generated in the region of southern Sunnmøre
on the west coast of Norway. Southern Sunnmøre has a population of
49,712 (2021)3, consisting of villages, rural districts, and cities. It is divided
and brought together by fjords, mountains, tunnels, bridges, and ferries.
There exist rich and long-lasting traditions of choir singing in this area,
reflected in a higher choir participation of 5%, compared to the national
average of between 2% and 4%. At the time of data generation (2010–2011)
there existed about 90 active choirs in this area, together responsible for
over 1,000 performances of different kinds throughout the year. In addi-
tion to the performances, close to 89% of the choirs had regular rehears-
als, with over 60% rehearsing one or more times a week. Half of the choir
members (about 52%) were from 40–79 years old. Over 42% of the choirs
were connected to some sort of association (business, church, club, team,
organisation, school), while 60% were organised in choir associations
(Eiksund, 2019, pp. 123–134). This sets the scene for the study, making
choir singing an important and integrated part of the region’s inner
workings and public life. By this I mean that while being a member of
a choir is very much a public endeavour, it also flows through people’s
everyday lives, structuring and affecting weekdays, social relations, and
life choices.
The study was designed in a way that allowed a broad and open
approach. This is in line with what King et al. (2018) describes as an emic
approach, especially important when the aim is to capture “bottom-up
phenomena” (p. 1048). The aim was to be close to the material, and let the
data, as much as possible, be a strong guide in deciding which factors to
focus on. As a starting point I tried to build a complete map of the “choir
world” in this area, and spent about two months on the phone talking
with choir singers, conductors, church employees, schoolteachers, musi-
cians etc.4 At the end of this period, I had a list of about 90 choirs, and a

3 Statistics Norway (SSB). https://www.ssb.no (accessed 2 February 2022).

4 In my doctoral thesis I used the following broad definition of a choir: «A choir is a group of
people that sing [preferably] polyphonic with some degree of organising» (Eiksund, 2019, p. 9,
my translation).

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contact in every choir. I then developed a questionnaire that the contact

in every choir answered on behalf of his/her choir. Based on this, four
choirs were selected. The selection criteria emphasised variation (female/
male/mixed choirs, geographical location, organisation, age, and other
situational factors) and limitations (adult choirs, not connected to asso-
ciations like churches, schools, workplace etc.). I spent participant obser-
vation periods, each of a duration of 2–3 months, with all four choirs.
At the end of the observation periods, I conducted 16 qualitative semi-
structured interviews of about 1–2 hours each. The interviews were
of choir members and the conductor of each choir, and contribute the
main material for the analysis. Measures to ensure informed consent and
confidentially were taken at all levels of the study, and the project was
approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD). All names
of participants used in this chapter are fictional.

Data generation method Description Data

Online survey A representative for each of the 90 choirs Quantitative and
answered 69 questions concerning the qualitative data
choir’s history, activity, and current condition.
Participant observation Participant observation periods of 57 A4 pages of
2–3 months duration in four choirs observation notes
Qualitive interviews Sixteen qualitative interviews, four from 22 hours audio /
each choir (including the conductor in 379 A4 pages of
each choir) transcriptions

Figure 1. Data Material

The initial analysis process relied on categorisation through a step-based

deductive-inductive method, in short SDI (Tjora, 2010). In SDI one aims
to work from raw data to concepts and theories. The “upward” motion
is to be perceived as inductive – the movement from data towards the-
ory. The “downward” motion is to be perceived as deductive – to test the
theory on the empirical material. This model was developed to fulfil the
potential of the data and relies on a “close-to-the-material” first phase of
the analysis. The first phase of the analysis resulted in 259 codes. In the
next phase similar codes were gathered into more general categories, and
as the process went on, the categories were refined into dialogue with
emerging research questions, omitting codes that did not contribute.

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Through this process I ended up with five main categories: (1) motivation,
(2) ownership, (3) identity, (4) social group, and (5) society. The motiva-
tion category contained a diverse set of interview excerpts that in one way
or another expressed something about the “why” of choir participation.
In what follows, I will present the results from the analysis through
the concepts of central and peripheral motivations, developed from the
current study. These concepts are created to accommodate the great vari-
ety of motivational factors found in the data material in a meaningful
manner. Based on these concepts, I will propose and discuss a contextual
model of motivation, showing how this may enable an understanding of
the motivational aspects of choir participation that transcends the estab-
lished discourse on this topic.

Results: Central and Peripheral Motivations

As a starting point many of the informants expressed what they perceived
to be the most obvious reasons for their choir participation: to sing and
make music on the one hand, and to nurture social relations on the other.
But as the conversations proceeded, many specific motivational factors
appeared. Combined, these reasons create a spectre of motivational fac-
tors, transcending the obvious categories of music and social relations. In
the analysis process I experimented with different ways of sorting these
factors, ending up with a classification based on the perceived centrality
of the specific motivational factor.

Peripheral
motivational factors

Between the central and the peripheral

Central
motivational
factors

Past Present Future

Figure 2. Central and Peripheral Motivational Factors

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The vertical axis visualised in Figure 2 goes from central to peripheral.

Central motivations include factors having a special, personal meaning
to the informant, often involving expressions of identity, personal devel-
opment, and peak experiences (Maslow, 1970b; Singer, 2000). Peripheral
motivations include factors the informant perceives to involve something
else/someone else/something larger than the individual (e.g., traditions,
loyalty to other choir members). The horizontal axis is temporal, stretch-
ing back and forth in time. The further away from the present a moti-
vational factor is situated, e.g. a peak experience happening a few years
ago, the less central it will be perceived by the participant. Likewise, an
exciting choir event planned to happen in a year’s time may create antic-
ipation and function as a motivational factor, but will not be perceived as
central until the actual event gets closer in time. The point of including
a temporal axis is twofold. Firstly, it illustrates the dynamic nature of
motivational factors – the experienced centrality of a certain factor may
change over time. Secondly, it is a meaningful way of analysing a certain
motivational factor or set of factors, something I will return to in the
discussion of the role of tradition.

Central Motivational Factors

At certain points in the interviews, it became clear that the topic of
conversation meant something special to the interviewees, expressed
through their emotional engagement and the way the topic was
described. These topics, in this model described as central motivational
factors, centred on moments of personal development and expressions
of identity where the choir played a significant role in the informant’s
life. Central motivational factors are similar to what is expressed
through the concept “intrinsic motivation” and its benefits (Ryan &
Deci, 2000). But instead of focusing on how the “social environment
can facilitate or forestall intrinsic motivation by supporting or thwart-
ing people’s innate psychological needs” (p. 71), central motivational
factors highlight concrete experiences and events that take place in a
certain context among a certain group of people. They are connected
to what is experienced as the very core of choir participation. In what
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follows, I will illustrate some of these factors through examples from

the study’s data material. 5

To Have Something Exclusively for Oneself. Sonja talked about an

everyday life full of tasks and responsibilities. When the question about
giving up the choir to coordinate things at home arose, it became clear
how much the choir meant to her:

It is a struggle to get everything to go together when you have kids who come
home from school, their homework needs attention and then they may also
want to attend activities, before I leave for choir at six. And it was not very long
after I started, when he [the husband] said, “We have to cut down on some-
thing. Maybe you have to cut out [the choir]?” And I just, “No!”. [laughter]
It’s like the one thing I do only for myself, that is, I go out the door and know
that everything will work out at home […]. But [the choir] is only me, and it’s
only for myself. And to be able to do that, it is unbelievably vital, so I think he
actually understood how important it was and said, “OK, I understand how
important it is to you, it’s all right.”6

For Sonja the choir was an arena where she could be herself in a different
way than was possible in her everyday life at home. To leave her home
and its responsibilities for a little while was an opportunity to validate
important aspects of herself, also for her family.

To Learn Something New and Experience Personal Development.

Many of the interviewees expressed the joy of learning something new
as a very important part of choir participation. Through choir activi-
ties they learned new melodies, lyrics, and also new languages: “[W]e
have learned Greek, German, French and English” [Inga]. For some
choir participation was a way of learning about organisational work,
and for some the experience of developing their voice and becoming
aware of their breathing and their bodies in a safe environment was
important. Sara told about a “physical” experience of change, enabled

5 To maintain anonymity, all names of study participants are fictious.

6 All quotes have been translated into English from Norwegian.

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through increasing confidence in herself and her voice: “I have become

so much more self-confident, especially when it comes to singing in
front of others”. To experience your confidence growing, and to gain the
courage to use your voice, can be a very important part of your personal
development. When happening in a choir setting, constantly mirrored
in choir members you have a close relation to, this can increase the sig-
nificance of the experience.

To Be Challenged. A part of learning something new is to be exposed

to new challenges, which creates the opportunity to stretch further than
what feels possible. Many of the informants talked about experiences in
which they succeeded in doing something they did not think they were
capable of, and the joy that came from this: “[S]ometimes we sing material
that we barely manage. But after a while we master it. This is incredibly
fulfilling, and a huge motivator” [Sonja]. For some high standards are in
themselves one of the most important motivational factors: “Everything
had to, and I love this, you know [laughter], be learned before rehearsals”
[Linda].

Peak Experiences. Many of the interviewees talked about experiences

that stood out in a special way. These experiences often included an
altered state of mind with a physical dimension. To explain these expe-
riences the interviewees often used words like “to have shivers down my
back”, “to get shaky”, “have an out-of-body-experience”, or “a feeling of
oneness with the entire choir”. To share this experience with the other
choir members stood out as something special: “And you feel that all are
one, no one stands out, we are all under the same umbrella, you hear
everyone when you sing. So, it is really difficult to explain this feeling,
but is something very special” [Inga]. The participants in this study often
explained their peak experiences as bodily experiences, often combined
with the feeling of “becoming one” with the rest of the choir. This created
a unique combination of something very personal and at the same time
collective. The collective aspect of these peak experiences, the feeling of
“becoming one”, adds to the sense of entitativity (Lakens, 2010; Lakens
et al., 2011) or the meaningfulness of group membership.
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Between the Central and Peripheral

Some of the motivational factors did not generally carry the “glow” of
emotional engagement that was expressed above in connection to the
central motivations. Still, it became clear in the interviews that these
factors meant a lot, often described with ambiguity, meaning that the
perceived importance could vary over time and in different situations. A
common thread in them was that they were often grounded in long term
needs and wishes.

The Social Community. The choir is a social meeting place where rela-
tions form between choir members. For many the choir is a place where
they meet the same people regularly over time, generating an environ-
ment conducive to important and long-lasting social relations. The social
community is always an important part of a choir, but whether this com-
munity is experienced as something positive or negative, or something
central or peripheral, depends largely on the individual choir member.
Since choir participation (normally) is voluntary, it also is a community
one can choose to leave.
Something the choir can offer is contact with others who share an
interest in music and song, and many of the study’s informants expressed
how important this was. Sara talked about how choir participation made
it possible for her to form new friendships and acquaintances based on
an interest in music: “To get to know people that I would never say hello
to, or that live in other places and I would never have met […]. So, new
friends and new acquaintances, and people that share my interest. Yes,
this is special, and really fun, because none of my [normal] friends sing
in choirs or do anything like this”.
The social community is clearly an important motivational factor for
the participants in this study, in the sense that it to some degree is present
in all choir members. You cannot escape being part of the social commu-
nity. A well-working social community may be the motivational factor
that carries the choir member through periods of generally low moti-
vation, but difficult social relations may also be the factor that pushes a
member out of the choir. In some cases, the choir may have profoundly
different social functions for its members, operating more as a primary

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group for some and as a secondary group for others, forcing the mem-
bers to navigate through competing norm and value systems. If the choir
members expect very different things from the social community, this
may create tension and difficulties (Eiksund, 2019, pp. 209–249). Due to
this complex picture expressed by the study’s informants, I have placed
the social community as motivational factor between the central and
peripheral. As with the rest of the factors in this “between” category, the
social community has the potential to be a central motivational factor
for the individual choir member, but did not appear as such on a more
general level in this study’s data material.

Interest in Music. Most of the interviewees expressed a general interest

in music as an important reason for joining the choir. To be a part of
a music-making experience is of course a very important motivational
factor, and choir participation may offer a low-threshold opportunity to
create and perform music for people who do not feel comfortable express-
ing themselves musically on their own. Still, the interest in music did not
emerge as an overall central motivational factor in this study’s data mate-
rial. This may appear strange, but has a natural explanation connected to
the repertoires only partially overlapping the individual choir members’
musical preferences. Sometimes the choir sings something that the singer
really connects with, creating strong and personal expressions of the
individual’s musicality, but other times it may perform a piece that the
singer dislikes, making it hard to enjoy the music. The interest in music
will always be present, but as a motivational factor it will vary between
the central and the peripheral.

Professional Encounters. One part of a choir’s activity is often collab-

oration with professional musicians, and some of the interviewees con-
sidered these professional encounters especially valuable. Through these
meetings the choir members were exposed to higher standards than
usual, something that could push them to the “next level”: “The profes-
sionalism they [a professional jazz ensemble] had compared to us – it was
worlds apart. The way they pulled us in to become a part of what they
were doing, it was really special to me” [Susanna].

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What is experienced as professional is of course relative to the level the

choir currently operates on, and to meet professional demands may also
be demotivating – especially if you feel incapable of fulfilling them. As
a motivational factor professional encounters may be both central and
peripheral, both eye-opening on a personal level and a utopian goal to
strive towards. In this study’s data material this factor finds its place in
between the central and peripheral.

Peripheral Motivational Factors

The motivational factors described until now have a generally positive
character for the interviewees. Personal peak experiences and strong
musical and emotional encounters were important ingredients in the
everyday life of the choir. But certain motivational factors were expressed
in another way, often lacking the form of personal connection notice-
able in the more central motivational factors. Even though these factors
seemed more “distant” to the interviewees, they still appeared frequently.
Another interesting point was that these peripheral motivational factors
to a greater degree appeared in the interviews of choir members going
through difficult transitions, recruitment issues, conflicts, or other types
of challenges.

Loyalty to the Choir. Loyalty to the choir is something many members

experience in one form or another. It can manifest itself in different ways,
as the feeling of having to attend rehearsals and concerts or feeling the
obligation to talk warmly about the choir to others. Loyalty can be a
positive feeling of belonging to a community, but in some cases, it may
become disconnected from these positive feelings, especially if there is
a general sentiment of worry concerning the choir’s future or sustained
existence. Ola talked about how he felt more and more like a supportive
person for the choir, and that his membership was based primarily on
the fear of what would happen if he quit: “I have been a member so long
that I feel like, if I was not there, then it [the choir] stops”. Emil had a
similar feeling in his choir, and was waiting for new people to join, mak-
ing it possible for him to leave the choir without fearing its downfall.

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As the conductor of a choir, Truls had experienced how difficult it was to

expand the choir over a certain size: “It is difficult expanding the choir
to over thirty members. It seems like someone always leaves. If there are
too many [someone says] – ‘well, now we are so many that [the choir
doesn’t need me anymore]’”. The motivational factor most apparent in
these examples was the wish to keep the choir alive. This did not relate to
what the individual got out of it on a personal level, but was more about
keeping the choir going. The moment you feel that the choir may survive
without you, you may think “my work here is done” and quit.

The Local Community Wants Choir Music. Many of the interviewees

talked about how people in their community wanted the music from
their choir, expressed directly through demands for appearances and
concerts, and indirectly through financial support (purchasing lottery
tickets, voluntary work): “I have senior citizens in my taxi, and they ask
all the time about the next choir café. There is a great demand for choir
music” [Ola]. Anna felt the support of the local community when she
sold lottery tickets on behalf of the choir: “If we are selling lottery tickets
[…] everybody says, ‘Of course, we will buy some tickets!’”. This feeling,
of the demand and support for choir music from the local community,
validates the point of singing in a choir, and gives choir participation
another dimension.

The Importance of the Choir to the Local Community. An important

motivational factor for many of the interviewees was the notion of the
choir’s importance to their local community. In a sense this overlaps with
the previous motivational factor, but for some interviewees the impor-
tance of the choir to the local community exceeds the musical element.
For these the choir enjoyed the position of a “master of ceremonies”,
being an integral part of important days and occasions: “It is a lot of fun,
and the local choir is important. In two weeks we’ll have a church festi-
val […] and we are going to sing. I believe it is important that the local
choir is there” [Anna]. Emil considered it to be a social task to sing for
the local community’s senior citizens, especially in institutions: “[I]t is
really important to sing in institutions, it is not done enough! It should

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be compulsory, some kind of rotation arrangement for all the choirs – to

sing in these institutions”. To be an important part of the local commu-
nity could also be a part of a choir’s identity, something Karl talked about:
“We are a factor in the cultural life of the local community. We are there
on our National Day [17th May], standing by the stone monuments, we
have done that since I started in the choir almost sixty years ago […]. We
arrange Christmas parties for the elders, we sing in the church”.
To experience how important the choir was to the local community
was an important motivational factor for many of the study’s partici-
pants. Some identified strongly with having such a role, and felt they con-
tributed to the community through their efforts. At the same time, it was
clear that this motivational factor in general did not concern the individ-
ual singer to a high degree, but rather the choir as a whole. In cases where
the individual singer identifies strongly with the choir, this motivational
factor could be experienced as central, but in this study’s data material
this specific factor stands out generally as peripheral.

Keeping Traditions Alive. For many of the interviewees, the focus on

keeping traditions alive was very evident. This could refer to the history
or traditions in their specific choir, but also indicates being part of a
greater tradition, like the national and international male choir move-
ment. For Truls, the conductor of a male choir, this was a very powerful
motivational factor: “They [the amateur singers] do not try to become
anything special, but they want to keep an old tradition alive, and I per-
sonally believe that the male choir is worth keeping, the traditional male
choir”. To keep a tradition alive can be a dominant motivational factor,
but can lack the form of personal connection noticeable in the central
motivational factors. The “power” of tradition and historic events are
peripheral in a temporal sense, and are in general experienced as “dis-
connected” from the present.
Overall, the peripheral motivational factors concern “larger” topics,
such as tradition, history, and the choir’s role in the local community,
and appear distant in comparison to central motivational factors, like
peak experiences, personal development and expressions of identity men-
tioned earlier.

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Discussion: A Contextual Model of

Motivation in Choirs
Leaving behind the established dichotomy of musical and social moti-
vational factors in choral practice, as well as departing from the inher-
ited balancing act between these two factors, this chapter has attempted
a fresh look at motivation in choir participation. Through a sensitive and
critical analysis of the data, a range of central and peripheral motivational
factors has been presented. These motivational factors exist side by side,
and choir members may experience most of them to different degrees at
certain times. This arrangement of motivational factors reflects the etic
individual-psychological approach illustrated by the hierarchy of basic
needs (Maslow, 1943, 1962), and the self-determination theory of Ryan
and Deci (2000). In some ways, central motivational factors take their
emotional content from the concept of intrinsic motivation. The picture
is widened to include the importance of group membership, especially
in connection to the collective aspect of peak experiences in choir par-
ticipation. This is supported by the findings of Stewart and Lonsdale
(2016), and the connection they make between feelings of entitativity and
perceived well-being. But instead of exclusively analysing motivation as
an expression of human’s evolved inner resources for personality devel-
opment and behavioural self-regulation (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 68), the
focus in this chapter moved towards the collectively created values and
social structures or fields that anchor motivation in a specific social and
cultural context. The motivational factors listed above are generated from
a practice existing in an intricate, rich, and sometimes tension-filled rela-
tionship with the community (Eiksund, 2019, pp. 251–270). Thus emic
bottom-up perspectives (King et al., 2018) come into play.
The distinction between different motivational factors is an integral
part of the contextual model of motivation in choirs I propose in this
chapter. In what follows I will present the concepts “personal motiva-
tional profile” and “motivational culture”. Together with the central and
peripheral motivational factors, this constitutes a conceptual framework
allowing an alternative way of dealing with the notion of motivation in
choir participation.

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Personal Motivational Profile

None of the interviewees expressed identical combinations of motiva-
tional factors. Even though certain factors were more prominent in the
data material than others, it does not mean that any one interviewee
reported exclusively central or peripheral motivational factors. A personal
motivational profile is a description of an individual’s combination and
the emphases of central and peripheral motivational factors. This profile
may for instance emphasise the learning aspect (central), the social com-
munity (between the central and the peripheral), and traditions (periph-
eral), while peak experiences (central), professional encounters (between
the central and the peripheral), and loyalty to the choir (peripheral) are
less prevalent. The different factors emphasised by an individual may also
vary over time.

Motivational Culture
Motivation has traditionally been examined as an individual phenome-
non, a view reflected in the variety of motivational factors expressed by
this study’s participants. Based on the study’s data material another issue
seems to be connected to this specter of motivational factors, and relates
to the collective aspects of a choir. A motivational culture is a description
of the predominant central and/or peripheral motivational factors of a
group, which also includes a description of whether and to what degree
these factors are shared and communicated amongst the group’s mem-
bers. In some sense the motivational culture of a choir is the sum of each
member’s personal motivational profile, but a personal motivational pro-
file and a choir’s motivational culture are not necessarily identical. An
individual whose personal motivational profile differs significantly from
the motivational culture of the choir may experience social tension and a
lack of understanding. This perspective may be helpful in understanding
why individuals struggle to “find their place” in a choir. At the same time
there exists a reciprocity in the relationship between the individual and
the group, where the individual both affects and is affected by the moti-
vational culture of the choir.

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Utilising the Contextual Model of

Motivation in Choirs
A central point of SDI (the step-based deductive-inductive method) is
the “downward” motion – to deductively test the theory on the empirical
material. By employing the contextual model of motivation in choirs on
this study’s data material, an interesting finding becomes visible. There
seems to be a correlation between the motivational culture and the gen-
eral state of the choir. The choirs that were experiencing difficulties or
challenging transitions tended to report an emphasis on peripheral moti-
vational factors. One of the choirs in the study had recently been through
a drastic change, the result of a merger of two independent choirs each
with long and robust traditions. The two choirs had struggled over time
with recruitment, and the only realistic solution was to create a new choir
consisting of singers from both choirs. “You cannot spend your time
keeping two corpses alive”, as one of the singers put it. Even though form-
ing a new choir had created some new energy and optimism, many of the
singers were still worried and uncertain about the its viability. Some of
the singers also expressed sorrow over letting their “old” choir fade away,
and when asked about why they sang in the choir, they tended to mention
peripheral motivational factors as “keeping the choir alive”, or the impor-
tance of offering choir music to the local community. Another choir in
the study had recently experienced a real “flow”, both in terms of good
recruitment and musical quality. The choir had a growing, positive repu-
tation in the local community, and the members expressed pride and joy
in the status of the choir. When asked about their motivations for being
in the choir, these singers emphasised, to a much larger degree, central
motivational factors like peak experiences, being challenged, or learning
something new and meaningful.
This correlation makes sense through the perspective of Maslow’s
(1970a) theory of human motivation. As I mentioned earlier, people
who experience a threat to the conditions for safety or social relations,
will react as if they are actually experiencing a lack of safety and social
relations (p. 47). Threats to the basis of the choir’s existence, like decreas-
ing recruitment and uncertainty over the viability of the choir, demand
focus and attention, which in turn will affect the motivation of the choir
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members. In this situation, two characteristics follow: (i) the choir mem-
bers tend to emphasise peripheral motivational factors, and (ii) they lose
touch with central motivational factors. In Maslow’s terms, the “basic”
needs connected to the viability of the choir demand attention, preventing
the choir member from focusing on growth needs, like self-actualisation
and personal development. A safe environment, where members do not
need to worry about the choir’s future, economy, or social relations, makes
it easier for the members to focus on personal development, learning, and
musical and social peak experiences, hence creating a motivational cul-
ture dominated by central motivational factors. The connection between
central motivational factors, intrinsic motivation, and the experience of
meaningfulness of group membership or entitativity, also contributes to
the understanding of this picture, especially in relation to the experience
of assimilation, mastery, spontaneous interest, exploration (Ryan & Deci,
2000, p. 70), and a sense of well-being (Stewart & Lonsdale, 2016).
Motivational culture is also dependent on whether and to what degree
these factors are shared and communicated amongst the group’s mem-
bers. It is not uncommon that there exists a culture for not “indulging
in the gloom”, and rather focusing on the positive, (or in some case, the
complete opposite), which may lead to some motivational factors being
shared more than others. The personal motivational profiles of choir
members can also depend on the role they have in the choir. Members
of the board or the conductor may feel an extra responsibility for the
viability of the choir, making it harder to access certain central motiva-
tional factors. Still, for most members, motivation varies over time and
in different situations, making this picture anything but monochromatic.
Another interesting phenomenon can be observed in choirs that have
struggled over time, thus developing a motivational culture dominated
by peripheral motivational factors. When the choir “turns the corner”, for
example by permanently filling that vacant conductor position, or suc-
ceeding in recruiting new members after being too few for a sustained
period, something counterintuitive may occur. When things are finally in
order, and one expects the choir to progress and grow, it stops. The mobili-
sation that has been happening to keep the choir going through the rough
patches, seems to evaporate – some members may even leave the choir.

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Several informants contemplated leaving the choir, as their motivation

primarily had been to “stay as long as necessary”, as mentioned when
presenting the motivational factor on loyalty. My interpretation of this
is that a motivational culture predominated by peripheral motivational
factors drains the choir’s members of energy and resources. On the other
hand, a motivational culture predominated by central motivational fac-
tors may let the choir members, in Maslow’s terms, attend to their growth
needs, producing “positive health” (1962, p. 29).
Combining all of this exemplifies how the concepts and connections in
this model can be utilised, but it is through the actual use of the concepts
one can see whether they contribute to the reality of the choral prac-
tice. How does one talk about what happens in a choir when it is going
through transitions or challenging periods? How does one understand
the reasoning behind staying in a choir even though it may feel drain-
ing? What should be emphasised to drive the choir in the intended direc-
tion? To answer these questions, one needs a nuanced and rich language,
adapted to the specific reality one exists in, especially when this reality is
the product of a collective effort, like a choir.

Conclusion
It may seem like this chapter advocates heavily for central motivational
factors, pointing out the clear advantages and positives of letting these
dominate the motivational culture of the choir. This is not my intention.
If you ask me what the most important motivational factors in a choir are,
my answer will be all of them. All motivational factors carry with them
different kinds of traits, important in different situations, and the moti-
vational culture in any one specific choir is unique and an integral part of
the choir’s identity. If this study was conducted on another group of choirs
in a different part of the world, the selection and emphasis of motivational
factors would most likely be different. This has also been the point of this
study, to complement an etic approach (exploring established psychological
theories on motivation), with an emic approach. The emphasis on trying to
understand a “psychological phenomenon and its inter-relationships with
other phenomena from a native’s perspective” (King et al., 2018, p. 1048),

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the native in this case being the choir member from southern Sunnmøre,
has broadened the discourse on motivation in choir participation. This
has allowed a rethinking of the way motivation appears and functions
amongst choir members and in a choir. In the presentation of the findings
from this study I have tried to find the right balance between giving nar-
row and precise definitions, and providing a conceptual framework that is
open enough to be useful in analysing other contexts. Still, I believe and
hope that the contextual model of motivation I propose in this chapter may
prove to be both recognisable and applicable. This is not the fate of all new
choral research. Little or none of the increasing amount of choral research
ever comes into use (Johansson, 2011). Choral practitioners do not generally
use or benefit from these studies, and Geisler and Johansson (2019) suggest
two reasons for this: (i) underdeveloped forms of communication between
theory and practice, that is, between researchers and practitioners, and
(ii) the fact that choral research is distributed across a range of disciplines
that apply differing methodological and theoretical approaches (p. 779).
Nevertheless, choral research has an opportunity to make an impact on
active choral practice through offering new ways of speaking and thinking,
creating opportunities for changing how we experience and “do” choral
work and research (Eiksund, 2019, p. 293). To develop concepts and intro-
duce words that are relatable and fruitful for the choir community has been
an important motivation for this study, and I believe this chapter is a con-
tribution to this.
Looking forward, I welcome studies that apply and adapt the con-
textual model of motivation I propose in this chapter. One of the most
important contributions is the change from an individual to an emic and
contextually aware understanding of motivation. As a further develop-
ment, it would be very interesting to see this model used on other groups
than choirs where motivation is also considered a central issue.

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