Musical identity of classical singers : Musical labels, stereotypes, and behaviour.

The aim of this research was to investigate the nature of singers' musical group
identity from the perspective of singers themselves. This examination is the first of its
kind to show that singers' behaviour may be influenced by musical m-group
identification. Singers do not fit the typical definition of "musician" (i.e.. plays an
instrument) and have been largely neglected as musicians in the research literature.
This thesis examines whether singers label themselves as "musicians" or as "singers".
It explores the stereotypes associated with the two labels, how singers themselves
respond to group stereotypes, and how and why these stereotypes emerge. An initial
qualitative investigation of singers' musical identity found that some singers see
themselves as musicians whilst others see themselves as singers. These different selflabels
appeared to influence singers' self-perceptions as singers were seen to have poor
musicianship when compared with musicians. A closer examination of stereotypes
showed that singers themselves believe that musicians engage in musical practice,
whilst singers do not. Using social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) as a
framework, two studies involving 161 singing student participants showed how group
identification can cause singers to self-stereotype and influence their attitudes towards
stereotyped behaviours. The results suggest that a strong singer identity may result in
stronger adherence to singer-stereotyped behaviours such as individuality, whilst a
strong musician identity may lead to more musical practice. A final qualitative
interview of professional singers revealed that although some singer stereotypes may be
perceived as negative, they may provide an adaptive function, and emerge as a
consequence of behaviours which are necessary for achieving a successful singing
career. These results, combined with those found in previous research, made it possible
to theorise a novel Singer Identity Model based on aspects of singers' personality,
motivation, and behaviours arising from these factors.