Creativity profile of university and conservatory music students

Abstract:

Music students in conservatories appear to be driven, single minded, highly gifted individuals. Little research has been done concerning the differences, if any, between music students who choose to study in conservatory settings and those who choose a university. The creative potential, preference for high energy activities, and personality characteristics of music majors at the New England Conservatory of Music and at the University of Wisconsin were compared. Instruments used were: Barron‐Welsh Revised Art Scale, Adjective Check List (ACL) Creativity Scales, Drawing Task, and Action Preference Test. Results indicated that the conservatory students scored significantly higher on the Action Preference test than the university music students; otherwise the two populations appeared very similar. The 63 music students were significantly more creative than normative groups but not as creative as art students. They were distinctly different from norm groups on 19 scales of the ACL. Their preference for high energy activities was significantly higher than norm groups.