Adolescents' attainability and aspiration beliefs for famous musician role models

This study examines the role that adolescents' competence beliefs and subjective task values for music have in relation to their aspirations and expectations for becoming like their musician role models. A total of 381 adolescents (aged 13–14) completed a questionnaire about their competence beliefs and values for music, the musicians they admired and why, and their attainability and aspiration beliefs about becoming like their musician role model. Adolescents' aspiration and attainability beliefs were influenced by their beliefs and values for music; adolescents who played an instrument were more likely than non-players to think they could become like their musician role model, and were more likely than non-players to choose role models who played instruments. The majority of adolescents thought that they could become like their musician role models if they wanted to, with their attainability and aspiration beliefs in relation to musician role models being mediated by their beliefs and value beliefs for music. The findings suggest that because the majority of adolescents' musician role models do not play instruments, they believe that their role models' accomplishments are more attainable, which also increases their aspirations to become like their musician role models. Implications for music educators are discussed in relation to the need for strategies that increase young people's valuing of music played by a wider range of musicians, thereby increasing positive motivation towards youth engagement in music.