An Artistic Virtue? Student Perceptions of Humility in Music Participation

Humility is considered to be an important social virtue, particularly in interpersonal contexts. Given the highly social nature of music participation, researchers have begun exploring the potential role that humility might play in music education. The purpose of this study was to examine how middle school, high school, and undergraduate band students (N = 116) perceived the virtue of humility, including whether they viewed it to be a social strength among various types of musicians. Results indicated that students viewed humility to be a positive quality and a social strength for different types of musicians (i.e., band directors, section leaders, famous musicians). However, middle schoolers struggled to articulate a meaning of humility consistent with accepted definitions put forth by social scientists. Based on these findings, I offer recommendations for music educators to model and promote humility as a positive and necessary virtue in their ensembles and classrooms.