Social And Economic Political Affiliations Of Music Therapy Students And Professionals

82 Pages·2015·0.33 MB·English

by  Elisa Maurene Aven

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2013
Social and Economic Political Affiliations
of Music Therapy Students and
Professionals
Elisa M. Aven
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS OF MUSIC THERAPY
STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS

By

ELISA M. AVEN

A Thesis submitted to the
College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Music

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2013

©
Elisa M. Aven defended this thesis on April 11, 2013.
The members of the supervisory committee were:

Kimberly VanWeelden
Professor Directing Thesis

Jayne Standley
Committee Member

Dianne Gregory
Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and
certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

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To my incredible family who has supported me both emotionally and financially throughout my
college career: I would not be the person I am today without your love and guidance. May this
work and all of my future endeavors continue to make you proud.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Dr. Kimberly VanWeelden, who has been with me every step of the way throughout
this journey. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your assistance, input, and
support. You always went the extra mile to help in any way that you could and I sincerely
appreciate all of the time you devoted to this project.
To Dr. Jayne Standley and Professor Dianne Gregory, thank you both for being members
of my committee and for supporting this idea since its infancy.
To Dr. Carol Prickett, who persuaded me to return to graduate school and who has seen
me grow from a mere adolescent into the professional music therapist I am today. Your advice,
wisdom, and friendship mean more to me than you know.
To my father, Jay Aven, watching your knowledge, interest, and support for Music
Therapy blossom throughout the past several years has filled my heart with such happiness. I
love you dearly and cannot thank you enough for your continued encouragement.
To my mother, Ellen Aven, who has taught me to follow my heart, take risks, and believe
in myself. I do not know where I would be without your guidance. I love you.
To my grandmother, Sheila Lisnek, your faith in my ability to succeed is constant and
inspires me to live up to my greatest potential every day. I hope you know how much you are
loved.
Last, but certainly not least, I would not have made it through this process without the
support of my wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for cheering me on as I strove to
accomplish this goal.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ viii
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1
History of the Democratic and Republican Parties .................................................................1
Political Affiliation and Healthcare .........................................................................................4
Affordable Care Act .......................................................................................................5
Music Therapy ........................................................................................................................7
Purpose ....................................................................................................................................9
Research Questions .................................................................................................................9
Operational Definitions ...........................................................................................................9
REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................................11
Political Party Statistics .........................................................................................................11
The Role of Religion in Shaping Political Beliefs ................................................................13
Perceptions, Implications, and Current Knowledge of the Affordable Care Act ..................15
Political Affiliation and Personality ......................................................................................21
Personality of Musicians and Music Therapists ....................................................................22
Summary ................................................................................................................................24
METHOD ......................................................................................................................................26
Participants ............................................................................................................................26
Dependent Measure ...............................................................................................................27
Procedure ...............................................................................................................................27
RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................29
Research Questions ...............................................................................................................29
Data Analysis .........................................................................................................................29
Research Question One .........................................................................................................31
Research Question Two .........................................................................................................34
Research Question Three ......................................................................................................35
Research Question Four ........................................................................................................42
Research Question Five ........................................................................................................44
Research Question Six ..........................................................................................................44
DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................45
Political Affiliations of Music Therapy Students and Professionals .....................................45
Knowledge of the Affordable Care Act .................................................................................47
Anticipated Effect on the Profession .....................................................................................49
Beliefs Regarding Controversial Political Issues ..................................................................49
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................50

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APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................51
A. SURVEY ...............................................................................................................................51
B. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL LETTER ...........................................61
C. INTRODUCTORY EMAIL ..................................................................................................63
D. REMINDER EMAIL .............................................................................................................64
E. SOCIAL NETWORK MESSAGE ........................................................................................65
F. ELECTRONIC CONSENT FORM .......................................................................................66
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................67
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................73

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LIST OF TABLES

1 Demographic Overview of Participants .............................................................................30

2 Political Affiliations of Participants...................................................................................32

3 Political Affiliations of Music Therapy Students and Professionals .................................32

4 Political Affiliations of Participants by Region .................................................................33

5 Political Affiliations of Participants by Religious Belief ..................................................34

6 Knowledge of the ACA Overall ........................................................................................37

7 Knowledge of the ACA Amongst Students and Professionals ..........................................38

8 Knowledge of the ACA by Region ....................................................................................40

9 Knowledge of the ACA by Political Affiliation ................................................................41

10 Knowledge of the ACA by Views on Health Care ............................................................43

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ABSTRACT

This study examined the social and economic political affiliations of music therapy
students (n =186) and professionals (n = 40) using an adapted version of an internet-based
political compass instrument. Participants were placed in liberal, moderate, and conservative
categories for both their social and economic views based on responses to several political
statements. Current knowledge of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the anticipated effect on
the profession of Music Therapy were also investigated. Results indicate 66% of participants
hold Socially Liberal Economically Liberal (SLEL) political views while 15% are classified as
Socially Conservative Economically Conservative (SCEC). The remaining individuals fall
somewhere in between the two ends of the spectrum. A chi-square test for two independent
samples revealed that there were no significant differences between the political affiliations of
music therapy students and professionals, X2 = 6.88, p >.05; however, there were significant
differences found between political affiliations of participants studying or practicing in the
Southeastern and Southwestern regions compared with participants in the remaining regions, X2
= 103.36, p < .05. There were also significant differences between the political affiliations of
religious and non-religious participants, X2 = 18.36, p < .05. Overall, slightly more than half of
participants agreed with all but one of the true statements regarding the ACA while just a single
false statement was selected by a similar amount of participants. When asked how much they
believed the ACA would affect their current job, the greatest number of participants (29.5%)
responded with "5" followed by 18.1% who answered, "0." The mean and standard deviation for
this question were 4.53 and 3.01 respectively.

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

Although several political parties exist in America, the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party represent the two most prominent forces within the current system of
government. These two parties have dominated every presidential election since Franklin Pierce
took office in 1853 ("American Presidents," 2012). This two-party system originated during the
time of the ratification of the Constitution when conflict arose between Anti-Federalist, Thomas
Jefferson and Federalist, Alexander Hamilton (Podmore, 2012). The Anti-Federalists opposed
the signing of the Constitution due to concerns regarding the former oppression of the British
government, which they had just escaped. The Federalists on the other hand, believed that the
Constitution would facilitate a stronger nation (Podmore, 2012). Throughout history, American
politics have remained divided primarily between two schools of thought. Even citizens who do
not agree with either the liberal ideology of the Democratic Party or the conservative views of
the Republicans end up casting a voting for one of the two candidates and third-party concerns
remain inconsequential (Podmore, 2012).
History of the Democratic and Republican Parties
The Democratic Party, one of the oldest political parties in the world, can trace its origins
back to 1792 when the anti-monarchial followers of Thomas Jefferson deemed themselves the
"Republicans." This party, also known as the Jeffersonian Republicans, advocated for a
decentralized government in which the power would be distributed amongst a group of people
rather than lay in the hands of one single person ("Democratic Party," 2013). The Jeffersonian
Republicans were subsequently referred to as the Democratic-Republican Party and it wasn't
until the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 that they finally adopted the "Democratic Party" as
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