Background
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RQ1: To what extent do adults perceive a link between their arts engagement and feelings of social connectedness?
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RQ2: Which forms of arts engagement are most reported as linked with feelings of social connectedness?
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RQ3: How is arts engagement perceived to facilitate feelings of social connectedness?
Methods
Method
Respondents
Analysis
Results
To what extent do adults perceive a link between their arts engagement and feelings of social connectedness? (Q1)
Does your engagement with the arts and cultural activities you have told us about today help you to feel connected with other people? | Number | Percent |
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not at all | 1107 | 19 |
a little | 2039 | 35 |
around half of the time | 997 | 17 |
often | 1289 | 22 |
always | 460 | 8 |
Which forms of arts engagement are most reported as linked with feelings of social connectedness? (Q2)
Of the arts and cultural activities you have told us about, which makes you feel most connected to other people? | Number | Percent |
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Been to a live musical performance | 1265 | 26 |
Watched a theatre performance live | 465 | 10 |
Watched a film or drama at a cinema or other venue | 455 | 10 |
Read as a past-time activity | 336 | 7 |
Been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art, photography, sculpture/other arts | 267 | 6 |
Played a musical instrument or sang | 262 | 6 |
Deliberately listened to recorded music | 226 | 5 |
Listened to audio books or podcasts | 198 | 4 |
Attended a book club where people meet to discuss and share books | 170 | 4 |
Been to an event connected with books or reading | 146 | 3 |
Done any form of crafts | 144 | 3 |
Been to street art, public art displays, admired architecture or an historical monument | 134 | 3 |
Done photography, film, video making, or other related pursuits as a past-time activity | 132 | 3 |
Written as a past-time activity | 101 | 2 |
Practised, rehearsed, or performed dance as a past-time activity | 96 | 2 |
Done painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, or other related pursuits | 82 | 2 |
Written or created music | 74 | 2 |
Practised, rehearsed, or performed a play, drama, opera, musical theatre, circus skills | 65 | 1 |
Watched a dance performance live | 63 | 1 |
Been to a convention, show, or fair relating to crafts or decorative arts | 63 | 1 |
Other | 41 | 1 |
How is arts engagement perceived to facilitate feelings of social connectedness? (Q3)
Themes and (sub)sub-themes | Description |
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1. Facilitating social opportunities | The arts facilitate social opportunities |
1.1 Meeting new people | The arts provide opportunities to meet new people and to make new friends |
1.2 Socialising and interacting with others | The arts encourage and facilitate generalised social interactions |
1.2.1 Conversing about art | The arts can act as a catalyst for conversations |
1.2.2 Negating pressures of social interaction | The arts facilitate interaction and connection without pressures of social situations |
2. Facilitating sharing | The arts facilitate opportunities for shared experiences |
2.1 Sharing experiences | The arts act as a shared experience creating bonds between those involved |
2.1.1 Sharing emotions | The arts allow people to share emotional responses and to express feelings |
2.1.2 Sharing art with others | When artists share their art, it creates a sense of connection between them and their audience |
2.2 Shared purpose | The arts provide people with a sense of shared purpose |
3. Facilitating commonality and belonging | The arts facilitate feelings of similarity and belonging |
3.1 Being part of something | The arts allow people to feel part of, and belonging to, something bigger than themselves |
3.1.1 Enabling proximity to others | The arts elicit feelings of direct and indirect proximity with other people and times |
3.2 Connecting through common interests | The arts connect people with common interests, specific to the arts activity |
3.3 Connecting with likeminded people | The arts connect people with common tastes and opinions, regardless of the arts activity itself |
4. Facilitating collective understanding | The arts facilitate learning from and about other people |
4.1 Learning from and with others | The arts allow people to learn new skills and knowledge from and with others |
4.2 Relating to others | The arts allow people to relate to others |
4.3 Learning about others | The arts provide a means of learning about other people, places, and times |
4.4 Connecting with different people and cultures | The arts expose people to different cultures and bring together people from different backgrounds |
4.5 Connecting with different viewpoints | The arts expose people to different viewpoints and opinions |
Theme 1: facilitating social opportunities
It’s lovely to meet new people and mutually share perspectives [been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art].[Because] anyone can come there you meet a lot of nice and interesting people [street art, public art, architecture, historical monument].It is sociable and a good way of meeting people [practised, rehearsed, or performed dance].
Once I went to a music festival and I ended up with many newfound friends as we had similar music tastes [live musical performance].It’s actually how I met most of my friends. I was in the school library drawing when a group of four people with sketchbooks came up to me and started complimenting my work. We kept talking and now we’re all best friends [painting, drawing, printmaking].I’ve been interested in photography since I was about five, when I played around with my Dad’s camera and took pictures of random things, myself and my parents. Ever since then I’ve been getting better cameras, getting more skilled at my interest and job, and have made lots of life-long friends due to it [photography, film, videomaking].
It brings everyone together as a social event. It’s a good opportunity to chat and build relationships with others [book or reading event].We can appreciate the music together and we talk and hang out and generally have fun [live musical performance].It’s a knitting group with a wide age range. The founder set it up as a group to help with mental health issues. It’s sociable, inspirational and makes what could be a solitary pastime into one to be shared [crafts].
It gives me the opportunity to converse with other people, to exchange ideas and review conceptions [book club].Admiring things with people and going to museums sparks conversation which helps me to connect [been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art].Street entertainment seems to create camaraderie between strangers, especially when it is unexpected and catches people by surprise. The public will often discuss what is going on with those around them, even if they have never met each other before [street art, public art, architecture, historical monument].
[I] get to enjoy the company of friends without having to worry about chatting and doing anything the whole time as you have something to watch [watched a theatre performance].You can be together without having to engage with anyone and still share in the music and the feeling [live musical performance].I am a mother of a large family. However, I consider myself a loner. Going to museums and such, when I am alone, makes me feel connected to the people who created the pieces. It’s akin to having a silent conversation with the artist. I enjoy this [exhibition, museum, or collection of art].
Theme 2: facilitating sharing
The performance makes me feel more connected to people, like we’re sharing something [live musical performance].It is the shared sense of witnessing something. It gives it a certain sense of permanence, and timelessness. Going to see something as evocative and inspiring as the reclining Buddha in Bangkok makes you think of all the other people that have stood where you are. It makes you contemplate how they felt. It gives you a far greater depth of perception and to my mind increases your human consciousness [street art, public art, architecture, historical monument].Cinema is a shared experience despite being in the dark and not having contact with anybody [watch a film or drama at a cinema or other venue].
When the play ends [it] is like you were not alone feeling all those things [watched a theatre performance].Sometimes a particular song might come on and you can see the meaning it has to thousands of other people not just yourself so you’re no longer alone [live musical performance].Other people can feel what I feel when I wrote poems [written as a past time activity].
It makes me feel connected as I like to show my creations off and talk about them like my most recent make of an ashtray made out of a can that I got a few compliments on [crafts].I feel the images I produce can be looked at others and interpreted in whatever they see fit and it gives me joy knowing my work is looked upon by others and they take something away from it [done photography, film, videomaking].When I play for people I can see it in their faces what they are feeling and it’s the connection through my music that has allowed that to happen [played a musical instrument or sang].
I am in a place with lots of different people all there for the same reason, to appreciate the performance and share the same moment [watched a theatre performance].We are all on the same wavelength. A desire to paint better [painting, drawing, printmaking].
I live in a sheltered housing complex and we meet once a week to knit and crochet items which are then sold to raise funds, or given to a charity organisation [crafts].Working to a common goal, give unity. Supporting and encouraging one another. It helps to bring the best out in people [practised, rehearsed or performed in a play, opera, etc.].
Theme 3: facilitating commonality and belonging
It normally involves large numbers of people and you feel you’re part of one single organism opposed to just alone. It puts you in the zone and you feel a connection with those around you [live musical performance].Book clubs make me feel incredibly connected with those around me as due to the vibrance [sic] in the actual books makes me potentially feel interconnected with the book and my surroundings [attended a book club].Watching a film with others we all enjoyed at a drive-in movie surrounded by likeminded people all singing along in their own cars was really enjoyable and made me feel part of the experience [watch a film or drama at a cinema or other venue].
I read, watch videos and do searches about it online and through social media, and through this I have seen that there are many people that like me like arts and crafts and also are similar to me in other aspects, which I didn’t know before. Usually I don’t really manage to connect in meaningful ways with others because I feel and am perceived as too different from the people I am around. So even though I have not really personally connected to the arts and crafts people, I feel as part of the community and I have hope that when I feel ready I will be able to join said community in a more active way [crafts].Rehearsing a play demands that you connect with your fellow performers. We aim to invoke emotion in our audience and so we have to connect with each other in order to feel those emotions ourselves. It’s a deeply collaborative process, one which cannot achieve its full potential without connecting with each other. Even outside of rehearsals, you become a team - a family, even. It’s a wonderful feeling of belonging [practised, rehearsed, or performed in a play, opera etc.].I play in the village Brass band. You feel like a team and a vital part of the community [played a musical instrument or sang].
Being [in] a room full of people surrounded by art and just appreciating it [been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art].Listening to music that I listened to in the [19]60s makes me feel connected to all my friends I went dancing and going to concerts with in my youth [listened to recorded music].It’s the only time I get a chance to spend time with family and friends so it’s a great activity to do with people [watch a film or drama at a cinema or other venue].
Literature is my greatest love so when I’m at a literary event I feel like I’m in the sort of company that constitutes ‘my tribe’ in the world, the people with whom I have the most in common [been to a book or reading event].I feel that when I’m at a craft fair other people are as interested as me therefore we have a connection [been to a crafts convention or show].It makes you feel connect[ed] as there are so many likeminded people there with you who obviously share a love of the band’s music and know as much about them as I do and you feel like you belong to a club [live musical performance].
I’m quite an awkward person while meeting new people but as soon as I meet another dancer it’s like I feel instantly connected to them because we have something in common! And when I dance with someone new it’s like magic on the stage because I’m doing what I love with someone who loves it too! Nothing makes me feel more connected to a person then dancing with them does! It’s a truly special feeling [practised, rehearsed, or performed dance].
I play in the worship team at my local church and the time of worship is a coming together of likeminded people, praising God. So we do feel connected with each other [played a musical instrument or sang].I think how someone connects with a story/character says a lot about them and I like to engage with people who feel the same way towards a certain story/character as I do [read].I went to the theatre to see a drag queen. Everyone in the audience was accepting and likeminded which made me feel more connected to others [watched a theatre performance].
Theme 4: facilitating collective understanding
My sister and I went to a pottery class last month, and as well as learning new techniques together, we managed to catch up, give each other advice, and take a keepsake of our special day [crafts].I work alongside others and can throw ideas and solutions at each other. They make me better and I make them better. We complement each other [done photography, film, videomaking].The connection when someone enjoys the same books that you do and when your child takes an interest in some of them and asks that you read them at bedtime, then starts asking questions about the content because they’re taking it all in and want to understand it all better. It’s all heartwarming, and the world suddenly feels a little less lonely [read].
I suppose it’s usually when the speaker or author is someone I admire or respect. Often their experiences and what they write about reflect my own experiences and I feel less alone [been to a book or reading event].Relating to their stories. Makes me feel like I’m not alone. Sharing stories. Help feel normal [listened to audiobook or podcast].It stops you feeling so alone, when someone else can describe a situation the same way you experience it [read].
Being outside and exploring with someone particularly if it has a historical interest where you can feel connected to the people before us [been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art].I feel I connect with other people through photography. I get to spend time with people. Listen to their stories. I try to capture their emotions, what they’ve been through and what they are currently going through [done photography, film, videomaking].The podcasters are talking about something that interests both them and me. Listening to the same podcasters regularly makes me feel like I am getting to know them [listened to audiobook or podcast].It opens up new worlds and new ideas. It helps me to understand the lives and experiences of other people [read].
They usually involve people from various backgrounds, of different ages but all with a love of music in common so instil a sense of common ground, no matter the otherwise diversity of the attendees [been to a live musical performance].You get such a variety of people at art venues of museums, all sharing an experience which makes me feel like part of the wider world [been to an exhibition, museum, or collection of art].A shared love of music, sometimes a specific type, shows that regardless of age or other interests, there is a common bond that can be explored … [It] may make someone realize that people who may seem very different, may not be so different after all [listened to recorded music].
It gives you a chance to see other perspectives and hear new ideas, seeking those things out is one of the most human things you can do [attended a book club].This makes me think about how other people interpret and see things. It makes me see how we can see things differently. Like an abstract sculpture can be seen to appear very different to me than the person who created it, however I feel connected as we can both see something united [been to a crafts convention or show].I find drawing and painting a relaxing and rewarding experience whether alone or as member of a group. It is amazing that a number of people can draw or paint a specific scene or object but their interpretation will appear different in almost every case and can become the topic of in depth conversation [done painting, drawing, printmaking].