Assessing Emotion Regulation, Empathy and Emotional Expressivity among Indian Classical Dancers and Non-dancers: A Comparative Study

Description

Page: 159-165

Arunima Nair and Mohammad Imran (Amity Institute of Psychology and Applied Sciences, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh)

Indian classical dance is a rich and age-old art form that represents an exceptional blend of spirituality, aesthetics, and emotional expression which makes it a fascinating area to study how it affects human emotionality. The purpose of the present comparative study is to investigate Emotion Regulation, Empathy, and Emotional Expressivity among Indian Classical Dancers and Non-Dancers. A total sample of 259 participants were included in this with 130 non-dancers with no prior experience in dance or theatre and 129 classical dancers with more than five years of experience and training from reputable institutions. The Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ), Empathy Assessment Scale (EAS), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were utilized for data collection. Results revealed that classical dancers were more emotionally expressive and empathetic than non-dancers, highlighting the possible emotional advantages associated with dance training although no significant differences were observed in cognitive reappraisal and expressivity suppression facets of emotion regulation between the groups. Significant positive relationships between emotional expressivity and empathy as well as between empathy and cognitive reappraisal were found. Moreover, a negative correlation was found between emotional expressivity and expressive suppression, validating the results of the study. These findings provide insight into the emotional aspects of Indian classical dance and its consequences for both artistic growth and emotional health. Future studies should look into how classical dance forms can be applied to Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) to improve emotional growth and overall, well-being.