No pain, no gain? Satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs, somatic burden, giving up, and life satisfaction in music students

Performance-related somatic symptoms may include pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling, and they are commonly experienced by students in higher music education . From a self-determination theory perspective, this study examines the relationship between basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS) and frustration, somatic symptom burden, giving up, and life satisfaction among music performance students ( n = 281). Two theoretical models were tested hypothesizing that music students’ BPNS would be negatively associated with both students’ somatic symptoms and giving up and positively related to general life satisfaction. Basic psychological need frustration (BPNF) was anticipated to have the opposite relations. The two models were confirmed. Participants whose basic psychological needs were satisfied were unlikely to be burdened by somatic symptoms and giving up and simultaneously likely to experiencing high levels of general life satisfaction. Conversely, participants whose basic psychological needs were frustrated were more likely to be burdened by various somatic symptoms and to giving up facing adversity. Need-frustrated participants also reported low levels of life satisfaction. This study contributed to extending the application of self-determination theory to address somatic symptom burden in the context of music performance. Educational implications are discussed in the light of teaching and learning in higher music education.