Compliance, Part 2

In the last blog, I talked about some of the factors that may keep us from complying (sticking with, following through) with our practice schedules. Specifically, we looked at the impact of an internal versus an external locus of control.

There was another important factor that Dr. Verdolini Abbott presented in that same lecture that I want to discuss as well: self-efficacy.

The American Psychological Association website states:

Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment. These cognitive self-evaluations influence all manner of human experience, including the goals for which people strive, the amount of energy expended toward goal achievement, and likelihood of attaining particular levels of behavioral performance. 

In short, self-efficacy has to to with your belief in your ability to carry out a behavior. It's similar to an internal locus of control, where you believe that your own efforts and choices are responsible for your success as opposed to outside factors like luck or fate, but it applies more directly to choosing the behaviors that will lead to that success.

Unsurprisingly, hundreds of studies with medical patients have shown a positive correlation between self-efficacy and compliance, several of which are referenced in Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation by Dr. Verdolini Abbott and Dr. Ingo Titze (p.245). This means that patients who had a strong belief in their ability to carry out a behavior were more likely to follow through with doctor-directed therapy and treatment.

Once again, can we apply this to teacher- and student-directed practice schedules? Perhaps students with strong self-efficacy will be more likely to follow through with practice schedules and practice regimens because they believe in their own abilities and that those steps will lead to the vocal progress they are seeking. Do you truly believe that practicing will lead to positive results or do you think it won't make much difference? Do you believe that you can be self-motivated enough to stick to your practice? Do you believe that you can overcome the many temptations in your environment and in our society that encourage you to slough off or spend your time in other ways?

These can be tough—but necessary—questions to answer, especially if you have had difficulty sticking to your practice schedule. If you are concerned that your self-efficacy is not as strong as it could be, there is another factor shown to have positive results with compliance: social support. In clinical settings, patients who had a social support system were more likely to follow through with rehabilitation and health maintenance than those without a social support system.

This blog is partly intended to serve as a social support system for all of you so you can read about your classmates' and studio mates' vocal journeys. Can you take it a step further by making yourself accountable to someone else (besides me!) who is invested in keeping you practicing? Try checking in with one or two classmates and ask them about their practice schedules and routines. Talk with them about what is or isn't working for you in your own practice. Ask for their ideas and share some of your ideas.

If you know that people are going to check in with you about your practicing, you may just be more likely to practice so that you have something to tell them. It's as simple as that.

How has your practicing been this week? Are you pretty good with self-efficacy or would you benefit from setting up a social support system to encourage you to keep working toward your vocal goals?

Now go practice.

Dr. Verdolini Abbott in class.

Compliance, Part 1

By now, you have all (hopefully) turned in your practice schedules for the semester and you have identified goals to work toward. Both of those are important steps designed to better enable you to make the most vocal progress this year.

Now comes the hard part: following through.

One of my professors at the Summer Vocology Institute was Kittie Verdolini Abbott, PhD. She is a professor of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Delaware and co-author of Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation. She dedicated an entire class period to the issue of patient compliance where we looked at numerous studies that examine why patients sometimes do not follow their doctors' directions. Some patients in the studies were not taking prescribed medications (or they didn't take them as often as directed) and other patients did not follow through with their therapy exercises or with recommended dietary changes.

The studies uncovered a variety of factors that may contribute to this lack of compliance, one of the most significant being whether people have an internal or external locus of control. As described in Psychology Today by clinical social work psychotherapist Richard B. Joelson:

"If a person has an internal locus of control, that person attributes success to his or her own efforts and abilities. A person who expects to succeed will be more motivated and more likely to learn. A person with an external locus of control, who attributes his or her success to luck or fate, will be less likely to make the effort needed to learn."

In one notable study (Gordillo et al., 1999), patients with an external locus of control (who believe their lives are directed by factors outside of their control) were much less likely to follow through with medical treatments.

Is there a parallel here to voice students following through with vocal practice? I don't believe that has been studied as thoroughly, but maybe we can make some assumptions.

Voice students with an external locus of control may believe they aren't as good at singing as they should be because they haven't been lucky enough to have good voice teachers. This may frustrate them to the point where they are not motivated to practice. Or, they may feel that they didn't inherit good singing genes from their parents so they shouldn't bother practicing. They may point to other external factors as reasons for not practicing, like having a full schedule or not having a good place to practice.

On the other hand, students whose internal locus of control causes them to believe that they are in charge of their own lives may recognize that they haven't had great teachers or been blessed with abundant natural abilities, but they will use that as motivation to work harder rather than to withdraw. They may look at their busy schedule and insist on finding time and a place to practice, believing that to be the best way to improve their skills.

If an external locus of control may be making it more difficult to follow through with our practice, are we capable of simply adopting an internal locus of control instead? That's difficult to say. Dr. Joelson explains that although our locus of control is often seen as an inborn personality component, there is also evidence that it is shaped by our experiences.

Regardless, sometimes acknowledging our natural tendencies can help us consciously overcome them if they are not serving us. If you find yourself sloughing off from your practice, try saying out loud some of the kinds of phrases that Dr. Joelson has heard from people who have an internal locus of control:  “I know it’s up to me,” “I can learn how to become more successful,” or “I am responsible for what happens in my practice.”

We're more than two weeks in. How has your practice been going? How are you doing at complying with your own practice schedule?

Now go practice.