Antonella Delle Fave and Gaja Zager Kocjan
The investigation of positive work experiences and environments is attracting the interest of both researchers and practitioners in the sector of work psychology. Over the last two decades, a vast literature has been produced on these topics. Studies have investigated individual characteristics, task features, and aspects of the work environment that may be related to employee well‐being. Despite the variety of human work activities, substantially differing in structure, organization, and outcomes at the individual and social levels, psychologists have mostly devoted their attention to office and factory jobs, typical of modern urban contexts. In contrast, arts and crafts have been largely neglected. In the present chapter, we will attempt to partially fill this gap by summarizing the sparse studies investigating well‐being among people who work as artists or skilled craftsmen, both in Western societies and in other countries and cultures.
The review of the literature highlights an intriguing paradox: the dearth of psychological studies investigating the job experience of professional artists and especially craftsmen is counterbalanced by a relatively rich literature on the positive outcomes of arts and crafts as non‐professional leisure activities or therapeutic practices. A synthetic overview of these findings was deemed as relevant to the purposes of this book, due to their potential usefulness in designing well‐being focused interventions in the organizational domain. The chapter is therefore articulated in two main sections. In the first one, attention will be devoted to the studies addressing the work experience and well‐being of professional artists and craftsmen. The second section will instead focus on the studies referring to arts and crafts as non‐professional activities, practiced within rehabilitation programs or during free time.
A review of the literature revealed that approximately 80% of the studies on arts and crafts deal with these activities as leisure opportunities or therapeutic and rehabilitation tools. Only rarely are they investigated as professions or vocations. While little is known about the demands that people in arts and crafts are challenged by in their work environment, and the resources that help them face these demands, considerable attention has been given to the work conditions and experience of office and factory workers. This approach entails the risk of using the related findings as the standard criterion to understand the work experience of people occupied in a much broader range of job domains and conditions all around the world. Billions of people on this planet work in conditions and environments that differ greatly from those investigated within the mainstream psychological literature. Although technology and computers have replaced manpower in many job tasks, traditional craft activities such as sewing, weaving, carpentry, construction, shoemaking, and jewelry production remain a basic means of sustenance for a large number of families and communities (Sengupta, 2011). Even in modern urban societies many people work in handicrafts (for example hairdressers, bakers, fashion stylists and tailors, florists) or in creative art activities (dancers, writers, painters, and musicians). These people play an invaluable role in the co‐creation of both traditional rural as well as modern urban lifestyle, yet they often remain invisible for much of the contemporary research. Most of the papers referring to professional craftsmen are written by economists, sociologists and anthropologists, thus addressing socio‐economic issues, rather than the psychological resources and experience of these workers.
This lack of attention to the quality of work experience of professional artists and craftsmen is partially grounded in the stereotypical view of these workers as lucky people, who perform creative tasks and enjoy freedom and independence (Markusen, 2013; Sennett, 2008). Within the modern understanding of work, this stereotype can be partially justified by the fact that employees working in factories and tertiary sector companies face constraints in personal initiative and self‐expression, a problem frequently highlighted by mainstream research in work psychology. This evidence supports the view of work as means for satisfying basic “deficiency” human needs, such as the need for safety or social recognition (Maslow, 1968). Work is considered as compulsory activity, instrumental in reaching other life goals. Self‐actualization is usually pursued through other activities that people practice in their free time.
Arts and crafts indeed represent two work sectors that may provide positive experiences similar to those associated with leisure activities (Delle Fave, Massimini, & Bassi, 2011). Compared to modern factory or office work, these professions impose fewer restrictions in goal setting and task performance, and provide opportunities for creativity and self‐expression. The creative side of arts and crafts is, however, inextricably intertwined with perseverance, strict discipline, and hard practice, necessary prerequisites for acquiring professional competences and mastering technicalities (Holmes, 2015).
At the psychological level, this twofold structure of arts and crafts can be well explained adopting Gollwitzer’s (2012) mindset theory of action phases in the process of goal pursuit. The theory proposes a distinction between deliberative and implementation mindsets, that operate through different cognitive processes. The deliberative mindset is related to goal setting, and it implies choosing among a variety of potential outcomes, while the implementation mindset refers to performing practical tasks in order to achieve the goals previously set. The deliberating process, characterized by higher receptiveness and open‐mindedness, can be related to the creative phase, when the workers get “inspiration” and build a mental image of their products. The subsequent implementation phase instead requires commitment to goal pursuit, focus on goal‐oriented actions, and sustained effort.
Practicing technicalities represents the necessary pathway toward obtaining both high‐level products and optimal states of consciousness such as flow, described as “the holistic sensation that people feel when they act with total involvement” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, p. 36). However, repeated practice is not always enjoyable, as it can be associated with fatigue, boredom, or even exhaustion. Hard practice in pursuit of accuracy and perfection can even result in physical injuries (Guptill, 2012) or high levels of anxiety (Kenny, Driscoll, & Ackermann, 2014).
The spatial and social environments in which artists and craftsmen work also contribute to their experience. Studies conducted by economists showed that professional artists often work under severe objective conditions, such as low income and lack of regular employment (Alper & Wassall, 2006). In addition, structural aspects of the profession, such as the prolonged eyestrain of tailors and goldsmiths, the standing position of hairdressers, and the sitting posture of shoemakers, may directly affect health (Areeudomwong, Puntumetakul, Kaber, Wanpen, Leelayuwat, & Chatchawan, 2012).
This evidence suggests that art and craft professions need to be investigated within a complex framework, overcoming simplistic and unilateral views focusing either on the creative and enjoyable features of these activities, or on their problematic aspects and demands. Indeed, professional artists and craftsmen are faced with difficult objective conditions, and their work is often anything but enjoyable. At the same time, art and craft activities may represent opportunities for engagement, promote problem solving, self‐expression, and skill development, and contribute to the sense of achievement and development of personal identity (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Griffiths, 2008; MacDonald, Byrne, & Carlton, 2006). Based on these positive features, these activities can be considered as exemplary conditions of strength promotion and resource development, from which to derive practical insights for designing interventions to promote well‐being in other work contexts.
The focus on deficits rather than well‐being has characterized for decades the study of human behavior and experience. Also in the field of creativity and arts, researchers have predominantly investigated ill‐being indicators, such as stress, depression, and performance anxiety. More recently, however, several studies have highlighted that, though faced with difficult objective conditions such as low incomes and job insecurity, professional artists report higher job satisfaction as compared to non‐artists, based on higher perceived autonomy (Bille, Bryld Fjællegaard, Frey, & Steiner, 2013), self‐employment, task variety, and exposure to novelty and learning opportunities (Steiner & Schneider, 2013).
The scientific interest in the work experience of professional artists is also highly sectorial. Research is predominantly focused on dancers and musicians, whereas other artistic occupations such as writing, painting, and acting have received considerably less attention. The existing studies rely on a broad range of well‐being indicators, assessed through techniques widely varying as concerns empirical validity. In addition, the theoretical conceptualizations and operationalizations of well‐being differ across studies, and often a single study refers to more than one theory or construct. Therefore, the available research findings are often difficult to evaluate and rather hard to compare. In the following pages, we will attempt to group studies according to the prominent constructs investigated. We will start with flow, which is undoubtedly the positive work experience and well‐being indicator most frequently examined among professional artists.
Flow is a positive experience characterized by intense concentration and deep involvement in an activity, merging of action and awareness, distorted perception of time, clear goals, constant feedback on one’s own performance, intrinsic motivation, and a feeling of oneness with the task at hand (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). The crucial antecedent of flow experience is the match between the level of challenges perceived in the ongoing activity and the level of skills mobilized to face these challenges (Bassi & Delle Fave, 2012; Fong, Zaleski, & Leach, 2015; Inkinen, Lonka, Hakkarainen, Muukkonen, Litmanen, & Salmela‐Aro, 2014; Kawabata & Mallett, 2011; Massimini, Csikszentmihalyi, & Carli, 1987).
An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) performed on semi‐structured interviews exploring flow among professional dancers from various genres (Hefferon & Ollis, 2006) highlighted three main higher‐order themes: the autotelic nature of the experience, challenges–skills balance, and absorption. In addition, facilitators of flow onset in dance were investigated, leading to the identification of six main categories: confidence, music and choreography features, pre‐performance routine, costumes and make‐up, stage setting, and relationships with others. In another IPA‐based study, professional ballet dancers reported merging of action and awareness (absorption), autotelic perception of the experience, and loss of self‐consciousness as the prominent flow dimensions of dance (Panebianco‐Warrens, 2014). Some of the participants also referred to deep awareness of music as a component of flow. For the vast majority of these dancers music promoted flow onset. However, dislike of the music and recorded music could inhibit flow experience.
Flow was also adopted as the basic theoretical framework of studies on the bodily experience of artists. Simoens and Tervaniemi (2013) focused on the close relationship often developed by musicians and singers with their work instruments, considering it as advantageous for professionals’ well‐being. The incorporation of the instrument into the musician’s body was conceptually related to the experience of flow, and it was interpreted as a prerequisite to promote the shift in attention focus from technicalities to music itself. According to the degree of identification with their instruments/voices, participants in the study were categorized into four groups: united group (no difference between the person and the instrument/voice), person group (person rather than instrument/voice facing the audience), hiding group (personal identity hidden behind the instrument), and obstacle group (instrument as an obstacle between the musician and the audience). The results highlighted the psychological benefits derived from a relationship of unity between the person and the instrument/voice. Compared to the other groups, the “united group” reported higher performance confidence, lower performance anxiety and social phobia, lower perception of pressure, and feelings of primarily performing for the audience (rather than for themselves, for the other musicians of the ensemble, or others). Moreover, “united” participants reported a highly structured academic training that was assumed to facilitate the onset of flow, further leading to the fused relationship between the musicians and their instruments/voices.
Some studies have discussed the detrimental role of flow for musicians. A qualitative study conducted among artists suffering from playing‐related injuries highlighted that entering the state of flow could entail a dissociation from body and time, leading to a lower perception of pain and excessively prolonged and uninterrupted practice (Guptill, 2012). Musicians in this study described the strategies adopted to interrupt or avoid flow in order to protect their own health.
Flow‐like experiences were also detected among poets. Rathunde (2010) investigated the role of flow in the process of lifelong learning, analyzing interviews with professionals participating in a study on creativity in later life (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Among them, the Pulitzer prizewinning poet Mark Strand associated flow with writing poetry, describing several dimensions of optimal experience.
Other studies examined flow in students pursuing a professional career as musicians. Due to the long‐term commitment and daily involvement in practice that this training entails, we decided to include these studies in the present section. Data collected among teenagers and young adults attending music academy courses by means of the Flow Questionnaire and Life Theme Questionnaire (Massimini & Delle Fave, 1995) highlighted that musical activities were associated with pervasive flow experiences by 73% of the participants, who described them as opportunities for intense concentration, deep involvement and self‐expression, as well as sources of challenges. In a longitudinal study with music students, a positive relationship was detected between challenge–skill balance and flow experience, and a negative one between flow and performance anxiety during preparation for a juried recital that included musical compositions varying in complexity and technical demands (Fullagar, Knight, & Sovern, 2013). Studies conducted with a real‐time sampling procedure, Experience Sampling Method (ESM; Hektner, Schmidt, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007), highlighted a significantly positive relationship between students’ flow experience and the creativity ratings of their musical compositions (Byrne, MacDonald, & Carlton 2003; MacDonald et al., 2006). The role of emotions in the flow experience of piano students was also investigated (Marin & Bhattacharya, 2013). Findings showed that trait emotional intelligence positively predicted dispositional flow, but flow did not represent a significant predictor of high performance. Moreover, high arousal emotions (both pleasant and unpleasant; Russell, 1980) expressed or induced by music, specific musical styles (romantic style, followed by classical and contemporary styles), and specific composers (Chopin, followed by Beethoven, Debussy, and Bach) were related to a higher occurrence of flow.
Finally, based on the job demands‐resources model (JD‐R; Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001), the joint investigation of the experience reported by music teachers and their students highlighted that job resources promote teachers’ perceived balance between challenges and skills, thus facilitating flow (Bakker, 2005). The results suggested a conceptual convergence between the two theoretical perspectives, in terms of a higher probability of achieving flow in situations characterized by a perceived equilibrium between job demands and individual/contextual resources in the work setting. In addition, these results suggested a mechanism of flow transfer from music teachers to their students, a phenomenon described as emotional contagion (Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1994).
Self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) represents the conceptual framework underlying various studies conducted among dancers and dance students. The primary aim of these studies was to identify the individual and environmental factors allowing for the satisfaction of the three basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness postulated by the theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The role of autonomy support and basic needs satisfaction was investigated among professional dancers in a one‐month diary study (Quested, Duda, Ntoumanis, & Maxwell, 2013). Three genres were compared: ballet and Chinese dance (both regarded as controlled and structured dance forms), and contemporary dance (considered a more self‐expressive and free genre). The lowest levels of autonomy support and basic needs satisfaction were detected in Chinese dance as compared to ballet and contemporary dance, suggesting that genre and environmental opportunities for basic needs satisfaction are intimately related. Moreover, the degree of autonomy support and basic needs satisfaction was related to dancers’ affective experiences across genres.
This relationship was partially confirmed at the within‐person level in the learning context. Different learning situations (classes, rehearsals, and performances) were characterized by the salience of different basic needs in predicting affective states. In addition, task‐involving climate played a beneficial role in dancers’ satisfaction of basic needs through the promotion of self‐improvement, learning, and individual effort. Basic needs satisfaction in its turn contributed to well‐being in terms of high positive and low negative affect. A significant relationship was also detected between perceived autonomy support and satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness needs (Quested & Duda, 2010). Other studies investigating the relationship between dance motivational climate and anxiety supported these results (Draugelis, Martin, & Garn, 2014; Nordin‐Bates, Quested, Walker, & Redding, 2012). The full mediational role of basic needs satisfaction in the relationship between perceived autonomy support and burnout was further detected among dance students (Quested & Duda, 2011). Finally, a negative relationship was highlighted between basic needs satisfaction, and cortisol levels and anxiety, representing physiological and psychological parameters respectively (Quested, Bosch, Burns, Cumming, Ntoumanis, & Duda, 2011). More specifically, challenge appraisal mediated the association between basic needs satisfaction and cortisol levels, while threat appraisal mediated the relationship between basic needs satisfaction and anxiety intensity.
Studies assessing well‐being indicators among professional musicians and dancers have also highlighted the importance of autonomy and autonomy‐supportive environments for the quality of work experience. Semi‐structured interviews administered to jazz and classical students and professionals allowed exploration of the differences in the work‐related demands these artists are faced with (Dobson, 2010). The perceived degree of self‐expression during the performance emerged as a relevant theme. Jazz musicians reported sufficient levels of autonomy, higher spontaneity and creativity, and a sense of exploration, while classical musicians – particularly those playing in orchestras – perceived lack of direct autonomy, high restrictions related to the demands for complete accuracy, and external control related to constant evaluations. Classical music students experienced practicing as emotionally demanding, and reported negative feelings toward it. In order to cope with these challenges, classical professionals reported adopting strategies such as emotional distancing and limited self‐investment in order to maintain control over technicalities. These findings were consistent with those obtained among professional orchestra musicians, who reported high levels of trait anxiety, performance anxiety, and depression, more evident among younger women (Kenny et al., 2014). The primary causes for performance anxiety were pressure from self, excessive physical arousal before or during performance, and inadequate preparation. Intensive practice, deep breathing, and positive self‐talk were used as strategies to cope with these work challenges.
A different perspective emerged from one of the few studies comparing musicians with other professionals, including clerks, factory workers, and employees of the human relations sector (Kivimaki & Jokinen, 1994). No differences were detected between musicians and the other occupational groups in the perceived levels of autonomy, conflicts, and stressors at work. However, perceived skill variety was significantly higher among musicians, who also reported higher job satisfaction, in spite of more frequent musculoskeletal symptoms. The authors argued that high skill variety represents a relevant opportunity for self‐realization, thus contributing to job satisfaction. Among musicians, at the individual level perceived autonomy and lack of conflicts were also related to higher job satisfaction.
As previously noted, in spite of disadvantageous work conditions, artists report higher job satisfaction as compared to non‐artists. Some researchers specifically investigated the relationship between work environment and job satisfaction among these professionals. A study conducted through an online survey and focus groups addressed the positive and negative attitudes reported by Irish dancers toward their occupation (Cahalan & O’Sullivan, 2013). Although faced with job insecurity and short career, physical and psychological ill‐being, and logistical problems related to their touring lifestyle, dancers reported high levels of job satisfaction. The main positive aspects of their work were exposure to various cultures, enduring friendships, the transformation of dance as a hobby into a career with financial benefits, personal development, and physical fitness.
The relationship between job satisfaction and health was specifically explored among orchestra musicians (Liljeholm Johansson & Theorell, 2003). Three health indicators were considered: the sum of total illness symptoms, musculoskeletal symptoms, and well‐being (operationalized as a combination of low levels of fatigue, worry, frustration, and concentration difficulties, as well as high momentary satisfaction). Global positive evaluations of the work content (conductor, rehearsals, and repertoire) predicted higher levels of health. Demographic variables (gender, type of instrument, and role in the orchestra) and perceived features of the psychosocial environment (including social support and employer’s engagement with the orchestra work environment) were also predictors of health levels. Specifically, women reported higher illness symptom scores than men. Musicians playing wind instruments reported lower musculoskeletal symptoms than string‐players. Finally, musicians working in elite orchestras reported lower well‐being than members of less prestigious orchestras, possibly due to higher job demands and lower autonomy.
This last finding is consistent with the results obtained in a study comparing professional and amateur singers (Grape, Sandgren, Hansson, Ericson, & Theorell, 2003). Cardiovascular and hormonal‐biochemical measures collected before and after a singing lesson showed that participants in both groups were more energetic and relaxed after the lessons. However, amateur singers reported higher well‐being and lower arousal than professionals. The answers to short semi‐structured interviews clarified these findings by showing that professionals were more achievement oriented, whereas for amateurs singing lesson represented an opportunity for self‐expression and self‐actualization.
Overall, high job satisfaction was reported by most artists. These findings indicate the great potential of artistic professions to foster well‐being and a high quality of work experience. The variety of quantitative and qualitative methodologies used across the studies makes any definitive conclusion impossible. Nevertheless, these studies represent important starting points paving the way to more systematic explorations of well‐being among art professionals.
Moving from research on the work experience of professional artists to research on craft professions, the number of studies drops considerably. However, the activities, services, and products provided by professional craftsmen substantially contribute to individuals’ and communities’ quality of life worldwide. People all around the world at one time or another visit hairdressers and manicurists, order custom‐made cakes for special celebrations, need a tailor to shorten or enlarge clothes, buy flower arrangements or hand‐made jewelry, engage a carpenter to build a bookshelf to fit an uneven wall. Nevertheless, psychological research is seldom concerned with the job experience of these professionals. Their life and work conditions are more frequently investigated from the socio‐economical and anthropological perspectives, and predominantly within non‐Western societies. Most studies adopt a phenomenological approach, analyzing narratives of craftsmen’s work experiences, thus making comparisons with other studies and research lines very difficult. Yet, the few studies addressing the work experience of craft professionals represent a unique and thus valuable source of information, and can serve as a basis for further explorations of this topic.
Some of the studies conducted among professional artisans focus on the relationship between engagement in craft activities and well‐being outcomes from a gender perspective, prominently focusing on the relevance of work for the promotion of women’s identity and emancipation. In an ethnographic fieldwork involving Trinidadian women who made their living from clothes production, sewing emerged as a source of personal satisfaction and identity (Prentice, 2012). Learning how to sew was beneficial at two different levels. It provided participants with economic power, thus enhancing their self‐reliance, adaptability, and resourcefulness; it was also an opportunity for enjoyment, excitement, and development of personal talents. In the long term, the acquisition and practice of sewing skills positively contributed to shaping participants’ identities.
The meaning of sewing (performed as leisure, employment, contribution to the household economy, or a means to fulfill cultural expectations) was also explored among first‐generation non‐English‐speaking immigrant women in South Australia (Boerema, Russell, & Aguilar, 2010). Qualitative analyses of individual and group interviews revealed that sewing represented an opportunity to express creativity, a source of pleasure and satisfaction, as well as a useful means to contribute to family subsistence. In addition, sewing played an important role in shaping participants’ identities, in that it provided them with a feeling of cultural continuity during the transition phase of the acculturation process, thus supporting their adaptation to the new environment.
The process of worker identity formation was explored through participant observations and interviews with people (primarily women) performing crafts at home, thus lacking contextual markers related to job and workplace (Dickie, 2003). Findings showed that the definition of a clear schedule, as well as logistic and marketing rules, substantially contributed to building participants’ work identity. In particular, participants mentioned the importance of designating specific rooms or areas of the house for the work‐related activities and materials; of acquiring the right equipment and supplies; of establishing a clear work timetable, as well as a legal business identity. This work identity was adequately recognized and supported by members of their households and communities.
One of the few studies investigating the meaning of work and work values among men involved retired workers of a paper mill in Massachusetts, who had been employed in the same company for at least 25 years (LeBlanc, 2009). Papermakers had developed awareness of their job as both a craft activity and a channel for creative expression. Participants also emphasized the importance of family support for the promotion of their work–life balance.
Other studies have examined the opposite phenomenon, namely the loss or downplay of craftmanship identity. A study conducted at a carpet‐weaving factory in the UK (Sayce, Ackers, & Greene, 2007) highlighted that organizational changes and the introduction of automated technology forced male weavers to rebuild their work identity anew, since their craft identities were tightly related to their sense of masculinity and higher social status. The issue of identity fragmentation in relation to gender was also addressed in an ethnographic study conducted among Indian women working in jewelry production (Soni‐Sinha, 2011). The study shed light on the gendered division of labor according to which men are viewed as breadwinners and women as housewives, though they often work at home. These women, whose activity was considered a low‐skill and low‐value leisure task, were able to assert their worker status by deconstructing their traditional gender role and achieving a more complex and multifaceted identity.
Another field research work conducted through individual narratives and group discussions within the framework of human geography explored the struggle of Indian self‐employed craftswomen in challenging local gendered ideologies and economic strategies (Acharya, 2003, 2004). Finally, an interview‐based study highlighted the negative impact of cultural, gender, and racial stereotypes on the work identity of Caribbean women, enrolled in micro‐business empowerment programs as street vendors (Karides, 2005). The frequent failures of these programs were related to their unrealistic expectations. More specifically, promoters of these initiatives overlooked women’s struggle in balancing household and business without any formal support.
Policymakers and citizens of affluent societies are becoming increasingly sensitive to the issue of fair trade organization (FTO) and its potential in promoting equity and welfare in developing countries. Two studies have explored the impact of FTO on the well‐being of workers. Among Peruvian producers, participation in FTO was positively related with professional self‐esteem, happiness, and self‐reported standard of living (Becchetti, Castriota, & Solferino, 2011). Objective benefits were also detected, such as the increase of weekly food consumption, and the decrease of the amount of income consumed for food expenditure. The second study involved Indian artisans who had acquired entrepreneurial skills while working for a parent FTO and subsequently applied them to develop a new business organization (Strawn & Littrell, 2006).
The impact of work restructuring on artisans’ psychosocial well‐being was also investigated in the context of social system transitions. A study involving craft‐based entrepreneurs from Kyrgyzstan explored their work experience within the post‐Soviet market environment (Botoeva & Spector, 2013). Narrative analysis highlighted participants’ satisfaction with their ability to reallocate local knowledge and skills and to adjust to the demands of a competitive market environment. Their contribution to both family subsistence and client happiness was quoted as an important source of meaning. Similar findings were obtained from Guadalajara’s artisans (Rivas‐Jimenez, 2008), who were able to preserve their craft production and adjust it to the changes brought by economic liberalism by virtue of community cohesion and family support. Finally, a study conducted among pottery workshop owners in China showed that the sharing practices introduced by collectivization were preserved in spite of the privatization of handicraft, promoting knowledge transmission among community members (Gowlland, 2012).
This brief overview highlighted the dearth of studies on professional craftsmen in the scientific literature, especially in the domain of psychology. These workers seem to be unattractive for researchers, even though their social contribution is essential. Therefore, the investigation of craftsmen’s work experience represents an open and challenging research avenue for psychologists, which could enrich the existing body of knowledge on human work activities.
A thorough review of the literature addressing the experience associated with the practice of arts and crafts sheds light on an intriguing paradox: while these activities are substantially overlooked as professions, they are much more frequently investigated as therapeutic or leisure practices. In addition, the range of activities taken into consideration becomes remarkably broader, compared to those investigated as professions. As regards arts, besides music and dancing psychologists have paid attention to poetry, song‐writing, and theater acting. In most cases, however, studies referred to both arts and crafts, addressed together as creative activities.
The beneficial effects of these practices were investigated through a variety of measurement instruments and techniques. Well‐being was explored in terms of experience associated to art performance and craft‐making, meaning attributed to them, and their contribution to physical and mental health. Analogously to research conducted among professionals, most studies do not rely on specific theories and constructs. The only important exception is flow experience, frequently examined among non‐professionals as well.
The majority of studies addressing the benefits of arts and crafts for well‐being promotion can be contextualized within two domains: therapeutic or rehabilitation intervention, and free time or extra‐curricular education. The beneficial role of arts and crafts as leisure activities was investigated in a variety of cultural contexts and life stages.
The potential of arts and crafts as therapeutic and rehabilitation tools has been largely investigated in the scientific literature. However, in most of these studies well‐being is operationalized as the absence or reduction of negative symptoms, rather than the presence of mental health indicators (Brillantes‐Evangelista, 2013; Mohammadian et al., 2011; Tegner, Fox, Philipp, & Thorne, 2009). Only during the last two decades has the assessment of positive indicators of well‐being become part of quantitative and qualitative studies conducted in these domains.
In acute psychiatric setting, the Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale (WEMWBS, Tennant et al., 2007) has been used to detect a significant improvement of patients’ self‐reported well‐being after a 10‐week creative art intervention (Crone et al., 2013). In the context of a psychiatric rehabilitation program conducted in a residential setting, a real‐time study using ESM highlighted that participants perceived high challenges and flow experiences during the daily practice of artistic and expressive tasks (painting, drawing, dancing, photography), while the other daily activities were associated with less positive experiential profiles (Bassi, Ferrario, Ba, Delle Fave, & Viganò, 2012). The findings suggested that some core features of rehabilitation activities, such as clear rules, high structure, and complexity, promote participants’ perception of high challenges, widely acknowledged as a major prerequisite for flow onset.
Researchers have also evaluated the outcomes of art workshops and programs organized in outpatient settings. Users associated creative arts workshops with the perception of purpose and hope, self‐worth, social agency, and strengthened personal identity (Stickley, Hui, Morgan, & Bertram, 2007). A qualitative investigation of a community‐based art program suggested its potential in facilitating participants’ recovery process through the promotion of self‐expression and self‐knowledge, empowerment (control over one’s own life and influence on others), self‐validation (sense of identity, self‐confidence, and changes in lifestyle), and spiritual fulfillment (meaning, purpose, hope, and acceptance). Supportive relationships and contexts were also involved in this process (Lloyd, Wong, & Petchkovsky, 2007). Another qualitative study suggested that participation in art programs may facilitate recovery from mental illness through identity reconstruction and the development of adaptive coping mechanisms, sense of achievement, meaning and purpose (Spandler, Secker, Kent, Hackings, & Shenton, 2007).
In a mixed‐methods study, a 6‐month randomized control trial with treatment and control groups was conducted among adults with chronic mental disorders, to evaluate the outcomes of an art therapy program. Participants’ narratives highlighted that treatment promoted self‐esteem and a sense of commitment and achievement. However, the program’s effectiveness was not supported by the quantitative measures, possibly because of the small size and high heterogeneity of the sample (Odell‐Miller, Hughes, & Westacott, 2006).
Finally, some studies have examined the relationship between art‐based intervention and physiological indicators of well‐being. A training program in visual art production offered to healthy retirees was found to enhance functional connectivity in the brain’s default mode network (DMN), which was further associated with higher resilience scores (Bolwerk, Mack‐Andrick, Lang, Dörfler, & Maihöfner, 2014). In an experimental study, the evaluation of salivary IgA levels before and after a singing session highlighted an enhanced immune system activity immediately after singing in different populations, including amateurs, music students, and professionals (Beck, Cesario, Yousefi, & Enamoto, 2000; Beck, Gottfried, Hall, Cisler, & Bozeman 2006; Kreutz, Bongard, Rohrmann, Hodapp, & Grebe, 2004; Kuhn, 2002).
Similar findings were obtained from studies investigating the therapeutic role of craft‐making among users of mental health services. Woodwork workshops were associated with high intrinsic motivation, derived from meaning‐making, time structuring, and positive environmental features (Mee & Sumsion, 2001). A case study showed that creating a tapestry representation of a photograph connected to personal grief helped the client face and accept the grief‐related loss (Reynolds, 1999). A narrative inquiry investigating the meaning of craft‐based interventions from the therapist’s perspective (Harris, 2008) suggested that craft‐making promotes the pursuit of meaningful goals, self‐efficacy, hope, and sense of achievement through the creation of tangible products. The interpretation of findings was based on the assumption that craft‐making fulfills the innate human need for creativity.
Through studies grounded in the phenomenological approach, Frances Reynolds examined the role of arts and crafts practice in promoting well‐being among people experiencing a chronic illness. Textile work was associated with participants’ development of a positive identity as artists and successful adaptation to disease through a sense of personal growth, achievement, and social connection. It also represented a means for structuring time, a distraction from worries, and contribution to others (Reynolds, 2002, 2003). Women with depression associated needlecraft practice with a condition of relaxation, deep concentration, and absorption that can be easily related to flow experience (Reynolds, 2000). Among the benefits of needlecraft, participants also mentioned self‐esteem, sense of mastery and competence, as well as social recognition, connectedness and support. Women with cancer associated the practice of visual arts and crafts (such as textile work, painting, pottery, or collage) with a flow‐like state of deep immersion that contributed to stress alleviation and provided sense of control, mastery, and achievement (Reynolds & Prior, 2006). Finally, women diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome described art and craft practice (painting, pottery, card‐making, embroidery, and tapestry) as an opportunity to experience life satisfaction, enhanced self‐image and self‐confidence, sense of hope, and social connection (Reynolds, Vivat, & Prior, 2008).
The therapeutic meaning of creative activities was specifically investigated through a qualitative approach among patients with cancer attending occupational therapy sessions within a palliative care setting. Participants perceived creative engagement as a useful coping strategy, promoting concentration on positive targets and awareness of personal abilities and competences. Creative activities helped them attain an adaptive adjustment to illness and its contextualization within a broader perspective (La Cour, Josephsson, Tishelman, & Nygård, 2007). The positive role of creative activities was also explored from both the therapist’s and the client’s perspective during an occupational treatment practice (Griffiths, 2008). Among the benefits and health‐related gains, participants mentioned the facilitation of flow, skill development, sense of achievement, self‐confidence, purpose, control over negative thoughts, and contribution to personal identity and social relationships. Occupational therapists emphasized the importance of offering occupations that were deemed meaningful by clients. Clients underscored the opportunity to develop social connections, experience creative engagement, and transform an interest into an occupation.
A variety of studies have highlighted that the practice of arts and crafts during free time promotes well‐being in its different facets: hedonic dimensions, eudaimonic ones, as well as social well‐being. These three facets represent the components of flourishing, according to Keyes’ model of mental health (Keyes, 2007). In particular, social well‐being includes the perception of social support, cultural belongingness and acceptance, community coherence, and personal contribution to the society (Keyes, 1998).
The analysis of written narratives highlighted that the process of craft‐making is pleasant, satisfactory, and conducive to flow; it offers opportunities for self‐expression and personal growth; its outcome is represented by concrete products that provide manufacturers with a sense of achievement. Craft‐making is also an opportunity for structuring time, and for acquiring physical and cognitive skills, self‐esteem, self‐confidence, internal locus of control, and a sense of meaning. Finally, engagement in craft is related to cultural and social awareness (Pöllänen, 2013, 2015).
Women regularly engaging in artistic activities such as painting, pottery, and photography associated both the process of art‐making and the final product to positive emotions, enhanced self‐image, and social connections (Titus & Sinacore, 2013). Middle‐aged women perceived psychological and spiritual benefits in jewelry‐making, associating this activity with social recognition, hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well‐being, and a sense of connection with God and other people. They also underscored the meditative function of the practice (Adams‐Price & Steinman, 2007). Mothers of young children described craft‐making as an opportunity for self‐expression as well as a relief from parenting and work responsibilities. The process of craft‐making provided them with challenges, joy, and time for themselves. Offering their products as gifts allowed them to connect with others and to transmit the related values to younger generations (Grace, Gandolfo, & Candy, 2009; Mason, 2005).
Other studies focused on the personal and social values embedded in arts and crafts practice. A mixed‐method study revealed that textile creation and use were perceived by women as sources of meaning and motivation. Participants described their products as symbols of their own personal identity, imbued with both tangible and intangible values (Johnson & Wilson, 2005). Iranian women immigrants to Australia, who had preserved the habit of reproducing the cypress tree pattern typical of their culture in everyday cooking and embroidery, described this pattern as a symbol of life continuity, and a memory of home to be transmitted to younger generations (Warin & Dennis, 2005). In the same vein, young Kazakh women associated the acquisition of domestic textile production skills with the construction of their personal identity and status in family and society (Portisch, 2009).
Fewer studies were focused on single indicators of well‐being, usually assessed through scaled questionnaires. Choir singers reported both positive affect and personal growth and vitality after a single choir rehearsal (Busch & Gick, 2012). The joint perception of engagement and loss of self‐awareness – indicative of flow experience – was reported by amateur musicians, professional musicians, and non‐musicians in free descriptions and quantitative assessments of intense experiences related to music (Gabrielsson & Lindström Wik, 2003). Students’ descriptions of strong experiences of music performance were investigated from the perspective of the orientation to happiness model, distinguishing between pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life (Seligman, 2002). The eudaimonic route to happiness, comprising personal and social meanings, as well as flow, was predominant in participants’ descriptions. The hedonic route was also mentioned, but it was given lower relevance (Lamont, 2012). In a study conducted through ESM with adolescents enrolled in a music education program, a positive relationship was found between levels of achievement in music performance and the frequency of flow occurrence (O’Neill, 1999). Among students enrolled in extra‐curricular art programs, choral singing was associated with flow (Freer, 2009) and acting with intrinsic motivation, high concentration, and clear goals (Martin & Cutler, 2002).
Taken together, these findings represent a plea for researchers in the domain of work psychology to expand their attention focus toward the inclusion of arts and crafts, professions so far largely neglected in spite of their great potential to promote well‐being in the work context. Researchers in other social sciences, such as anthropology and sociology, show higher sensitivity and commitment to understanding the work experience of professional artists and craftsmen. Yet, related studies remain overall few in number.
The fact that office and factory workers are given much more attention by work psychologists compared to other occupations can be related, among other reasons, to the debated issue of business‐driven research aimed at empowering large‐scale productivity. Research grants are often funded by companies interested in understanding work conditions, experience, and employee satisfaction in their own context. Moreover, in several countries large companies are bound to legal provisions that include recurrent monitoring of employees’ health indicators, such as work‐related stress and, more recently, also well‐being. Most professional artists and craftsmen are instead engaged in smaller‐scale production workshops, they are often self‐employed, and they are rarely organized in trade unions, thus running the risk of remaining invisible to government, social, and health services.
The review of the limited research literature addressing the work experience and well‐being in professional arts and crafts allowed for the identification of methodological and conceptual shortcomings. As concerns methodology, the variety of measurement instruments and techniques employed, together with the dearth of rigorous quantitative studies, makes the comparison and integration of results extremely difficult. This problem is further intensified at the conceptual level by the broad range of mental health models and constructs adopted as theoretical frameworks of the studies. In addition, while a certain number of studies are grounded in well‐established approaches, such as flow theory and self‐determination theory, many others – especially those based on narratives and interviews – are theoretically vague. Some themes emerging from participants’ descriptions can be easily subsumed under existing theories and models. For example, participants’ frequent mention of self‐expression and self‐actualization can be referred to the concepts of personal expressiveness and development of potentials characterizing the eudaimonist identity theory (Waterman, 1990) and Maslow’s theory of human motivation (1968). Themes including perceived personal abilities and success can be connected to the concept of self‐efficacy (Bandura, 1997). However, authors rarely refer to these theoretical conceptualizations in their interpretation of findings.
This lack of a unified theoretical approach can be partially justified by the fact that mental health and well‐being are still relatively undetermined constructs, lacking a definitive and universally accepted definition. In addition, psychological conceptualizations of mental health and well‐being are often intermingled with the perspectives of other disciplines. For example, economists are more interested in the study of objective indicators of well‐being, such as workers’ material and social circumstances, whereas anthropologists pay specific attention to the impact of sociocultural features on individual happiness.
Overall, these findings suggest the need for further research conducted with rigorous methodology, and aimed at reaching a shared definition and operationalization of well‐being and mental health encompassing different theoretical perspectives, and applicable to the different domains and contexts of human experience.
Despite methodological and structural limitations, the studies summarized in this chapter show that arts and crafts have pervasive beneficial effects on people’s mental health, promoting high engagement, sense of growth and achievement, and personal development. These positive outcomes are related to the high complexity of these activities, which require energy investment and skill cultivation, and to the personal and social meanings and goals that individuals can autonomously attach to their practice.
These benefits are often missing in the context and structure of office and factory jobs, the occupations prominently investigated by industrial/organizational psychologists. These jobs often fail to provide workers with personal and social meanings, high challenges, and self‐determined goals. Several work tasks become repetitive actions with low relevance and complexity, thus preventing workers from achieving high‐quality work experiences. Therefore, findings derived from studies conducted on artists and craftsmen may provide useful suggestions for designing interventions aimed at increasing job satisfaction and work‐related well‐being among other professional categories, more exposed to the risk of disengagement, repetitiveness, and lack of meaningful challenges.
The research findings presented in this chapter also encourage the adoption of a broader view of work, beyond the narrow focus on office employees living in modern urban contexts. Many people worldwide devote their time and energy to ignored yet essential occupations, and through their work they shape our society and daily life.
Finally, at the wider social level these findings underscore the need for paying attention to workers who function in low‐power positions, thus having no influence on research and policy programs, though they perform their job with competence and dedication.