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Ethnic minority vocal traditions and psychological wellbeing: ethnic-cultural identity and self-reported emotion regulation in Chinese conservatory programs

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction: Ethnic minority vocal traditions may support psychological wellbeing, but comparative evidence remains limited. This study compared Chinese ethnic minority and Western vocal training and examined the associations of emotion regulation, ethnic-cultural identity, training intensity, and instructor-student cultural congruence with wellbeing. Methods: An observational mixed-methods study included 480 vocal students (240 per tradition) from seven institutions, a longitudinal subsample of 192 students followed for six months, and 40 semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analyses used ANCOVA, regression, parallel and moderated mediation with bootstrapping, and multilevel models. Qualitative data were examined using codebook thematic analysis. Results: = 0.78). The indirect associations remained robust under clusterbased inference, whereas the direct association did not. Training intensity was associated with a stronger emotion-regulation pathway, although this finding was borderline under cluster-based inference. Cultural congruence did not significantly moderate the identity pathway, and no curvilinear moderation was identified. Over six months, wellbeing increased in the Chinese ethnic group but not in the Western group. Interviews identified four themes: embodied breath, belonging, teacher congruence, and evaluative pressure. Discussion: The findings suggest that ethnic-cultural identity and cognitive reappraisal may help explain the observed association between vocal-training tradition and psychological wellbeing. However, the complete confounding of training tradition with institution and country prevents attributing group differences to pedagogy alone. Cross-sectional mediation models and the observational design further limit causal interpretation. These hypothesis-generating findings warrant longitudinal, multisite research to clarify the relationships among vocal training, cultural identity, emotion regulation, and wellbeing.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1981035

Authors: Linhao Qin, Meitian Zhao

Institution: Taiyuan Normal University

Language: English

Topic: Diverse Music Education Insights

Subfield: Music

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801