New Study on Dancers

Written By Simon Haddock

Hello, fellow milongueros and milongueras!

It’s an absolute pleasure to share my latest findings with you, in the hope that they might spark your curiosity about both tango and psychology.

I recently came across a fascinating new study: “The Dancer Personality: Comparing Dancers and Non-Dancers in Germany and Sweden” (2024)

The researchers set out to answer two intriguing questions using country-specific versions of the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory which uses the acroynm ACENO to measure:

  • Agreeableness

  • Conscientiousness

  • Extraversion

  • Neuroticism

  • Openness to Experience

1. Are dancers generally more open and extroverted than non-dancers?

Tango dancers study

2. Do personality traits differ between dancers of various styles—such as ballroom, Latin, Argentine tango, swing, ballet, and street dance?

Tango dancers study

The images I’ve uploaded offer a glimpse into their “click-bait” conclusions, based on two participant groups from Germany and Sweden.

Here are their key take-aways:

1. Are dancers more open and extraverted than non-dancers?

Results Swedish sample (compared groups: non-dancers, amateur dancers, professional dancers)

Openness

  • non-dancers scored statistically significant lower than amateurs and performing dancers

  • performing dancers scored statistically significant higher than amateur dancers

Extraversion

  • non-dancers again scored statistically significant lower than both amateurs and performing dancers

  • no differences between amateurs and performing dancers were observed

Agreeableness

  • non-dancers scored statistically significant lower than amateurs and performing dancers

  • no difference between amateurs and performing dancers.

Results German sample (compared groups: amateur dancers, professional dancers, dance school entrepreneurs)

Openness

  • amateur dancers scored statistically significant lower than dance school entrepreneurs and professionals

Extraversion

  • dance school entrepreneurs were statistically significant more extraverted than professionals and amateur dancers

  • professional dancers scored statistically significant higher than amateur dancers

Agreeableness

  • amateur dancers scored less than dance school entrepreneurs and professionals

2. Are there personality differences between dancers of different styles (standard, Latin, Argentine tango, swing dance, ballet, and street dance)?

Comparisons revealed group differences in openness and neuroticism.

Openness

  • Argentine tango dancers scored higher than standard and Latin dancers

  • ballet dancers were more open than Latin, standard, and street dancers

Neuroticism

  • swing dancers scored lower than standard, Latin, and Argentine tango dancers

3. Are there differences in personality traits between dancers of different categories and norms outcomes:

Conscientiousness

  • No statistically significant difference between style dance categories and the norms

Openness

  • Dancers of all categories, apart from street dance, were more open than norms.

Extraversion

  • Dancers of all categories scored higher than the norms.

Agreeableness

  • Ballet and Latin dancers scored higher than norms.

Neuroticism

  • Swing dancers had the largest deviation from the norms, showing the lowest levels of neuroticism, followed by Argentine tango and Latin dancers.

For a deeper dive into the findings, have a look at the discussion section of the article read the article here.

Author: Sever Sava

Simon Haddock
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