Dance Motivation Inventory (DMI)
A research-backed map of why people dance. Developed in 2015 by Aniko Maraz and colleagues from a factor analysis of hundreds of salsa and ballroom dancers, the Dance Motivation Inventory found that the pull of the dance floor breaks into eight distinct motives — keeping fit, lifting the mood, intimacy, socialising, the trance of losing yourself in movement, mastering your own body, the confidence it brings, and escaping everyday life. It sorts you by the motives that drive you most, going past a single answer to the full mix behind why you move.
The Dance Motivation Inventory (DMI) is a validated instrument developed by Maraz, Király, Urbán, Griffiths & Demetrovics (2015) through an exploratory factor analysis of 447 salsa and ballroom dancers. It identifies eight distinct motives for dancing; this asks which ones drive you. A self-report measure of motivation, not a clinical test. (Dance Motivation Inventory (Maraz, Király, Urbán, Griffiths & Demetrovics, 2015))
Groups
- Fitness — I dance to keep fit and healthy — it is how I move my body and stay in shape.
- Mood enhancement — I dance for the lift — it brightens and energises my mood.
- Intimacy — I dance for closeness — the appeal of dressing up, physical nearness, and looking for romance or a partner.
- Socialising — I dance for the company — being in good company, among warm, like-minded people.
- Trance — I dance to lose myself — the ecstasy and floating of a trance-like, altered state of mind.
- Mastery — I dance to master my body — sharpening my coordination, movement, and control.
- Self-confidence — I dance for how it makes me feel — attractive, and surer of myself.
- Escapism — I dance to get away — leaving behind emptiness, low mood, and everyday problems.
References
- Maraz, A., Király, O., Urbán, R., Griffiths, M. D., & Demetrovics, Z. (2015). Why Do You Dance? Development of the Dance Motivation Inventory (DMI). PLoS ONE, 10(3), e0122866
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