Thriving, Striving, or Just Surviving? TD Learning Conditions, Motivational Processes and Well-Being Among Norwegian Elite Performers in Music, Ballet, and Sport

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptions of participants.

Participant	1m	2m	3m	4d	5d	6d	7s	8s	9s
Domain	Music	Music	Music	Dance	Dance	Dance	Sport	Sport	Sport
Gender	Female	Female	Male	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Age	41	27	27	31	35	25	32	35	33
Entrance age	9	2	5	6	7	10	6	5	4
Hours/week	25	38	40	43	37	40	28	28	30
Years in profession	13	3	2	10	8	6	10	6	10

Table 2. Thematic structure.

	Contextual Layer	Theme	Category
TD learning conditions	National layer	The Norwegian way	Exclusive & student centered Teacher/coach support Peer support
	Elite talent development layer	High-performance deliberate practice	Talent focus Structure & system Top teachers/coaches in the field High expectations and demands Favoring the “best” Early socialization & professionalization
		Controlled learning conditions	Authoritarian Rigid
	Art specific layer	Distinct traditions and belief systems within the arts	Tacit knowledge culture Artistic dimensions
Performers’ motivational processes	Individual layer	Motivational characteristics from childhood (entrance to TD)	Intrinsic (inner love & drive, interest) Introjected (family expectation, internal pressure, conditional approval) External (status, winning, external pressure)
		Motivational experiences at TD years	Identified as gifted Mastery and competence development (learn, develop, improve, reach goals, win**) Flourishing being part of high quality practice Flow experiences (in training, bodily, emotionally*) Be seen and get approval (from teacher, peers and audience*) Challenges (failure, stagnation, lack of flow, lack of motivation, lack of status, injuries, lack of coping strategies, body image pressure)
		Motivational implications	Disciplined and conscientious Ability to immerse oneself, prioritize Autonomous behavior regulations (intrinsic, integrated, identified) Controlled behavior regulations (extrinsic, introjected) Competition instinct and goal driven** Perfectionistic and highly self-critical* Ambivalent perceived competence Underestimating own competence*
Well-/Ill-being		Well-/ill-being experiences	Thriving (self-realization, social contentment, high self-esteem, positive affect, vitality, flow) Striving (performance anxiety, perfectionism, lowered self-esteem, negative affect) Surviving (obsessiveness, eating disorder, exhaustion)

*only artists; ** only athletes.

Table 3. Individual motivation TD pathways of participants.

	Motivation Childhood	Motivational Experiences in TD Practices	Motivational Regulations TD Years →	Well-/Ill-Being Implications
3m music; male	Inner love & drive; “I have always liked to rehearse … I liked the sound, and I really liked the music made for violins.”	Mixed experiences. Mostly mastery, enjoyment and positive development in early years, but experienced some pressure and expectation due to early participation in high-performance environment. Experienced some striving and challenges at TD school; moved away from home, conflicting relationship with teacher, frustration with authoritarian system and lack of use of creativity.	Predominantly autonomous; intrinsic, integrated- and identified; “I like to play the violin and seek that enjoyment to stay motivated”; “[when failing] I tried to look at it in perspective and learn from it and bring on something from the experience, and not just be upset”; “I usually never give up, I work as long as it takes to reach the goals.”	Performance anxiety; [at TD school] “I didn’t feel free on the stage. It made me unsecure and stiff”; Performance level; [at TD school] “I believe that it is important to thrive and enjoy yourself. Or else it would be difficult to express through the music”; Self-realization; “I express myself and my deep emotions through music, express the personality through the playing.”
9s sport; female	Inner love & drive; “I have always enjoyed water. To play and swim, and I think it was the speed and the bodily sensation in the water that attracted me. I was just fond of being in water.”	Mostly mastery, enjoyment and positive development all the way, especially in TD school years; a positive circle of development with mastery, relatedness (peers & coaches, autonomy; “I felt I had control, that I sat in the driver’s seat … I believe I had so high self-esteem then, that it was easy to make a decision.”	Predominantly autonomous; intrinsic, integrated- and identified; “It’s about doing what it takes even if nobody watches … you can’t lean back and believe that the success will come by itself.”	High motivation, self-esteem, positive affect and vitality; “It was nice gaining those results. It was important as a storage of self-esteem … it equipped me with a motivation that grew larger and larger”; “I think I actually never was afraid or stressed toward failing”; “you have to enjoy yourself, be happy and have fun in order to succeed.”
1m music; female	Extrinsic (pressured, satisfy expectations from family), “I grew up with classical music … it was the only music that counted, everything else was garbage … I learned to like it.” But also intrinsic; “I liked the music and enjoyed music.”	Mixed experiences. Struggled with expectations and pressure from family and teachers, seeking external approval, contingent perceived competence. High satisfaction of the need for relatedness all the way. Mastery and high performance level nurtured the need for competence, even though it was external and contingent.	Multidimensional; intrinsic, identified- and introjected “I was never satisfied, more a doubter; “I find it very hard to maintain motivation and to prioritize the cello these days”; “The interplay together in an orchestra, I found it fantastic … it was a place that I really belonged … it was so fun.”	Performance anxiety; “I have always been afraid, because I know how I react when I fail. That it is, it’s terrible”; Lowered self-esteem; “I was very shy, anonymous and reserved. I didn’t like the attention or to be out in front … I found no joy in just being myself.” Well-being; “I experienced joy through the music, and deep feelings … and to share these experiences with others, being part of a thriving environment, make close friends.”
2m music; female	Extrinsic (status, satisfy expectations from parents); “I liked to be good at something and to demonstrate competence, like ‘showing off’”; “In the beginning, it was easy. There were no expectations, I was good and it was fun.”	Mixed experiences. Mostly challenges and striving in early years before Norwegian TD school. Expectations from parents, educated partly abroad with controlling and authoritarian teachers; “it was so hard, I was crying after every lesson, each week, it was so terrible.” At TD school things turned around; experienced it very egalitarian and student-centered, a fantastic and nurturing teacher, supporting peers.	Multidimensional; identified- and introjected; “I started developing doubts if I would make it or if it was worthwhile”; “a motivation has been to be able to express myself through music.”	Lowered self-esteem; “The feedback I got was that I didn’t express myself enough, that I lacked a personality, a character in my playing, that I didn’t seem to know who I was and was too afraid.” Well-being; the wounds I got, it was as I was patching up all the wounds … I felt I was becoming a complete person again.”
4d dance; male	Inner love & drive; “When I was a child I found everything enjoyable and fun … the first stage experience was magical, it was a groundbreaking experience.”	Mixed experiences. Mastery, intrinsic motivation, lots of playing and creativity. TD years more challenging due to expectations and pressure both from outside (family, friends, teachers) and within (perfectionism). Very frustrated toward the rigid, tacit and authoritarian system. Satisfaction of relatedness all the way. Artistic processes and being able to express enhanced flow.	Multidimensional; intrinsic, identified- & introjected- regulations; “I have always strived toward perfection, even in childhood. I strive for it each day”; The effort I had to do to make progress each day. That is something I still work on. Not to just maintain, but to actually develop each day”; “I love to express, the theater as an institution drives me.”	Perfectionism; “I did experience mastery as well, but mostly I experienced failure … Performance anxiety: “I remember being very afraid and nervous, even in rehearsal situations.” Physical anxiety; “I was afraid to be exhausted, afraid of the physical pain that follows the hard work. It is so painful.” Self-realization/flow: “I find the artistic processes thrilling and exiting. Moreover, I may be able to lose myself within the process.”
6d dance; male	Extrinsic (status, expectations from parent & teachers); “I was told to try classical ballet. Therefore, I did. I started at the national ballet school, and I just was stuck there; one thing led to another.”	Mixed experiences. Frustration with rigid and authoritarian system, disliked and frustrated with the discrimination of “bad students.” Good peer relations within and outside TD school; “a lot of frustration and a lot of mastery … either in a good or bad circle.” Competence contingently satisfied/frustrated.	Multidimensional; intrinsic, identified- & introjected regulations; “I liked the challenges … to experience a curve of development”; “[success] is to be able to do as told/taught, and to be approved by leaders”; “I take it very personal when I fail.”	Increased self-esteem; “to master the difficult technique made me feel proud and good, also in the daily-life.” Performance anxiety; “it has been a lot of anxiety, really bad … both at training and performances. A lot of nightmares, it has been a lot of shit going on.” Negative affect; “it brought me down a lot does times I was in a bad circle of development, it was and are really hard.”
7s sport; female	Inner love & drive, status, winning; “I found it extremely enjoyable … I loved being in the water”; “I found it very cool to compete … it was a deeply wish to be the best.”	Mixed experiences. Mastery, intrinsic motivation, lots of playing early. TD years; frustration; conflict with coach and sickness, in turn stagnation and demotivation. “It was his [the coach] way of doing things. To me who knew that I needed other approaches, it became easier to not attend.”	Multidimensional; intrinsic, identified- & introjected regulations; “I thought it was extremely fun, it was a good drive”; “I liked to win from an early age … and I mastered early … It gave me motivation that lasted all the way.”	Performance anxiety, “When you got more experience with bad performance, it occupied a lot of your time and focus. Maybe it made you analyze stuff, and made you afraid to not perform at the expected level.” Negative affect; “It was such a feeling of failure … it made you frustrated, at practice and in competition.” Exhaustion, sickness; “the conflict with the coach made me exhausted … I was extensively injured and sick.”
5d dance; female	Extrinsic (status, be approved by family); “I think everyone expected that I loved dancing … but I got more motivated in trying to not disappoint anyone, and I wanted to fulfill being that typically ‘ballerina’.”	Obsessiveness and high expectations and pressure from family (external) and within (perfectionism). Never feeling satisfied (self-critical). Lack of self-determined motivation and enjoyment. Relatedness was good.	Predominantly controlled; extrinsic and introjected; “It was more that I was satisfied if I didn’t mess it all up, that I didn’t make mistakes visible to the audience”; “I wasn’t allowed to quit by my parents because I was talented”; “All the time and effort required to be a soloist, for me, it isn’t worth the effort anymore.”	Low self-esteem; “Well, I often had a sense of not being good enough.” Performance anxiety; “to handle when the anxiousness really kicked in, that was my biggest challenge.” Eating disorder; “I became very conscious of body weight … Always a bad conscience when I ate … I was unusually skinny, but I remember feeling very big.” Perfectionism; “I found it uncomfortable to be on stage … I didn’t want anybody to see me … I felt that there was so much that was not good enough.”
8s sport; male	Extrinsic (status, winning); “To know that I was the best, that there were no one that outperformed me. I found that very enjoyable … I wanted that victory ritual … I was very competitive of nature.”	Mixed: Mastery, success, mastery focus and enjoyment in local club. In TD years, pressure and frustration; moved away from home, superficial relationship with authoritarian coach, obsessiveness, contingent perceived competence (stagnation as senior).	Predominantly controlled; extrinsic and introjected; “I was such a striver”; “I was not creative, more a type that follows the scheme, very loyal to the system”; “I got bad conscience if I made bad [not as coach expected] choices.”	Obsessiveness; “The sport and competitive culture nurtured my extreme personality … there was the swimming that organized and controlled my life.” Exhaustion, minor depression: “Overall, it became very exhausting … I had periods where it was hard mentally to live as the student conducts with that lifestyle … it was mentally tough.”

Note. The performers are ordered relative to their quality of motivation, ranged from most adaptive (intrinsic, autonomous) to less adaptive (extrinsic, controlled).