A Triadic Model Integrating Cognitive, Psychomotor, and Affective Dimensions in Adolescent Musicians: The Music Aptitude Self-Efficacy Scale (MASES)

Due to the highly anxiety-inducing nature of music aptitude tests or exams, there is a need for a specialized tool to measure adolescents' beliefs about their musical poten-tial. This study aims to develop and validate the Music Aptitude Self-Efficacy Scale (MASES) for adolescent music teacher candidates preparing for aptitude tests. The study group consisted of 383 students (ages 16–18) preparing for the Music Education Department entrance exams at the Education Faculties in Türkiye. Split-sample meth-od was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis (n=199) and Confirmatory Factor Analy-sis (n=184). The EFA results have revealed a three-factor structure: Cognitive-Auditory Competence, Psychomotor- Performance Competence, and Affective Regulation Competence. CFA results, this three-factor model has excellent fit indices (χ2/df = 1.24, RMSEA =. 036, CFI =. has been validated with 976). The scale has high internal con-sistency and composite reliability (Cronbach α =. 87, McDonald's ω =. 92). The criteri-on-related validity analysis revealed significant positive correlations (r = .586) between the MASES and the Questionnaire for Measuring Self-Efficacy in Youths. The findings indicate that MASES is a valid and reliable tool that can be used by music educators to identify student’s self-efficacy levels and to design guidance programs for aptitude tests or exams.