Understanding College Students' Continued Intention to Engage in Choirs: Roles of Music Quality and Psychosocial Influences

This study investigates the motivational factors influencing college students' continued participation in choirs, focusing on the effects of music quality and psychosocial factors on their sustained learning intentions within the context of Chinese higher education. While choirs are widely recognized for enhancing teamwork and emotional communication, there is a lack of in-depth research on students' expectations before joining choirs and their commitment to ongoing participation in collectivist cultural settings. To address this gap, we integrate the Theory of Learning Intention and Expectation Confirmation Theory to develop a comprehensive framework. Using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling, we analyse the complex relationships among variables such as social group perception, song content quality, perceived self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and participation behaviour in Chinese university choirs. The findings reveal that individual musical literacy and collectivity-oriented social group perception significantly impact participation in choir activities, enhancing satisfaction and perceived usefulness, which in turn promote sustained willingness to participate. This study not only enriches the theoretical perspectives on choir participation with cultural specificity but also offers practical guidance for optimizing culturally adaptive choir programs in higher education, aiming to increase student engagement and satisfaction, particularly in contexts valuing collective musical expression. The implications extend to fostering cultural inheritance and innovative development in arts education across similar cultural environments.