Not just clowning around: psychological mechanisms underlying accidents in a heterogenous group of contemporary circus artists

Abstract

Safety is paramount to nurture artists’ creative growth and performance. In several contemporary circus arts disciplines, the consequences of accidents may involve severe injuries or death. In this article, we explore perceived risks, personality, experiences of sensation, emotion regulation, and agency in relation to accidents and near misses in contemporary circus arts (N = 248). A pathway analysis revealed that perceived risk, personality, and emotion regulation covary and together affect the likelihood of accidents and near misses in contemporary circus arts. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that contemporary circus arts consist of a heterogeneous group of discipline categories. Floor acrobats experienced significantly more accidents than aerial acrobats and object manipulators, and aerial acrobats experienced significantly more emotion regulation and agency than object manipulators. Further, aerial acrobats scored significantly higher on the personality traits conscientiousness and agreeableness than object manipulators. Our study reinforces the centrality of emotion regulation to safe performance in contemporary circus arts. Practitioners in performing arts, and circus in particular, are recommended to tailor safety interventions to the circus category and the artists’ personality-specific needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)