Correlation Between Social Feedback and Artistic Motivation Among Fine Arts Students

Art is an essential component of human life. It is a necessary discipline in the educational system of every society and is considered a professional field because it requires skills and mental capabilities to be presented as a concept. Most importantly, artistic concepts are created for evaluation. Hence, feedbacks are integral to creative art. The primary objective of the current study was to examine the artistic motivation of fine art students based on social feedback. One hundred and six (n = 106) students enrolled in fine and applied art departments in tertiary institutions in Kogi State, Nigeria, were employed as the study's participants. Data were collected using self-report measures. The simple linear regression analysis performed on the data established a positive correlation between social feedback and artistic motivation. The study concludes that social feedback is an essential component of artistic creativity.

Art is an essential component of human life. It is a necessary discipline in the educational system of every society and is considered a professional field because it requires skills and mental capabilities to be presented as a concept. Most importantly, artistic concepts are created for evaluation. Hence, feedbacks are integral to creative art. The primary objective of the current study was to examine the artistic motivation of fine art students based on social feedback. One hundred and six (n = 106) students enrolled in fine and applied art departments in tertiary institutions in Kogi State, Nigeria, were employed as the study's participants. Data were collected using self-report measures. The simple linear regression analysis performed on the data established a positive correlation between social feedback and artistic motivation. The study concludes that social feedback is an essential component of artistic creativity.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Being interested in art and having knowledge about art are arguably central dimensions in art experience (Specker et al., 2020). Art is a form of communication conveyed in a meaningful creative expression. The expression of human creative skills and imagination, especially in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, conveys a meaningful message. Research has suggested that visual art is an essential component of human lives that affects individuals more than they can imagine(Naletelich & Paswan, 2018). However, art can be for aesthetic purposes. Art is a characteristic of humankind, which requires more significant central nervous processing and integration of motor functions with visual information (Petcu et al., 2016).It evokes meaning when viewed within its context. In many societies, the concept of art is considered a pathway to communicate abstract concepts, ideas, beliefs, and norms. It is also an avenue to express thoughts, effects, and results in a non-verbal form. . The importance of art is implicated in creative problem solving, improved mental and innovative ability, self and cultural consciousness, increased academic outcomes, communication skills, and well-being. The role of art education is critical to the strategic formation of cultural meanings in the discourse of the creative industry(Kasiyan, 2019). Literature about the fundamental role of the arts in learning is widely documented (Sajnani et al., 2020), but less is dedicated to exploring artistic motivation and feedbacks.
The development and management of artistic skills are essential to the overall success of fine arts students. Artistic skills include observing, imaging and visualization, abstracting, pattern recognition and pattern invention, 948 analogizing, dimensional thinking, modeling, body or kinesthetic thinking, manual dexterity, familiarity with tools, transforming data into visual or graphical forms, converting theories into mechanical procedures, and understanding data and experiment. Artistic skills and abilities are required in acquiring creative knowledge in arts because it involves mental processing, manipulation, and visualization(Anuar et al., 2019). Artistic skills enable fine arts students to fit into the wider society. However, improving these skills either in social or academic environments has been fraught with challenges. Firstly, in addition to the low recognition accorded to art as a subject in the Nigerian education system, the concept of art remains ambiguous to many people. Perhaps, it is observed that a large part of society does not perceive art as a priority subject in the school curriculum. This may probably be due to the misconception that art is a luxury, superfluous and isolated subject (Opoko & Nwade, 2014). Consequently, the motivation of any artist is based on societal recognition, acceptance, and recommendations. Hence, social feedback is a critical component in artistic inspiration but has not received much research attention, thus, the justification for the present study.
Social feedback is described as information with which people can self-assess their work and output. Social feedback denotes people in the social environment adding their opinions about the quality or relevance of a work of art. Feedback can have differential effects in terms of motivating behaviors ( . Positive social feedback reinforces artist's motivation and enhances their artistic skills. Social feedback serves to correct mistakes and develop understanding through explanations, generate more learning by identifying further study tasks, promote cognitive abilities. However, most artists are demotivated and relapse as a result of negative feedback from society. Thus, the current study is concerned with the influence of social feedback on artistic motivation.

The Present Study
The concept of artistic motivation as used in the study is operationalized as artist's overall enthusiasm embedded in their ability to create creative ideas. Artistic motivation is assumed to be influenced by the views of others because artists pay more attention to social feedback that consists mainly of comments focused on their artwork. Thus, social feedback is an essential component of artistic motivation. Artists interpret negative social feedback as meaning they don't have the creativity to become artists, so they tend to give up. The alternate view is that positive social feedback can increase motivation and enhance creativity. Therefore, the primary objective of the current study is to explore social feedback as a previously unexplored social variable that could account for the variations in artistic motivation among fine arts students.

Hypothesis
Based on the purpose of the study, a hypothesis is formulated: Social feedback will significantly predict artistic motivation among fine arts students.

Method:-
Students enrolled in fine and applied art in tertiary institutions in Kogi State, Nigeria, constituted the study population. With the aid of research assistants and contact persons in the respective departments, fine and applied art students comprising males and females were approached between July and September 2021 and asked to participate in the study. The researcher explained the aim of the study to them and equally informed them that participation in the research is voluntary. After that, the study instrument was distributed to those who consented to partake in the study. A total of 122 questionnaires were handed out to the respondents and were completed and retrieved on the spot. However, following the evaluation of the returned questionnaires, some (16) were improperly filled and were discarded. Hence, only the adequately filled questionnaires (106) was used for the study Measure:-Perceived social feedback was measured using a developed Social Feedback Assessment Scale. The 10-item scale was developed to ascertain the participant's evaluation and acceptance of feedback from others. The Likert-type scale was validated after a pilot study, and Cronbach alpha .78 reliability coefficient was obtained.

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The artistic motivation was assessed using a self-developed Artistic Motivation Scale. The scale measures student's confidence in their ability to complete their art-related tasks. The scale contains a five-point Likert-type scale measuring degrees of confidence, willingness, enthusiasm. Higher scores indicate higher motivation. The Cronbach alpha .81 coefficient was obtained in the scale.

Result:-
A linear regression analysis was performed to examine social feedback as a predictor of artistic motivation among fine art students. The result of the linear regression analysis showed that social feedback statistically predicted the respondent's artistic motivation, F (1, 104) = 6.231, p > 0.00.

Discussion:-
The current study was set to investigate variation in the artistic motivation of fine art students based on social feedback. Specifically, the study intended to provide insight into how comments, reviews, and suggestions from others may influence fine art students' willingness and interest in artistic skills. It was hypothesized that social feedback would significantly predict the artistic motivation of fine art students. For this purpose, a simple linear regression was performed on the data, and the result revealed a statistically significant effect of social feedback on the artistic motivation of the students. It appears that the social feedback accounted for 52.1% of the observed variance in the student's artistic motivation. . This present revelation could be explained in the understanding that the reviews, comments, and overall perception in the social environment are essential for creating artistic concepts. It appears that if people within the social environment do not appreciate the work of art, then the concept becomes a waste. To this effect, social feedback becomes a critical determinant of artistic creativity.

Conclusion:-
The present study was aimed to assess the variance in the artistic motivation of students. The analysis conducted on the data confirmed the study's hypothesis that social feedback significantly predicts artistic motivation. Thus, it is concluded that social feedback is a vital factor in the artistic creativity of fine art students. However, caution is advised in generalizing the outcome of this study because the data was based solely on a self-report measure which poses a research limitation. Also, the study samples size may not reflect a reliable criterion for generalization. However, the present study contributed to the creativity literature by revealing social feedback as a positive predictor of artistic motivation and creativity. Also, the study finding provides relevant data to researchers in the field of art and creativity. Hence, future researchers should focus on increasing social feedback to improve artistic creativity among Nigeria art students.