Musical talent: Innate or acquired? Perceptions of students, parents, and teachers

Secondary analysis of descriptive data concerning musically gifted students , their parents, and their teachers yields distinctive attribution patterns for each group. The patterns describe this group of students as attributin g much of their success to inborn ability and hard work. These accomplished students, however, describe family members and friends as discouraging the ir musical development. Parents, in sharp contrast, report their children a s having only ordinary levels of inborn talent, and they attribute their ch ildren's musical accomplishments to encouragement provided by family and fr iends. Teachers in this study attribute students' musical development to in nate talent, hard work, and schooling. Differences among these attribution patterns are surprising, but are consistent with research that suggests tha t individuals often make causal attributions that are self-serving, giving a good deal of credit to their own characteristics or influence.