Identification of Emotional Maturity among Traditional Dancers: As a Function of Dance Style, Gender and Residency

Maturity in general strength of mind withstand of capacity to evaluate an appropriate manner. Dance is a dynamic root to develop emotional expression and feelings through body movement and practice also linked with emotional maturity. People practicing different styles of dance could be significantly different from each other. The present study has been designed to investigate the level of emotional maturity among traditional dancers as a function of dance style, gender and residency. Following a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design was adopted, 389 traditional dancers were included for study through purposive sampling technique. The sample selected on pertinent characteristics i.e., dance style, gender and residency.  The Emotional maturity Scale (Singh & Bhargav) was used to collect the data from respondents. Hypotheses were tested by using descriptive statistics, three-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni test of Multiple Comparisons. The results revealed that Odissi dancers showed higher level of emotional maturity than folk dancers. Furthermore, the various dimensions of emotional maturity were found significant differences among traditional dancers along with interaction effects. The results are discussed in socio-cultural context of Odisha.