The Goldsmiths Dance Sophistication Index (Gold-DSI): A Psychometric Tool to Assess Individual Differences in Dance Experience

Abstract

Dance has become an important topic for research in empirical aesthetics, social and motor cognition, and as an intervention for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. Despite the growing scientific interest in dance, no standardized psychometric instrument exists to assess people’s dance experience. Here, we introduce the Goldsmiths Dance Sophistication Index (Gold-DSI), a 26-item questionnaire to measure individual differences in participatory and observational dance experience on a continuous scale. The Gold-DSI was developed in 3 stages: In the first stage, a set of 76 items was generated by adapting questions from the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Müllensiefen, Gingras, Musil, & Stewart, 2014) and as part of a stakeholder workshop using a grounded theory approach. The second stage focused on item reduction. Using a large-scale online survey (N = 424), hierarchical factor analysis was used to fit a model comprising of one general and six secondary factors (28 items in total). In Stage 3, six new items were added to specifically capture individual differences in dance observation. We then collected data from two samples for final model estimation (n = 127) and evaluation (n = 190). The final version of the Gold-DSI comprises 26 items; 20 items relate to 1 general factor that captures experience in dance participation. This includes 4 secondary factors: body awareness, social dancing, urge to dance, and dance training. A further 6 items separately measure experience in dance observation. In sum, the Gold-DSI provides a brief, standardized, and continuous assessment of doing, watching, and knowing about dance.