Public perceptions of the benefits of the arts and culture
Is there a wellbeing deficit related to arts and culture during the pandemic?
Throughout my 25 years as an arts researcher, a common theme has been a questioning of the benefits of the arts and culture for societal wellbeing and, to some extent, personal wellbeing. This questioning, and the arts community’s positioning, have taken on many labels over time. While the benefits / impacts / outcomes of the arts could (should?) be thought of holistically, they have often been expressed as a dichotomy, such as:
Economic impacts of culture vs. “arts for arts’ sake”.
Instrumental impacts vs. artistic goals.
“Intrinsic” vs. “extrinsic” benefits.
Recently, a major research project that I led – with a fantastic team – highlighted the stories of some artists and organizations who have tried new things during the pandemic, resulting in remarkable artistic and social contributions. (My thanks to the Creative City Network of Canada and its partners for conceiving of and finding funding for that study.)
Regarding personal wellbeing, Canadians who have continued to participate in arts and culture activities during the pandemic have perceived benefits such as learning and experiencing new things, improving their mental health, having fun, and feeling connected to other people. (See slide 23 in the pdf summary of the February 2022 Arts Response Tracking Study commissioned by Business/Arts and the National Arts Centre.)
This post explores survey data that can enlighten us about public perceptions of the personal and societal benefits of the arts and culture – including Canadians who may not have taken part during the pandemic.
Do more Canadians agree or disagree with statements regarding the value of the arts and culture for personal and social wellbeing?
You might be aware of the stats at the beginning of this post, but you won’t have seen the analysis in the second section.
In future posts, I will look at demographic and provincial differences in the perceptions of the benefits of the arts and culture.
Bringing people together and making communities better
To investigate these key questions, I’ll turn to a survey conducted in February and March of 2021, by Environics Research Group and sponsored by Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts. This was a particularly large survey, with an overall sample size of 10,220 Canadians 16 and older who reside in the 10 provinces.
There is strong consensus among Canadians that the arts and culture bring people from different backgrounds together and make their communities better places to live.
However, more Canadians believe that the arts and culture have NOT been important to their wellbeing during the pandemic than those who ascribe importance to the arts and culture in their wellbeing.
The survey found solid agreement with two general elements of the arts and culture in society, as shown in the chart below:
85% of respondents agree that “arts experiences are a valuable way of bringing together people from different languages and cultural traditions” (36% strongly agree and 49% somewhat agree).
84% agree that “arts and cultural activities in a community make it a better place to live” (36% strongly agree and 47% somewhat agree — the rounded breakdowns in this case do not add to the rounded total).
On a more personal note, a strong majority (70%) believe that arts and cultural events are important “in terms of quality of life for you and your family” (23% said strongly important and 47% somewhat important).
However, only a minority of respondents (40%) agree that “arts and cultural activities have been important for your personal wellbeing during the pandemic” (10% strongly agree and 30% somewhat agree).
The questions were phrased as follows:
How important to you are the types of arts and cultural events we've talked about in terms of quality of life for you and your family?
Options: Very important / Somewhat important / Not very important / Not at all important
(Note: In the question, the “arts and cultural events we’ve talked about” relate to activities before or during the pandemic, including performing arts, visual arts, Indigenous arts, cultural festivals, museums, science centres, historic sites, archives, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens.)
Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.
Arts and cultural activities in a community make it a better place to live.
Arts experiences are a valuable way of bringing together people from different languages and cultural traditions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, arts and cultural activities have been important for my personal wellbeing.
Options: Strongly agree / Somewhat agree / Somewhat disagree / Strongly disagree / Not sure
The large sample size – 10,000 Canadians 16 and older who reside in the 10 provinces – lends itself to an analysis of demographic and provincial differences, which I will examine in future posts. A separate telephone survey was conducted in the three territories, but the results related to the benefits questions may not be comparable, because of the different mode of contact. The results of the telephone survey are not examined in this post.
The report for the survey notes that the sample was drawn from an opt-in panel. As such, no margin of sampling error was calculated.
Do more people agree or disagree with the benefits of the arts and culture?
The above graph highlights just one side of the equation. What about those who disagree?
Many more Canadians agree than disagree that the arts bring people together from different backgrounds and make communities better places to live.
The first graph shows what I’m calling “net positives”: those who agree (either strongly or somewhat) minus those who do not agree (either not at all or not very much). For the “importance” question, the graph shows those who say that events are important (either very or somewhat) minus those who say that events are not important (either not at all or not very). Note that, because some people responded “not sure”, those who agree and those who disagree do not add up to 100%.
The first two bars in the graph show that there is a strong consensus that the arts and culture bring people from different backgrounds together and make their communities better places to live:
Regarding arts experiences being a valuable way of bringing together people from different languages and cultural traditions, 85% agree and only 9% disagree, for a difference of 76% of Canadians.
Similarly, the difference is 74% regarding arts and cultural activities in a community making it a better place to live (the 84% who agree minus the 10% who disagree).
The difference is much smaller regarding arts and cultural events being important for the quality of life for respondents and their families. While 70% indicated that such events are important, 30% said that they are not, leaving a “net positive” of 40%. (This is the only statement where no respondents were unsure.)
More people disagree than agree with the importance of arts and cultural activities for their personal wellbeing during the pandemic (48% vs. 40%). Even recognizing the huge challenges of the pandemic, this “wellbeing deficit” represents a missed opportunity – for the arts and culture, and for society as a whole at a time when many people have struggled with wellbeing challenges.
It seems that binging Netflix shows or Spotify playlists may not have been perceived as arts and cultural activities during the pandemic — or they were not seen to be important for personal wellbeing. This narrower view of the arts and culture is consistent with the preceding survey language, which equated arts and cultural events with performing arts, visual arts, Indigenous arts, cultural festivals, museums, science centres, historic sites, archives, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens.
The next graph shows the differences between the strongest positive and negative responses, which I’m calling “net very positives”, i.e., those who strongly agree minus those who do not agree at all (or those who say that events are very important minus those who say not at all important).
Many more people strongly agree than strongly disagree that the arts bring people together from different backgrounds and make communities better places to live.
Once again, there is very strong agreement that the arts and culture bring people from different backgrounds together and make their communities better places to live. These differences are shown in the first two bars in the graph:
36% strongly agree and only 3% strongly disagree that arts experiences are a valuable way of bringing together people from different languages and cultural traditions, for a difference of 33% of Canadians.
The statistics are exactly the same regarding arts and cultural activities in a community making it a better place to live: 36% strongly agree and only 3% strongly disagree, for a difference of 33%.
Regarding arts and cultural events being important for the quality of life for respondents and their families, 23% said that such events are very important and 6% said that they are not at all important, for a difference of 17% of Canadians.
The final bar in the graph shows that a negative perception persists regarding personal wellbeing during the pandemic. More people strongly disagree (18%) than strongly agree (10%) with the importance of arts and cultural activities for their personal wellbeing during the pandemic. The “net very negative” is 8%, which is equal to the -8% in the previous graph. This means that the difference between negative and positive responses is between those who strongly disagree and strongly agree.
More people strongly disagree than strongly agree with the importance of arts and cultural activities for their personal wellbeing during the pandemic.