Chinese square dance: an analysis of its fast growth with the constraint-effects-mitigation model
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Abstract
Chinese square dance, or guangchang wu in Chinese, is a contemporary, popular practice among middle-aged and older Chinese women, with over 100 million practitioners throughout the People’s Republic of China (China.org.cn, 2016; Xiao & Hilton, 2019). The boom of square dance in the country is a rare and persistent phenomenon involving social and political influences such as rapid urbanization, population ageing and government support (Martin & Chen, 2020). Even massive complaints about the space occupation and noise pollution (Liu et al., 2018; Zhou, 2014) of square dance do not reduce these dancers’ passion for this leisure activity or the fact that square dance teams are expanding at a fast pace (Li, 2020). The past literature on this topic focuses on the physical, cognitive and social benefits of square dance and conflicts arising from space occupation and noise. The multi-faceted reasons for the rise of Chinese square dance were seldom fully and thoroughly analyzed in this literature. Incorporating the constraint-effects-mitigation model, this research aimed to identify various factors for the recent surge in the number of Chinese square dancers. Specifically, it aimed to identify how motivation and constraint affect negotiation, and further how motivation, constraint, and negotiation interact with one another to jointly influence intention to participate in square dance. Using convenient sampling methods, 304 people were recruited from square dance groups in various Chinese cities to complete an online questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, correlation test, and structural equation modelling were conducted to analyze data. The structural equation modelling results revealed the positive effects of both motivation (β = 0.31, P-value < .001) and negotiation (β = 0.54, Pvalue < .001) on intention to participate in Chinese square dance. There was a strong positive and direct association between motivation and negotiation (β = 0.60, P-value < .001). Additionally, a direct negative association was found between constraint and negotiation (β = -0.10, P-value = -0.057). The study interprets these associations and discusses their theoretical and practical implications.
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Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University