Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for
Wellbeing and the Effects of Intrinsic Motivation
within HipHop Culture
Keywords: HipHop, hip hop, hip-hop, wellbeing, well-being, intrinsic motivation
Student ID: 0507734
Course: MSc Applied Positive Psychology (University of East London)
Module code: PYM707 Dissertation
Supervisor: Dr Kate Hefferon
Deadline: January 4th 2010
Word count: 14034 (excluding tables, boxes, references and appendices)
1
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Preface and acknowledgment
The author would like to thank:












Kate Hefferon for her continuous support and supervision from day one
Ilona Boniwell for giving me the opportunity to study what truly resonates with me and
providing the most inspiring learning environment and course content
Nash Popovic for altering the way I think about the world (and empirical data)
My parents Rainer and Kristin Jacob, without whose support I would not have been able
to either start or finish this piece of work
Enrico Köpke for his help in programming the html version of the questionnaire
Max Scholl for his help with writing the excel sheet for data transferral (you saved me
about 100 hours of copying and pasting data)
Nora Mohr for designing the flyer to my wishes
Sven Schulte whose attitude towards HipHop was a steady reminder of how it is
portrayed in the media
UEL staff for printing and academic support
One.com for the provision of server space for the online data
All my fellow MAPP students for not having had a laugh when I first told them about the
topic of my dissertation, their help in distributing my questionnaire, their constant support
and inspiring comments and for providing the best learning atmosphere I ever came to
experience
And last but not least all HipHoppers who supported this research
2
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Table of contents
Abstract: .................................................................................................................................................. 5
1. Introduction: ............................................................................................................................... 5
2. Method ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Sample: .............................................................................................................................................................. 24
Epistemological approach and design: ........................................................................................................... 25
Ethics: ................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Measures: .......................................................................................................................................................... 26
Demographics:............................................................................................................................................... 27
HipHop involvement and preferences: .......................................................................................................... 27
Aspirations Scale ........................................................................................................................................... 27
Flourishing Scale ........................................................................................................................................... 28
Qualitative questions ..................................................................................................................................... 29
Apparatus: ........................................................................................................................................................ 30
Procedure: ......................................................................................................................................................... 30
Reflexivity: ........................................................................................................................................................ 31
3. Results........................................................................................................................................ 32
How the data was handled .................................................................................................................................. 32
Elimination of data ............................................................................................................................................. 32
Data processing, handling of missing data and creating new variables .............................................................. 32
Qualitative results ................................................................................................................................. 33
Themes in relation to SDT and PWB components as well as other aspects of wellbeing: ......................... 38
Quantitative results ............................................................................................................................... 39
Deal with univariate outliers: ............................................................................................................................. 39
Normality: .......................................................................................................................................................... 40
Factor analysis:................................................................................................................................................. 40
Overall HipHop involvement: ....................................................................................................................... 40
More interesting results ................................................................................................................................. 42
Factor analysis 2: ........................................................................................................................................... 43
Regression ......................................................................................................................................................... 44
Replicating Kasser: ........................................................................................................................................ 46
Descriptive analyses ......................................................................................................................................... 48
Place of residence split .................................................................................................................................. 49
Wellbeing ...................................................................................................................................................... 50
Age group split: ............................................................................................................................................. 50
Gender split ................................................................................................................................................... 51
Place of residence style split:......................................................................................................................... 52
Ethnicity split: ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Element split: ................................................................................................................................................. 53
Motivation group 2 (spreading something to others) ..................................................................................... 54
Element importance ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Correlations ...................................................................................................................................................... 55
4. Discussion: ................................................................................................................................ 57
HipHop can be good for you............................................................................................................................ 57
Comparison samples for wellbeing scores ...................................................................................................... 59
Socio-economic and environmental status ..................................................................................................... 60
Extrinsic aspirations and the media ............................................................................................................... 60
Extrinsic motivation and age: ......................................................................................................................... 62
Participants’ reflexivity ................................................................................................................................... 63
HipHop & the ambiguous effects of extrinsic motivation (as defined by Kasser) ........................................ 64
The elements of HipHop .................................................................................................................................. 65
General limitations ........................................................................................................................................... 66
Future research ................................................................................................................................................ 67
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 67
References ..................................................................................................................................... 68
3
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendices: ................................................................................................................................... 88
Appendix A: Motivational themes and a list of supporting references ............................................ 89
Additional themes for why people might engage in HipHop: ............................................................................ 90
Appendix B: Stop the Violence Movement (STV) .............................................................................. 91
Stop the Violence Movement – Self destruction (1989) .................................................................................... 91
Stop the Violence Movement – Self Construction (2008).................................................................................. 94
Appendix C: The Power of HipHop .................................................................................................... 97
Appendix D: HipHop sub-genres ......................................................................................................... 98
Appendix E: Promotional texts and targets........................................................................................ 99
Platforms: ........................................................................................................................................................... 99
Promotion texts: ............................................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix F: Promotional flyer .......................................................................................................... 105
Appendix G: Ethics form.................................................................................................................... 105
Appendix H: Demographic information questionnaire ................................................................... 106
Appendix I: HipHop involvement and preference questionnaire ................................................... 107
Appendix J: Aspirations Index .......................................................................................................... 109
Appendix K: Well-being (Flourishing Scale) .................................................................................... 112
Appendix L: Qualitative section ........................................................................................................ 113
Appendix M: Invitation letter and consent form ............................................................................. 114
Appendix N: Dummy coding .............................................................................................................. 116
Appendix O: Content analysis codebook and text examples for all themes .................................. 117
Appendix P: Merging of motivational themes .................................................................................. 127
Appendix Q: Deal with univariate outliers ....................................................................................... 128
Appendix R: Normality ...................................................................................................................... 130
Appendix S: Correlation between wellbeing and motivational sub-themes: ................................. 135
Appendix T: Future Research............................................................................................................ 136
Appendix U: What’s wrong with HipHop? ...................................................................................... 137
Why did you stop engaging? ............................................................................................................................ 137
What’s wrong in general today? ....................................................................................................................... 138
4
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Abstract:
The current study examined links between psychological wellbeing and involvement in
HipHop culture (Rap, DJing, Breakdancing, Graffiti, etc) with regards to intrinsic
motivation. A mixed methods approach was chosen to identify motivational themes and
link them to components of prevalent wellbeing theories. Level of involvement was
correlated with wellbeing while examining the moderating effect of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivations from quantitative and qualitative data. Motivational themes could
be linked to all components of wellbeing and statistical results suggested that high
involvement in HipHop is linked to wellbeing, moderated by intrinsic and extrinsic
aspiration scores. However, mean wellbeing scores of the current sample do not exceed
those of comparison samples. Possible explanations and apparent inherent characteristics
of a HipHop sample are discussed and further research into the positive potential of
HipHop is suggested.
1. Introduction:
For the last decade the field of Positive Psychology has been conducting research into what a
happy and fulfilling life consists of and how it can be achieved. The two prevailing wellbeing
theories list several components.
Self Determination Theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000) describes autonomy, competence and
relatedness as the basic human needs. Congruent with the humanistic perspective (as depicted in
the works of, among others, Rogers (1954) and Maslow (1970)) it states that intrinsic values are
built into human nature and that these values are universal. To live a eudaimonic life, one of
enduring happiness, is to live in accordance with these values. SDT states that intrinsic
motivation is particularly useful for satisfying our three psychological needs and that these are
essential for personal growth, development and well-being (Ryan and Deci, 2000).
5
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
The theory of Psychological Wellbeing (PWB, Ryff and Keyes, 1995) includes the three SDT
components in slightly different wording and adds the three components of self-acceptance,
personal growth and meaning to better account for factors of eudaimonic wellbeing. A good
amount of research has shown that these components are distinct and directly related to positive
affect (the induction of positive feelings) as well as subjective perception of functioning or being
in control of one’s own life. Scoring high on all components on a measurement scale indicates
eudaimonic happiness (as opposed to hedonic happiness (enjoyment, experience of positive
emotions and positive affect, “short-term happiness”; see Waterman, 2007 or Ryan and Deci,
2001 for a good review on hedonic vs. eudaimonic happiness).
Box 1 includes a short description of each of the components of the two wellbeing theories.
Box1: the components of SDT and PWB
Autonomy – Independence and self-determination
Competence/Environmental mastery – The ability to manage one’s life. Sufficient skill to
deal with one’s environment
Relatedness/Positive relations with others – Having satisfying high quality relationships
Personal growth – Being open to new experiences
Purpose in life – Believing that one’s life is meaningful
Self-acceptance – A positive attitude towards oneself and one’s past life
Having mentioned what components add to a happy and fulfilled life, most readers would
probably not draw a connection to HipHop, either due to its simplistic representation in the media
(which focuses on its top-selling themes of violence, sex and materialism) or based on academic
research (which mostly focuses on its sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and violent content
(Chuck D, 1997; Dyson, 1996; Rose, 1994; Tyson 2003; Farley, 1999)). While there is no doubt
about the potential negative effects of rap music on youth, the following study was conducted to
assess whether HipHop as a culture/lifestyle has the potential to satisfy basic human needs and
investigate furthermore whether the additional components of PWB can be tapped into. Results
6
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
and discussion are aimed to shed some light onto the factors that influence these effects. As
Tyson (2003) writes in a meta-analysis of 15 years of scientific research about HipHop:
“[F]ailure to identify and evaluate constructive applications of rap music, might represent a
missed opportunity to help youth navigate the complex terrain of life, as well as improve public
perception of contemporary youth culture, called “hip hop.” This would be yet another example
of the schism that often exist between researchers and the practical work done everyday by
grassroots workers in communities across the country. (Tyson, 2003, p.4)
However, in order to establish links between HipHop and wellbeing it is important to look into its
roots and what it provided for its followers in its early days as well as its developed throughout
the last 3-4 decades.
HipHop - a phrase probably derived from the African Wolof word hipi, to open one's eyes and
see, and an Old English word that means “to spring into action”, being used as a tool for social
change (Asante, 2008) - emerged in the early 1970’s in the Bronx, New York (Neil, 1999).
When Jamaican-born Clive Campbell (aka DJ Kool Herc) and his sister Cindy threw a back-toschool party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the late summer of 1973 it started a fire big enough for
many to call it the birthplace of this subculture (Chang, 2007, p.67).
HipHop consisted of 4 elements: DJing (playing and mixing records combining them into a
continuous set of music, using DJ techniques to transform songs, extend breaks, scratch certain
sounds and “collaging the best fragments of records using two turntables”(McLeod, 1999)),
MCing (rapping, rhyming and talking in a rhythmic pattern over a beat or song (Rose, 1994)),
Bboying (often referred to as breaking or breakdancing, dancing to songs with a preference for
the drum breaks of up-tempo music where dancers would typically go down to the floor to do
spins and other moves) and Graffiti (referred to as tagging, bombing or writing; writing letters in
7
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
an own unique style, typically the artist name and usually on public or private walls). For a good
review of the Elements of HipHop see Hager (1984).
Many of its elements can be traced back to ancient cultures, African-American and African
traditions and/or practices from a range of diverse cultures. For example, rapping is similar in
content and technique to the African “playing the dozens”, also referred to as toasting, bragging,
boasting or signifying. “The process includes ‘ritual insults’ in which the speakers test their
verbal prowess by seeing who can form the best taunt.” (Stapleton, 1998, p.220). The griots,
African storytellers acting as early historians, preserved and spread knowledge using their oral
skills and held much respected positions within their community (Fernando, 1994, p.255).
BBoying is influenced by eastern martial arts, South American Caipoeira, James Brown’s dance
moves and the Double Dutch dance from the 1960’s. Also, writing and painting messages,
pictures, symbols and stories on walls can be traced back to cave art and shows similarities with
Egyptian hieroglyphics (Parker, 2004).
The literature about HipHop in the 1970’s and 80’ reveals many themes for why people started
and continued to engage in HipHop. Among the most frequent are its provision of autonomy,
authenticity, unity/relatedness, fun, an alternative to gang violence, channelling emotions,
rejecting the mainstream, as a political voice/to raise awareness, the need to belong/find a place
in society and a fascination with black culture (see Appendix A). In what follows I will put these
themes into context and establish their links to wellbeing.
As Chang (2007) and Parker (2004) delineate reviewing its history, HipHop emerged in the
underprivileged parts of urban New York in a time when young people had little opportunity to
flourish. They had to find ways to deal with boredom, to do something worthwhile with the very
limited assets they had (Parker, 2004), handle the gang culture of urban New York (Chang, 2007,
8
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
p.41) and identify their place in society (Kitwana, 2005, p.100; Yousman, 2003; Chang, 2007,
p.236)
Young people had the urge to “express themselves in the face of nothing” (Parker, 2004; Chang,
2007), to represent who they are and therefore to create an identity (Krims, 2000; McLeod, 1999;
Kahf, 2007; Cutler, 1999; Dyson, 1996; Potter, 1995; Forman, 2000; Bozza, 2003, p.130; Parker,
2007). Rose depicts the crew (the close circle of friends that HipHoppers are spending time with
on a daily basis indulging in their HipHop activities) as well as the use of language and fashion as
“a local source of identity” (Rose, 1994, p.34). Language as a means for expression of local
identity has been frequently researched within the scientific community (Dominello, 2008;
Cutler, 1999; Alim, 2002; Pennycook, 2007).
The need for self expression has outlived HipHop’s development and is now valid for many
HipHoppers around the world (Dominello, 2008, Australia; Pardue, 2007, Brazil ; Khaf 2007,
Arabic states). As Mitchell puts it: “Hip-hop and rap cannot be viewed simply as an expression of
African-American culture; it has become a vehicle for global youth affiliations and a tool for
reworking local identity all over the world.” (Mitchell, 2001, pp.1–2)
A large part of adolescents’ local identity is manifested through their environment which results
in the desire to communicate what their life is like (Kahf, 2007, p.360, Beau, 1996). According to
Rose, “an essential aspect of rap discourse [pre 1994] is to reflect urban lived experience” (Rose,
1994, p.102). Authenticity in this regard is an essential part of hip-hop’s credibility (Powell,
1991) and, for many researchers, lies at the nexus of HipHop (McLeod 1999; O’Hanlon, 2006;
Dominello, 2008; Parker, 2004).
Androutsopoulos & Scholz (A&S, 2003) note that authenticity is not only expressed through
lyrics of MCs (rappers) but through use of native language or accent (A&S, p.468; also
Dominello, 2008), record covers and booklets (language, typography, images and layout, A&S,
9
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
p.469), use of native sounds, samples and cuts (excerpts of vocals or speech connected to the
topic at hand, taken from unrelated audio material and transformed by the DJ) (A&S, p.470),
national topics (“Gangsta rap is virtually absent from our data” due to its non existence of real
gangsters in Germany, Italy and Greece; A&S, p.472) as well as cultural and linguistic traditions
(Pennycook, 2007). Kahf (2007) emphasizes its special importance within HipHop in the Arabic
world since authenticity can make the difference between being “labelled a traitor or imitator of
the West and getting respect as a voice of legitimate resistance” (Kahf, 2007, p.361). This is valid
for active performers as well as consumers. Hess (2007) lists authenticity as the reason why
artists such as Vanilla Ice failed to maintain their success whereas Eminem and the Beastie Boys
succeeded.
Depending on environmental and societal factors, authenticity is used (whether deliberately or as
a by-product) as political means (Stapleton, 1998), to raise awareness about or fight against social
nuisances and the tensions of the time (Bennett 1999, p,79; Androutsopoulos & Scholz 2003;
Tyson, 2003; Rose, 1994, p.22; Nelson, 1992; Remes, 1991; Salsa, 1997; Kahf, 2007, p.371;
Chang, 2007, p.249; specifically sexually aggressive behavior (Barogan & Nagayama-Hall,
1995), racial discrimination in our justice system (Fischoff, 1999), and juvenile delinquency
(Gardstrom, 1999)) or to have a voice in the society/community (McLeod, 1999, p136; Tyson,
2003; Chang, 2007, p.250; Beau, 1996; Rebensdorf, 1996). Chuck D of Public Enemy, one of the
most politically active rap formations of all times, once said that HipHop has the potential to
become “the black man’s CNN” (Henning, 2004; Chang, 2007, p.251). Androutsopoulos &
Scholz 2003, in a review of European rap music report that “rap songs that focus on social
criticism make up about 20 percent of our Italian and German data, and almost 50 percent of the
French data, suggesting that the protest song tradition of message rap is being continued in
Europe” (Androutsopoulos & Scholz 2003, p.472). Recent research by Klar and Kasser (2009)
10
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
suggests that indicators of political activism were associated with measures of hedonic,
eudaimonic, and social well-being.
Palestinian Rap group Wlad El Hara mirror this attitude well by writing in one of their songs:
“Everything was wrapped up in fear before Arabic rap started,
So we’re always gonna be grateful to rap, cuz it gave us the voice
To be the advocates of freedom, to put an end to hatred,
And to represent the voices of the marginalized minority.”
(Translated by and cited in Kahf, 2007, p.375; bold formatting added)
Whereas many depictions of HipHop emphasize its function as a means towards resistance to
social injustice (Salsa, 1997; Tyson, 2003), rejection of the mainstream (Parker, 2004;
Dominello, 2008; Stapleton, 1998), confrontational political action (Stapleton, 1998, p. 220) and
a rebellious attitude (Yousman, 2003), the preceding quote reflects a longing for positive change
and a motivation to actively contribute towards it. Authentic HipHop reflects the attitudes of the
artist and in the early days of HipHop Afrika Bambaataa (real name and age unknown) founded
the Zulu Nation in an attempt to promote the positive message of “peace, love, unity and having
fun” (Parker, 2004; Chang, 2007, p.105; Beau, 1996). His intent was to unite like minded people
and provide a platform for collective activism that was fun to engage in. The Zulu Nation “grew
up as a big and strong family” (Beau, 1996, p.2). Stapleton (1998) similarly emphasises the
family-like bonds within HipHop formations. Relatedness is frequently mentioned as a
cornerstone of HipHop culture, whether as collective identity (as e.g. during large arena shows;
Dowdy, 2007, p.83), as means towards organizing collaborative action (Mattern, 1997, p.7),
Bambaataa’s use for collective mobilization (Bozza, 2001; Watkins, 2001) or Public enemy’s
11
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
theme of black collectivity (Chang, 2007, p.252; similarly in action but with different motives1).
Levy’s (2001) description of hip-hop as “a global, post-industrial signifying practice, giving new
parameters of meaning to otherwise locally or nationally diverse identities” (p. 134; cited in
Pennycook, 2007) punctuates the notion of unity. HipHop has lead on many occasions to
collective efforts of otherwise opposing groups of people driven by a higher purpose than race or
gender (as described on many occasions by Chang, 2007). Bambaataa and part of his Zulu Nation
family spread this message via trips to Europe and the rest of the world (Beau, 1996) unifying
many youth of diverse cultural backgrounds, which suggests its universal appeal. “Bambaataa
took Herc’s party and turned it into the ceremony of a new faith, like he knew that this was
exactly how their world was supposed to look, sound and flow” (Chang, 2007, p.107).
Another main agenda of the Zulu Nation (peace) was to counter gang violence and conflict
resolution (Stapleton, 1998; Mitchell, 2001). Bambaataa, a former member of the Black Spades,
New York’s biggest gang in the 1960’s, successfully dropped out of gang culture and pushed
MC, DJ, BBoy and graffiti competitions in order to “channel the anger of young people in the
South Bronx away from gang fighting into music, dance and graffiti” (Lipsitz, 1994, p.26).
Young people were encouraged to get in touch with their emotions (Parker, 2007) and use
HipHop, not violence, as a “vehicle for pride and for anger” (Beadle, 1993, p.85). The same
motivation inspired the establishment of organisations such as the Stop the Violence Movement
(STV founded by KRS-1, see Nelson, 1990, still active today (see Appendix B)) or the Young
Warriors Program (Watts & Abdul-Adil, 1999).
Whereas Afrika Bambaataa spread a positive message of “peace, love, unity and having fun” and a non-violent
attitude, Public Enemy used violence as a metaphor to induce social change and resistance against the perceived
overwhelming whiteness in institutions of power” (Chang, 2007, p.249).
1
12
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
HipHop gave adolescents the opportunity to create their own cultural space (Stapleton, 1998;
Kitwana, 2005, p.100). Its elements “were about unleashing youth style as an expression of the
soul, unmediated by corporate money” (Chang, 2007, p.1112)
As mentioned before, “Hiphop incorporated many elements of the larger African-American and
African cultures (DeMott, 1988; Floyd, 1995; Remes, 1991; Stevens, 1991)” (Stapleton, 1998,
p.220). HipHop provides the opportunity for blacks to identify with their roots and therefore
strengthen or create their identity (see above). For its non-black followers and audience, it creates
the opportunity learn about (Chuck D, cited in Stapleton, 1998, p.228), to declare one’s solidarity
for (Bennett, 1999, p81; Hewitt, 1986), to nurture a fascination for (Rose, 1994, p.5; Kitwana,
2005; Cutler, 1999) or “take part in the complex prestige of African American youth culture”
(Cutler, 1999, p.429)
There are a couple of other possible motivational categories that emerge from the literature: 1) To
be cool, to feel superior, to be creative; 2) as an art form, because I like the music/rhythm; 3) for
the fun of it; 4) as a means for survival and as a means towards meaning in life. However, due to
word count limitation I refer to Appendix A for a full list of references.
In combination with an awareness of the culture’s roots, its followers’ mentality and habits as
well as the content of its music and messages the categories described above (that emerged from
the review of the HipHop literature) reflect in many ways the components of PWB (see table 1).
2
See also Appendix C for the full paragraph summarizing the importance of these movements for the youth
themselves, for a full and utmost inspiring account of the positive potential that Bambaataa unleashed see Chang,
2007, chapter 5
13
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Table 1: Overview of links between HipHop motivation themes from the literature and components of PWB
PWB
component:
Links to HipHop:
Relatedness
Unity and relatedness seems to be a cornerstone of the culture.
HipHop activities provide ideal opportunities to relate to other people, spend
time with them, grow together, exchange knowledge and have fun. The Zulu
Nation’s principles of peace, love, unity, and having fun are all about the
individual in connection with other people. The majority of rap lyrics (from
the 80’s and 90’s) frequently mention the crew, city or neighbourhood. Even
in gangster rap, while apparently promoting a violent and misogynistic
worldview, a deep connection with your in-group is frequently and
authentically expressed.
Autonomy
An attitude of doing your own thing, being different, rejecting the
mainstream, living/wearing/dancing any style you choose to without being
judged by your people and, in essence, being who you choose to be is
reflected in the literature. Regardless of what values one has, within HipHop
they can be authentically expressed without having to fear rejection. Usually
doing something different is regarded as fresh or hip.
Competence
(esteem)
Through authentic HipHop songs, stories and expressed attitudes, individuals
can learn about their and others’ environments (rules, attitudes, rituals, habits
and customs) which enables them to fit in, survive, bond and/or get accepted
by their community (get accepted not because of social class or material
assets but skills and attitude). Lyrics are usually communicated very clearly
within HipHop which makes it easy to pick it up.
Personal
growth
Within HipHop activities there is almost infinite space for personal growth.
It starts with the mere development of skills in a certain activity one enjoys
and might sprout into a philosophy/mentality/lifestyle/spiritual attitude which
can provide a place in society and give meaning to ones live (opportunity to
teach others, spread a message, make millions, take political action or any
other endeavour).
Meaning
People like Bambaataa, Rakim, Crazy Legs or Chuck D are reported to have
been on a “mission” (Chang 2007, p.137, p.259, ). Their HipHop activity
gave meaning to their lives and the motivation to pursue their goals which
were greater then their personal aspirations. HipHop’s diversity offers
opportunities for meaning for a broad variety of people, attitudes and goals to
be pursued and communicated to induce change or provide meaning.
Selfacceptance
Regardless of one’s values and characteristics, the likelihood that there are
people with similar values and characteristics who express them through
music, dance, painting etc is very high (see list of subgenres, Appendix D).
Therefore it is easier to accept oneself knowing that there are others that are
just like or accept you as the person you are. The internet’s capabilities for
communication and information combined with the global diversity of
HipHop foster this process significantly.
14
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
As an example from scientific literature, a study about parenting concludes that children need to
feel secure, safe and valued as a person (Kasser, 1995; cited in Kasser, 2002, p.3). Depending on
environmental and personality factors it is reasonable to suggest that children whose parents do
not provide these basic needs may find them within the HipHop community: Feeling secure and
safe in a crew/gang/peer group and feeling valued as a person due to this person being reflected
in one’s HipHop activity (e.g., through skills, messages and an authentic representation of the self
through music, dance, painting, fashion, language, knowledge or else). Chuck D (cited in Chang,
2007, p.252) and Parker (2004) refer to the absence of many fathers during the Vietnam War as a
factor in the motivation to engage in and create HipHop.
Furthermore, Waterman (2007), in a review of wellbeing theories, emphasizes the need for
constant challenges in life as a means towards eudaimonic happiness (a concept he calls the
eudaimonic staircase). This goes hand in hand with the competitive attitude of many
HipHoppers. Related to this, Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow, the state of full engagement,
where among other factors the challenge has to match the person’s skill level, is regarded by
many researchers as an essential factor for wellbeing (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; Seligman,
2002). Within every element of HipHop (of the official 4) there is an almost unlimited range for
development of skills and it is within HipHop’s philosophy to compete and measure one’s skills,
either to resolve conflict or simply to establish status and respect within the community.
King & Napa (1998) concluded from their research that a good life is likely to include the
following aspects: a sense of purpose (meaning), wisdom (knowledge and experience), creativity,
a philosophy of life, achievement and the experience of love (supported by Allport, 1961; Becker,
1992; and Rogers, 1961). Although, in combination, they may not be found within single
15
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
individuals, all of these are reflected in the HipHop literature discussed above in one way or
another.
There are further links between HipHop and areas of research from positive psychology that are
likely to contribute to wellbeing.
Kahf writes: “This connection with the street inspires hip hop artists to participate in the
reconstruction of their past, the reevaluation of their present, and the inspiration to change and
affect the future.” (Kahf, 2007, p.365, italics added). A balanced time perspective in this sense
has been found to contribute to wellbeing (Boniwell and Zimbardo, 2004).
Countless rap songs are written and graffiti pieces (paintings) are created to savour the past (often
referred to as reminiscing or paying your dues) and references to the past can frequently be found
in any HipHop activity. Some might even argue that large parts of the culture (referred to as the
Oldschool) are savouring the ways and values of the past (which has been associated with
wellbeing; Bryant, 2003)
The above account of the literature lists channelling anger and emotions as a function of HipHop
activities. The theory of emotional intelligence stresses the importance of going through emotions
instead of suppressing them (David, 2005; Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2004). Parker (2007) and
Bambaataa especially emphasized HipHop’s importance in this regard. Similarly, Pennebaker
(1992) has researched the positive effects of writing (and hence getting in touch with emotions)
on wellbeing.
Because of its diversity, almost any strength can be used in a HipHop context. Using one’s
strengths as often as possible has been found to play a major role in personal wellbeing
(Seligman, 2002).
16
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Parker (2004) states that well-being should not be connected to anything outside of oneself
(extrinsic). Accordingly, the concept of flow mentioned above requires intrinsic motivation as a
necessary condition for its appearance (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Intrinsic motivation is also part
of SDT, Waterman et al’s (2008) concept of personal expressiveness and research by Bauer et al
(2008) seems to support the link between eudemonia and intrinsic aspirations.
Among others, Kasser (2002) has theorized about extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations and their
effects on wellbeing. In accordance with the research on SDT, he found that intrinsic aspirations
are inherently satisfying to pursue and meet our psychological needs well. They are about selfacceptance (“I will follow my interests and curiosity where they take me”), affiliation (“I will
express my love for special people”) and community feeling (“I will help the world become a
better place”) (Kasser, 2008). The three underlying intrinsic factors he identified through
empirical research are personal growth, relationships and community (Kasser, 2002).
Extrinsic aspirations (wealth, fame and image), on the contrary, lead to the pursuit of activities
for reward or praise and distract us from or may even block our psychological needs (Kasser,
2002) and lead to materialism and a range of other outcomes detrimental to wellbeing (Kasser et
al., 2004).
“Although needs provide a basic motivation to do something, they do not tell us exactly
how to satisfy them. The way needs express themselves and the extent to which they are
satisfied depend on a number of factors, including our personality, lifestyle, values and
the culture in which we live. […] Personality and societal context provide frameworks for
need expression and satisfaction by suggesting particular pathways and behaviours we
might follow. In many cases, these frameworks do a reasonably good job of satisfying our
needs, and thus of supporting psychological health and well-being.” (Kasser, 2002, p. 2526)
17
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
In summary, depending on our individual personality, lifestyle, values and the culture we live in,
HipHop may provide a great framework for the satisfaction of our basic needs (SDT: relatedness,
autonomy, competence) as well as the needs of PWB (Personal growth, meaning, selfacceptance). However, as hinted on above, extrinsic aspirations may lead to a decrease in
wellbeing (while also depending on personal values).
It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there is much potential for need satisfaction within
HipHop culture and also that intrinsic aspirations/motivations may influence its effects on
wellbeing. However, academic literature that makes HipHop’s potential for wellbeing the point
of discussion has not been published yet.
Regardless of its potential, HipHop was originally born, at least in part, out of extrinsic
motivation. Its “birth party” was initially organized by Kool Herc’s sister Cindy to make a profit
and buy new cloth to impress her friends at the commence of the new school year (although that
does not necessarily mean that the artists that DJed, danced, rapped, painted or had fun at the
party had the same motivation). An overwhelming presence of references to material motivation
of rappers can be explained due to life in urban inner city America not providing sufficient safety,
security and sustenance (known to impact negatively on wellbeing; low socioeconomic status in
families fosters materialistic needs; see Kasser, 2002, p.33). The underlying notion is that once
famous rappers are able to fulfil safety needs they cannot kick their materialistic habits, which are
deeply entrenched in their upbringing and culture. “[t]hese feelings [of chronic insecurity] can
often last throughout one’s life, even if one’s economic circumstances improve, and may
eventually be manifest in materialistic tendencies.” (Kasser, 2002, p.33)
Therefore today’s successful rappers may live in accordance to their values even if they mask
their true identities in an effort to make money.
18
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Let’s take a closer look at HipHop’s development post 1980 while keeping in mind the effects of
extrinsic motivations.
The publication of the first HipHop record, the Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight (1979)
commenced the commercialisation of rap music (Chang, 2007, p. 129ff). The record’s
overwhelming success and the music’s low production cost made people from within the culture
as well as marketing and music industry executives realise the commercial potential of rap music.
The 1980’s saw a massive increase in emerging rap crews while the importance of live
performances and parties and the interconnectedness between HipHop’s elements started to
diminish (Chang, 2007). “By 1986 rap eclipsed all the other movements” (Chang, 2007, p.228).
Upon the emergence of Gangsta Rap in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s3, many HipHoppers soon
jumped on the bandwagon when record label executives and promoters realised the marketing
power attached to the promotion of prevalent American values such as sex, violence and
materialism. In the process, HipHop’s potential as the framework for successful need satisfaction
has likely been diminished for many of its (mainstream rap music) followers. Elements that lead
to need satisfaction such as authenticity, expression of one’s true identity and connecting to your
local community/crew were often replaced by superimposed images/identities thought to sell well
to an alien audience and a subsequent move away from the local community into the global
music industry market. Potential for autonomy decreased since rappers had to adjust to marketing
strategies in order to sell well among the target audience that their managers usually chose for
Although born out of authenticity; real criminals that expressed themselves and their attitudes. NWA’s (Niggas
With Attitude, famous American gangsta rap formation around the rapper and producer Dr. Dre) first release was
called express yourself.
3
19
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
them. Consumers had growing difficulty to distinguish between authentic storytelling and donned
entertainment images. 4
In the late 1990’s, HipHop’s popularity had skyrocketed. Record sales went up 31% from 1997 to
1998 (81 million CD’s, tapes and albums; Farley, 1999) and it became the best selling music in
the history of the United States of America (Farley, 1999). It had spread from New York’s urban
areas to other cities, their suburbs, the countryside and ultimately to every corner of any country
imaginable (Pennycook, 2007; Stapleton, 1998; Decker, 1993; Perry, 2004; Chang, 2007, p.228).
In 1998, 70% of HipHop albums were purchased by whites. This development demonstrates that,
as a form of expression, it is not limited to the issues and lifestyle of the underprivileged, black
community in urban inner cities but that the themes in HipHop have global appeal.
The growing accessibility of the internet from the late 1990’s onwards allowed HipHop to be
consumed by everybody who had an interest in it. And just as it emerged as a do-it-yourself
culture in the 1970’s, adolescents quickly adopted HipHop as a form of expression and merged it
with their local culture and values.
Whereas some might simply imitate what their American idols practice (hardly authentic in
different environments, unless the motivation is fun and entertainment), others adopted a more
meaningful approach. Kahf (1999), for example, studied HipHop in Arabic states (where HipHop
did not emerge until the mid 1990’s) and described how many youth use rap music to make
political statements and raise awareness about the mentality and issues of their generation and
culture that they find difficult to express elsewhere.
Although Decker contests that “even though the hip-hop community has expanded beyond its
core to include youth of all classes, races and cultures, hip-hop artists are expected to remain true
4
New motivations to engage in HipHop are likely to have emerged such as making money, getting famous or the
pursuit of an appealing image (extrinsic aspirations of wealth, image and fame). In the 1970’s few would have ever
expected to earn a living from being a DJ or rapper and no white person would have expected to be cool and get
respect from others if they were into HipHop. They did so because it was intrinsically rewarding. Through the course
of history getting paper (money) as a motivation grew along with HipHop’s popularity and the consumer power of
its growing audience (Farley, 1999).
20
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
to their position as the representative of black youth” (Decker, 1993; cited in Stapleton, 1998,
p.224) many other researchers argue differently. As Cutler puts it, “Hip-hop is increasingly
claimed to be a multi-cultural lifestyle rather than a symbol of ethnic group identity” (Cutler,
1999, p.435). Mitchell (2001) similarly writes that “Hip-hop and rap cannot be viewed simply as
an expression of African-American culture; it has become a vehicle for global youth affiliations
and a tool for reworking local identity all over the world”, (Mitchell, 2001, pp.1–2).
Therefore the above trend towards materialism may not be attributable to youth in rural areas
and/or other cultures/parts of the world where HipHop (freed from the black, masculine, urban
stereotype) might be able to unfold its full potential for need satisfaction.
Martin, for example, reports that “at a Princess [Superstar (a famous female rap artist)] show it is
often the case that black and white, boys and girls, punk and hip-hop co-mingle (Martin, 2000;
cited in Diner, 2006, p.204).
However, most of the rap music that gets promoted in tabloids, television and other media today
represents a commercial product, designed to sell well to audiences. HipHop music is used
extensively in advertising and leads to massive profits (Farley, 1999; Cole, 2003). Women’s
bodies have been used to market HipHop (Diner, 2006, p.200), producers took over the DJ’s role
as the beatmaker (Chang, 2007, p.228), individuals instead of crews are in the spotlight and the
mainstream version of HipHop (once attested by chuck D to grow up to be the people’s CNN)
“has become the people’s Jeremy Kyle” [a British talk show described as “trash which existed to
titillate bored members of the public with nothing better to do" (BBC News 2007)] or, similarly,
the black man’s cartoon network (Chuck D, cited in Henning, 2004).
As early as 1997, this trend was foreseeable. At a conference discussing the state of HipHop
shortly after the shootings of two of its most eminent representatives (The Notorious BIG and
2Pac Shakur) it was stated that “in many ways hip-hop is out of control” (life after death
conference 1997; cited in Stapleton, 1998, p.226). At the same conference, “Old-school hip-hop
21
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
artists stressed that hip-hop has strayed too far from its original intentions of combating gang
activity to promoting gangster ethics; from promoting black unity to encouraging east coast –
west coast feuds; from MCing, DJing, breaking, and painting graffiti to simply rapping, from
performing for the love of it to performing for money; and from simple boasting to gross
exaggerations of one’s sexual prowess.” (Life after death 1997; Nia, 1997; cited in Stapleton,
1998, p.230)
An awareness of the above development of rap music (the culture’s dominating element today),
its representation in the mass media, its lyrical content and the messages spread in music videos,
interviews and TV shows suggests that materialism, violence and sex are dominant themes within
the culture’s media representation (Bushman & Anderson, 2001)(which is largely influenced by
the United States media and artists). The current study tried to establish whether this picture can
be generalised to HipHop communities around the world.
As described above, HipHop’s history suggests many positive aspects of the culture with regards
to wellbeing. However, the majority of empirical studies have focused on its negative and
problematic aspects (Tyson, 2003, in a 15 year meta-analysis of HipHop studies). Literature
searches on databases such as Ebsco, science direct, web of knowledge and others yielded little to
no results for terms such as HipHop or rap in combination with wellbeing, motivation or any
variations of these terms. Therefore, “it has been suggested that a comprehensive analysis would
find that there is an enormous potential of some rap music to uplift and mobilize members of
marginalized communities, as well as enlighten members of privileged communities” (Tyson,
2003, p.6).
Congruent with Aristotle’s definition, Ryan et al. (2008) refer to eudaimonic wellbeing as a way
of living centred on intrinsic values and aspirations. It is consequently hypothesised that
22
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
HipHoppers who mention HipHop as their way of living (measured through level of subjective
involvement and the time they invest in HipHop) and who are also high in intrinsic motivations
and intrinsic aspirations (as measured by the aspirations scale and qualitative data analysis) score
higher on PWB. The interaction and degree of influence between the level of involvement and
life aspirations with regards to wellbeing are examined.
Furthermore there are some general questions about HipHop that will be addressed.
Is the 4 element structure of HipHop still accurate? Parker (1999) suggests 9 elements of HipHop
in the present day as a result of its development (see table2).
Table2: HipHop’s 9 elements as suggested by Parker (1999)
Rapping lyrics, freestyling, talking rhythmically over a beat or
1. MCing
accapella typically using rhymes
Mixing, scratching, turntablism
2. DJing
B-boying, street dancing
3. Breakdancing
4. Graffiti
Bombing, tagging, writing, painting letters and names on any
surface using spray paint, markers or else
5. Beatboxing
6. Street fashion
Making music with one's mouth
7. Street language
Communicating through slang, vernacular speech and/or local
expressions/codes
8. Street knowledge
Possession and spreading of the wisdom of the elders,
common sense, being aware of one's surroundings and events
Marketing your HipHop activity and making a business out of
it
9. Street entrepreneurship
Having an individual and authentic style of dress
Due to HipHop's development in recent years I hypothesise a 10th element.
10. Producing
Producing HipHop music (programming/creating
beats/instrumentals and/or recording whole songs)
23
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
2. Method
Sample:
A total of 548 data sets were collected. Most participants were recruited online (n=545). This was
achieved through sending out invitations to take part in the study to the researchers’ email
address lists and those of their friends and acquaintances as well as postings on HipHop (Rap,
DJing, Breakdance or graffiti)-related discussion boards and forums, directly inviting relevant
participants (HipHop related, see Appendix E for exact procedures) and creating groups and
discussion posts on online platforms such as Facebook (www.facebook.com), MySpace
(www.myspace.com), the German equivalents of Facebook (www.studivz.net and www.werkennt-wen.de) as well as other forums, guest books of artists websites and chat and
communication programs such as ICQ(.com), MSN(.com) and Skype(.com). Wherever possible,
the alias of HipHopStudy London was used to create profiles, in other cases the researches name
promoted the study. This recruiting procedure allowed a broad variety of participants across
different age groups and ethnic backgrounds to be included in the study. About 200 participants
responded within 2 days after posting the promotional text on various hiphop forums (see
Appendix E).
In addition 4000 flyers (Appendix F) were distributed in London (because of its cultural
variance), Frankfurt (Germany, researcher’s hometown), Dresden (Germany), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), as well as in various record stores in England, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
However, the distribution process may have much wider implications since promotion of the
study may have been taken up by friends, acquaintances and unrelated others without the
researcher’s awareness (A member of the Zulu Nation informed me online about having
distributed flyers (that she had picked up in London) in her hometown in Italy). Response rates,
therefore, cannot be established. For a full list of distribution targets please see Appendix E. Only
3 participants completed and returned the questionnaire in paper and pen format.
24
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Upon eliminating the data sets that were duplicates or consisted largely of missing data (n=58),
490 participants remained from 49 different countries between the age of 13 and 51 (mean age:
21,6; median: 21; mode: 19; SD: 5,28). They were from urban (n=190), suburban (n=192) as well
as from rural (n=88) communities. Most participants lived in Germany (n=287), the majority of
the rest were residents of England (n=44), the USA (n=37), Switzerland (n=40), Austria (n=16),
and Canada (n=9). 81.2% of the sample (n=306) were white.
Epistemological approach and design:
The current research is following a post-positivistic approach assuming that, due to the
complexity of human functioning and culture, its results should be interpreted with caution and
not taken as absolute truth (Creswell, 2003). Confounding variables are discussed with the
results.
Sarah Thornton states that “[w]hile mainstream is only identified through quantifiable measures,
subcultures are always measured in qualitative terms (Thornton, 1996, p.107). Therefore a mixed
methods approach is taken in this study. Content analysis of text output from two open-ended
questions was used to identify and analyse categories and themes of motivations to engage in
HipHop activities/culture. (Braun & Clarke, 2006) Within the same set of questionnaires
quantitative data was gathered about demographics, involvement in the culture, life aspirations
and wellbeing. The use of mixed methods approaches (combining qualitative and quantitative
data) “provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone”
(Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p.5).
Factor analyses established opportunities for the merging of the various variables of HipHop
involvement into one coherent factor that could be regressed to wellbeing. Several standard
25
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
multiple regressions were conducted to identify relationships between the degree of overall
involvement in HipHop culture and wellbeing using intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations
(questionnaire data) and motivations (categories from content analysis) as a moderator. Linear
correlations were used to establish links between wellbeing and motivational categories. Various
descriptive and frequency analyses aided in gathering interesting results.
Ethics:
This study was approved by the UEL School of Psychology ethics committee (Appendix G) and
designed to meet the BPS ethical guidelines. Data was collected anonymously and stored
confidentially using a numerical system. Participants did not have to provide their names
(although they were given the opportunity to report contact details voluntarily at the end of the
questionnaire for the sake of future research). Questionnaires completed online were transmitted
anonymously to the researchers server named after the date and exact time completed (IP
addresses or any other information that could be used to trace the participant’s identity were not
identifiable). Consent was sought and participants could withdraw at any point before, during or
after the study.
Measures:
Demographic information and the degree of involvement in HipHop were measured. Two open
ended questions were asked about participants’ motivations to engage in HipHop. The Aspiration
Index (Kasser and Ryan, 1996) was used in a revised version to fit the characteristic of the
current study and the latest version of the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2009) assessed
wellbeing.
26
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Demographics:
(Appendix H).
Demographic information (age, gender, place of birth, place of residence, ethnicity, education
and occupation) was gathered.
HipHop involvement and preferences:
(Appendix I)
Due to the inexistence of validated scales for (sub-) culture involvement questions addressed the
areas of experience (years actively and passively involved), subjective involvement
(identification with the culture “I like HipHop but do not consider myself part of it” 1 - 10 “I am
HipHop”) and time invested (hours spent during an average week or day). Furthermore, HipHop
sub-genre preferences were established by ticking one or more boxes next to a list of subgenres
as well as personal importance of both HipHop’s four core elements and those suggested recently
on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important).
Participants were also given three options to establish whether they are actively involved in these
9 elements (Yes, no, a little).
In order to calculate a single score to be able to regress overall involvement to wellbeing, several
factor analyses were used to test which variables were loading on the same factor and therefore
might be used as an overall HipHop involvement score.
Also, sub-genre and element preferences were established.
Aspirations Scale
(Kasser and Ryan, 1996; see Appendix J)
This scale measures personal importance, likelihood of attainment and degree of accomplishment
of 35 life goals within 7 categories (wealth, fame, image, personal growth, relationships,
27
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
community and health) with 2 higher level factors (extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations). The
category of health was removed since research showed that it did not load clearly on any of the 2
higher level factors and in most studies, has not been used (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). Upon
consulting Kasser about the opportunities for revision of the scale only personal importance was
measured for the remaining 30 items for reasons of clarity, applicableness and reduced time
exposure.
Items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale (not at all important 1 – 7 very important) and scores
counted for each category as well as the appropriate category scores summed up to calculate
overall scores for intrinsic and extrinsic aspiration. Scores ranged from 5-35 in each category and
15-105 for overall scores.
Flourishing Scale
(Diener et al., 2009, see Appendix K)
Based on the theory of universal human needs and effective human functioning and formerly
published as Psychological Well-being, the Flourishing Scale was developed to account for
measures of SDT and PWB in a short, yet coherent test. It consists of 8 positively phrased items
measuring agreement to statements representing various facets of psychological wellbeing (see
Box2) on a 7-point Likert scale (strong disagreement 1 – 7 strong agreement). Scores may range
from 8 (strong disagreement with all items) to 56 (strong agreement with all items). The sum of
all items calculates the final score.
Ideally the full 80-item PWB Scale (Ryff and Keyes, 1995) would have been used but
participation rates are likely to have dropped to a minimum as a consequence due to its length.
However, the authors state that, “[a]lthough the scale does not individually measure facets of
psychological well-being, it does yield an overview of positive functioning across the domains
that are widely believed to be important.” (Diener et al., 2009, p.8). The items individual
28
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
correlations with components of PWB (Ryff and Keyes, 1995) and SDT (Deci and Ryan, 2001)
are presented in table3.
Box2: Facets of psychological wellbeing addressed by the flourishing scale (and main researchers in the field)








Meaning and purpose (Ryff; Seligman)
Supportive and rewarding relationships (Ryff; Deci and Ryan)
Engaged and interested (Csikszentmihalyi; Ryff; Seligman)
Contribute to the well-being of others (Maslow; Ryff; Deci and Ryan)
Competency (Ryff; Deci and Ryan)
Self-acceptance (Maslow; Ryff)
Optimism (Seligman)
Being respected (Maslow; Ryff)
Table 3: Correlations of Psychological Well-Being and Flourishing (Diener et al, 2009)
FS*
SDT
PWB
Comp
Rel
Aut
Aut
Mast Grow
Rel
SDT
Competency
.67
Relatedness
.64
.60
Autonomy
.54
.60
.56
Ryff Scales
Autonomy
Mastery
Growth
Relationships
Purpose
Self-Acceptance
*Fourishing Scale
.43
.73
.67
.65
.63
.70
.38
.71
.58
.68
.59
.74
.32
.62
.51
.78
.42
.64
.59
.60
.53
.63
.56
.59
.44
.50
.35
.53
.54
.59
.69
.67
.72
.49
.63
.63
.54
.71
Purp
SA
.64
Qualitative questions
(Appendix L)
Two open-ended questions asked participants about their motivation to start engaging in any
HipHop activity and whether their motivation to do so had changed (and if yes, why they are into
HipHop today). Participants were encouraged to think about their answers first and communicate
as much as they want in any format they choose (structured text, paragraphs, key words, lists,
etc).
29
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Apparatus:
A Windows laptop was used, equipped with software such as SPSSFW 15, Adobe Dreamweaver
8, Microsoft Word 2002 and Microsoft Excel 2002. 5000 flyers were designed and printed by
Saxoprint (www.saxoprint.co.uk). Furthermore, pen and paper questionnaires were printed by
UEL.
Procedure:
A set of questionnaires was used to gather information. Links to either the questionnaire directly
(http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html) or to the website introducing the research’s
purpose and providing detailed information as well as download links for the questionnaire in
different languages (www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy) were provided when promoting the study.
Participants were free to fill out the questionnaires at their own pace and were encouraged (in the
invitation letter or in person) to address the researcher with any questions they might have before,
during or after the procedure.
Following the invitation letter (Appendix M) explaining the purpose of the study and that, by
filling out the questionnaires provided, participants give consent for their data to be used
anonymously for research purposes, participants were asked to give basic demographic
information, followed by questions about heir level of involvement in HipHop culture. Next, the
qualitative part asked two open-ended questions about participants’ motivation to engage in
HipHop activities and/or lifestyle.
The last two sections consisted of the revised life aspirations scale and the flourishing scale. In
the online version of the questionnaire, participants were displayed a short debriefing page after
they had clicked on the submit button. On pen and paper questionnaires, the debriefing sheet was
omitted as participants might have read it beforehand, which would have influenced their
responses. However, deception has not been used and therefore not being debriefed will not have
yielded any negative consequences.
30
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Reflexivity:
The researcher was very aware of the impact his long-term involvement in the culture and his
political agenda might have on the research. Therefore his actions and behaviour were carefully
and continuously monitored to insure that a neutral perspective was communicated whenever
contacting participants. The fact that most of the recruitment happened online lessened any
possible effect even more. However, it cannot be precluded that it did not at times impact on the
data or single individuals. This issue will be addressed in more detail in the discussion.
31
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
3. Results
How the data was handled
Questionnaires were collected and the data was entered into SPSS. Upon entering the data the
questionnaires were given a number and stored confidentially by the researcher.
A semi-automated process was used to transform the online data into an SPSS compatible format.
For this purpose, an excel code was written which transformed all items that could be filled out
numerically within three steps into a format that could be copied and pasted into SPSS.
Elimination of data
58 datasets were taken out because of missing data, multiple ticking of boxes, advertising, spam
or else. 84 datasets were omitted where participants spent less than 1 hour a day on any HipHop
activity (including thinking and listening about anything HipHop-related).
The sample then consisted of 406 participants.
Data processing, handling of missing data and creating new variables
Wherever values of time spent were given as a range (e.g. 3-4 hours or 1-2 years) the mean value
was entered into SPSS. When participants failed to indicate the time spent on HipHop weekly,
the daily amount multiplied by seven was used as a weekly number of hours spent.
In the section participants had to state their status of activity in the elements (yes, no, a little)
missing values were considered no if participants indicated yes and/or a little.
Wherever “years active” was left blank and “years passive” was indicated, scores of years active
were filled in as 0.
Participants were also classified as active or passive (active if at least 1 “yes” or 2 “a little” in
active elements).
32
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Dummy coding variables were created for place of residence (PoR, 13 groups), PoRstyle (urban,
suburban, rural), and Education (see Appendix N for further description of the process).
Overall intrinsic and extrinsic aspiration values were calculated by summing up the appropriate
categories (wealth + fame + image = extrinsic overall; personal growth + relationships +
community = intrinsic overall).
Quantitative results are presented following the next section.
Qualitative results
All qualitative data was copied manually into an analysis-friendly word format and numbered
appropriately. Continuous line numbering was used throughout the file to aid referencing. The
document was then printed since human text coding is suggested to work better using a hardcopy
(Franke, 2000; cited in Neuendorf 2002).
45 participants did not fill out the open-ended questions or wrote them in a language other then
English or German (unfortunately, the translation resources became unavailable shortly before
the analysis process started). 361 qualitative data sets were left to analyse.
The analysis process used a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches whereas the
data was screened for the themes that had emerged from the literature (top-down) but, in addition,
whenever themes would emerge from the data (bottom-up) they were added to a codebook listing
criteria for each theme. The codebook (Appendix O) was used to cross check upcoming themes
throughout the analysis process.
33
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Themes were not counted when they were mentioned as initial motivation but non-applicableness
in the present was directly highlighted as well as when they were listed among the motivations
that had changed. This was done to assure that themes were present day motivations to engage in
HipHop.
Whenever the second open ended question was not filled in (whereas the first was) it was
considered as “No, nothing changed in my motivation” and the first part was counted as current
motivation to engage.
In addition to the 28 themes that emerged from the literature, 28 more were identified. The
criteria for identifying additional codes was based on their prevalence within the data.
Continuousness was assured by using a code book (for a full list of themes, the code book and
examples for each theme see Appendix O).
Upon double-checking the data using the full codebook, themes were typed into SPSS creating a
variable for each theme whereas a 1 indicated that the theme was mentioned by that participant
and a 0 indicated that it was not. Frequency analyses were conducted in order to establish
unprevalent themes and opportunities to merge existing ones.
For a full and detailed account of the process of merging the 56 themes into the 38 that remained
see Appendix P. remaining themes were then grouped into 6 sub-themes (see table 4).
34
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Table 4: The 6 sub-themes of motivation to engage in HipHop (from the qualitative data) including individual themes
#
1
Group
Theme
Sympathy for a certain element
Because I like/feel the music/rhythm
Lyrics
Because I like graffiti
Because I like the lifestyle/culture
Appreciation of skill and excellence
Because I like the fashion
Because I like breakdancing
Because I like producing
DJing/Scratching
Because I like Beatboxing
No of Total no of
mentions mentions*
250
133
81
74
54
47
36
30
23
8
736
For the self
3
Happiness
Self expression/ to represent my identity
Channelling emotions
Reminisce/ memories
To be creative / as an art form
Because it gives (energy/strength/power/
perspective/comfort/meaning etc)
Personal development/ Intrinsic Achievement
Because it makes me think / inspiration / intelligent
Drug-like effects
Anti-Boredom/Hobby (→29)
Flow (→52)(→55)
Escapism/Relaxation ((→7)(→46)
178
140
89
61
60
49
36
27
26
13
6
6
691
Mentality, values, potential of the culture
5
4
2
6
To reject the mainstream / be different / rebel
Because of its diversity
Authenticity
(Oldschool) HipHop's Philosophy/Mentality/Values
Autonomy / do whatever you want
Because everybody can do it / it’s “simplicity” / creating
something out of nothing
105
84
74
51
43
36
393
239
61
24
324
75
54
28
15
172
Relatedness
To relate to other people (individuals, my crew, my local
community, etc)
Partying/clubbing, concerts/gigs/jams, dancing
Atmosphere
To spread something to others
HipHop has a message / is raising Awareness
Actively spreading knowledge, a message / to learn from others
To entertain/give something to other people
as a counterweight (to actively restore the balance)
Extrinsic achievement
To be cool
49
Extrinsic Achievement
48
117
Competition / To display superiority ((→50?)
20
*note that participants could mention each sub-theme as often as the number of themes included in the group. That is
why the total number of counts might exceed the total number of participants.
35
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
The first sub-theme simply grouped all mentions of liking, being fascinated with, an
appreciation of or practising a certain element or component of HipHop culture as a motivation to
engage in it. This sub-theme was considered neutral in terms of intrinsic/extrinsic motivations.
For examples from the data please refer to Appendix O.
The second group consisted of all mentions of spreading or giving something to others. It
includes certain messages, political views, awareness, knowledge and even fun and entertainment
etc. whereas the last theme (as a counterweight/to actively restore the balance) was somewhat
ambiguous.
Group number 3 combined all motivations that were related to the self and participants’
individual needs, wants and personal, intrinsic achievements.
All mentions of contexts involving activities with other people were grouped in sub-theme 4.
Group 5 referred to various aspects and characteristics of HipHop culture such as its mentality,
philosophy and values, its do-it-yourself attitude or its diversity. This group is similar to group1
although much more specific in its detailed description of the aspects that are valued within the
elements instead of merely mentioning the element.
Finally, group 6 consists of all mentions of extrinsic achievement such as financial success,
getting famous, raising social status and displaying one’s superiority.
A factor analysis was conducted to test the sub-grouping. It revealed 20 factors but there were no
major discrepancies between the results of the factor analysis and the grouping done by hand.
All themes from group 6 (extrinsic achievement) loaded on a single factor.
6 sub-group variables were created in SPSS and it was counted for each participant how many
times any group category was mentioned. This resulted in scores between 0 (no category in this
group was mentioned) to a score equalling the number of categories that the sub-group included
(extrinsic achievement (group6) includes three themes, therefore scores range from 0-3; scores
36
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
for group 3 range from 0-12). By adding up scores for groups 2, 3 and 4 (intrinsic groups) a new
variable was created for intrinsic motivation. Scores in group 6 represented extrinsic motivations.
However, it proofed difficult to group themes clearly into intrinsically and extrinsically motivated
categories. 361 participants’ data exceeds the possibilities for an in-depth text analysis
considering time and resource constraints. Furthermore, certain categories might seem extrinsic
but might be intrinsic in a HipHop context. More support for this assumption was found
throughout the analysis process and will be discussed later.
The most frequently mentioned themes are listed in table 5.
As depicted, none of these themes fall in the category of extrinsic motivations. As already seen in
table 4, extrinsic achievement was reported least in the sample whereas most participants seemed
to be engaged in HipHop for the sake of their self (intrinsic motivation, shown to correlate with
wellbeing) and/or because they like some aspect or characteristic of the culture. Spreading
awareness, a message or a political agenda was also mentioned frequently. As stated in the
introduction, activism is related to wellbeing.
Table5: Most frequently mentioned themes to engage in HipHop culture
Times
mentioned Category name
250 Because I like/feel the music/rhythm
To relate to other people (individuals, a crew, a local community,
239 etc)
178 Happiness
140 Self expression/ to represent my identity
133 Lyrics
105 To reject the mainstream / be different / rebel
89 Channelling emotions
84 Because of its diversity
81 Because I like graffiti
75 HipHop has a message / is raising Awareness
74 Because I like the lifestyle/culture
74 Authenticity
Group
neutral
intrinsic
intrinsic
intrinsic
neutral
Neutral/intrinsic
intrinsic
neutral
neutral
intrinsic
neutral
Neutral/intrinsic
37
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Themes in relation to SDT and PWB components as well as other aspects of wellbeing:
As outlined in table 1, the emerging themes could be meaningfully associated with all
components of PWB, SDT and a few other areas associated with wellbeing that were suggested
in the literature review. Relatedness and competence protrude in terms of frequency and should
be followed up in future research. Table 6 reports which themes from the qualitative data of this
study relate to components of PWB.
Table6: Motivational themes from the current study relating to PWB and SDT components as well as other areas of
Positive Psychology
PWB
component:
Related theme from the qualitative data theme number
Relatedness
To entertain/give something to other people 11.
To relate to other people (individuals, crew, local community, etc) 04.
Partying/clubbing, concerts/gigs/jams, dancing 34.
Atmosphere 35.
To be cool 14.
Autonomy
To reject the mainstream / be different / rebel 07.
Autonomy / do whatever you want 47.
Competence
(esteem)
Channelling emotions 42.
Because it gives (energy/strength/power/ perspective/comfort/ meaning) 46.
Because everybody can do it / it’s “simplicity” / creating something out of
nothing 29.
Personal
growth
To learn from others 44.
Personal development/ Intrinsic Achievement 05.
Competition 15.
Meaning
HipHop has a message / is raising Awareness 03.
As a counterweight (to actively restore the balance 53.
(Oldschool) HipHop's Philosophy/Mentality/Values 32.
Selfacceptance
Self expression/ to represent my identity 01.
Authenticity 22.
Subjective
wellbeing
Happiness 31.
Time
perspective /
Savouring
Reminisce/ memories 39.
38
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Creativity
To be creative / as an art form 16.
Flow
Flow 30.
Results of a correlation analysis between wellbeing and motivation sub-themes can be found in
Appendix S.
Quantitative results
The main purpose of this study was to regress involvement in HipHop with wellbeing (with
intrinsic/extrinsic motivations/aspirations as a moderator).
Furthermore, descriptive statistics should provide valuable information about the characteristics
of a HipHop sample.
However, in order to regress the data univariate outliers had to be dealt with as well as the data to
be checked for normal distribution to assure that parametric tests can be used to asses
relationships between variables.
Deal with univariate outliers:
Univariate outliers have been dealt with for every dependent variable. Scores were regarded as
outliers when they deviated more than three standard deviations from the norm. Scores were
changed to the next highest/lowest value +1/-1. When outlier scores were numerous and deviated
to large degrees from each other, the difference in outlier scores was acknowledged by not
changing all scores to +1/-1 but to an appropriate range (see Appendix Q for details).
39
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Normality:
Normal distribution of the data was checked using the explore function of SPSS. The results are
reported in table 7. Note that the data is only skewed in the variables that are directly related to
participants’ HipHop activities. For variables that are shared with the general population the
sample is normally distributed (see Appendix R).
Table 7: Distribution characteristics of various variables in the current sample of HipHoppers
Variable
Normality
Age:
Education:
Hours spent weekly:
Years passive
Years active:
Involvement:
AI extrinsic:
AI intrinsic:
PWB:
normal
normal
negatively skewed, Negative kurtosis
slightly negatively skewed
positively skewed, Negative kurtosis
negatively skewed, slightly negative kurtosis
normal
normal
normal
Factor analysis:
Overall HipHop involvement:
The next necessary step before being able to regress HipHop involvement to wellbeing was to
calculate a single score or factor (out of the variables subjective involvement, time spent weekly
and years involved) that would account for overall involvement.
Box 2: Initial formula to calculate overall HipHop involvement for participants
Hours/week x Subjective Involvement 1-10 x (Years involved + Years Active x2)
Time investment x
Identification with HipHop
x
Experience/Knowledge
(Active involvement yields more experience)
40
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
In order to test whether the formula in box 2 can be validated, a factor analysis was conducted on
all continuous variables to distinguish if the HipHop involvement-related variables used in the
formula cluster together.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was 7.38, which is above the recommended
value of .6, and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was not 0 and significant. (
2
(276) = 2224,637, p <
.001). This meant that the minimum required amount of participants for factor analyses was
satisfied, with a final sample size of 276 (using listwise deletion) and over 11.5 cases per variable
(24 variables altogether). Absolute values below 0.5 were suppressed.
Given these overall indicators, factor analysis was conducted with all 24 variables.
Principle components analysis, using varimax rotations, was conducted because the primary
purpose was to identify and compute an overall involvement score for HipHop activities.
The initial eigenvalues showed that the first factor explained 16.7% of the variance, the second
factor 14% of the variance, and a third factor 9% of the variance. The fourth, fifth and sixth
factors had eigenvalues of about 1.5, each factor explaining about 6%. All loadings were above
0.5, most above 0.7. For details see table 7.
As table 7 shows, the anticipated cluster of hours weekly, involvement and years active/passive
split up in two factors:

Factor 7: Involvement and hours weekly (involvement/investment)

Factor 1: Years actively and years passively involved (experience/knowledge)
(Clustered up with age and education)
Since factor 1 is likely to be confounded with age and education, factor 7 was chosen as the
overall HipHop involvement variable to be regressed to wellbeing and the formula was dropped.
41
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Table 7: Results of the factor analysis of all continuous variables
Factor
1
2
Age
,906
yearsPASSIV
,883
yearsACTIVE
,811
Education
,638
3
4
5
6
7
intrinsicMotivation
BBoy
,834
Graffiti
,777
Beatbox
DJ
,727
,648
AI_Wealth
,836
AI_Fame
,800
AI_Image
,786
Knowledge
,768
Language
,742
Fashion
,700
AI_Growth
,787
AI_Community
,729
AI_Relationships
,661
Producing
,791
Poetry
,520
Entrepreneur
MC .
hrs_weekly
,516
.
.
Involvement
,710
,567
Yellow indicates HipHop elements
Red indicates HipHop involvement-related variables
Purple indicates extrinsic/intrinsic aspiration variables
More interesting results
Besides the identification of a HipHop involvement variable, the factor analysis revealed some
more interesting results.
Extrinsic and intrinsic scores of the aspiration index clustered together in two separate factors,
which supports Kasser’s (1996) questionnaire.
The additional 5 elements suggested by Parker (knowledge, language, fashion, beatbox and
entrepreneurialism; Parker, 1999) and the two optional elements suggested by the researcher
(producing and poetry slam) loaded on three separate factors (see table 7). The exception is
Beatboxing, which interestingly clustered on a single factor with three of the original elements of
42
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
HipHop (DJing, BBoying and graffiti writing). MCing, however did not load on any factor,
which suggests that it separated from the other elements.
The created variable of intrinsic motivation (from the qualitative data) did not cluster with
intrinsic aspiration components, which suggests that the content analysis might have been too
narrow to yield coherent results in this aspect.
Factor analysis 2:
When the outcome variable (PWB) was included into the factor analysis it loaded on factor 7
(Involvement & Hours weekly), which suggests that wellbeing seems to be connected to the
degree of involvement in HipHop (see table 8). This second factor analysis replicated the findings
of the first one regarding the clustering of the elements DJing, BBoying, graffiti writing and
Beatboxing but also grouped MCing and Producing on a single factor. Poetry slam and
entrepreneurialism (loading just above 0.5 on the previous analysis) did not load on any factor.
Language, fashion and knowledge, again, load on a single factor but are still separated from the
other elements.
As for reliability, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was 0.738 (above 0.6)
and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was not 0 and significant at p<.001.
Overall, these analyses indicated that 7 distinct factors were underlying wellbeing in a HipHop
sample and that these factors were internally consistent. 2 factors endorsed the clusters of
extrinsic and intrinsic aspiration scores, 3 factors grouped element importance scores together
and the remaining two factors revealed a separation into 2 groups in variables related to HipHop
involvement. An approximately normal distribution was evident for the composite score data in
the current study, thus the data were well suited for parametric statistical analyses.
43
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Table 8: Results of the 2nd actor analysis
Component
1
2
yearsPASSIV
,923
Age
,913
yearsACTIVE
,825
3
BBoy
,816
Graffiti
,791
Beatbox
,738
DJ
,592
4
Language
,834
Fashion
,770
Knowledge
,717
5
Producing
,772
MC
Poetry
,694
PWB_Scale
Involvement
,652
,638
hrs_weekly
,506
Entrepreneur
Regression
It was then possible to conduct multiple standard regression analyses of HipHop involvement
(factor7) and wellbeing with the moderators of intrinsic aspiration, extrinsic aspiration (scores of
the aspiration index), intrinsic motivation (variable summing up scores for groups 2,3 and 4) and
extrinsic motivation (group6).
For this purpose new variables were computed. Instructions and background on this procedure
are described by Jose (2009).
Since there is no theoretical background to proceed stepwise, all variables were entered in step1.
In all regression analyses conducted in the analysis process, the effect of intrinsic
(motivation/aspiration) was constantly 2-3fold higher than its extrinsic counterpart (throughout
different combinations of factors, orders and variables)
Regression analysis for the motivation categories that emerged from the qualitative data yielded
insignificant results. It was concluded (as factor analyses results had hinted on) that at least an in-
44
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
depth text analysis is inevitable for useful variables of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to
emerge.
However, the analysis was significant for intrinsic aspiration as a moderator and their interaction
(F=15.754; p<.001).
Overall involvement did not account for any of the variance (t=.882; p=.378) but intrinsic
aspirations accounted for 13% of the variance in wellbeing (beta=.361; t=6.4; p<.001)
Its interaction was also significant (beta=.118) (t=2.1; p=.073)
Since for reasons of statistical analysis beta squared cannot be used to report the interaction, the
software Modgraph (available at Jose, 2009) was used to calculate the graph of the variance
accounted for (see figure 1).
As figure X implies, intrinsic motivation significantly moderates the effect of overall
involvement in HipHop on PWB.
Figure 1: ModGraph output representing the moderating effect of intrinsic aspirations on the interaction of
wellbeing and HipHop involvement
45
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Extrinsic motivation as a moderator also significantly moderated the effect of HipHop
involvement on wellbeing, but only marginally (F= 2,64; p=.05). Its effect was much lower
(beta=.156; t=2.58; p=0.10) and its interaction non-significant (beta=0.021; t=0.341; p=0.733).
Modgraph was again used to calculate a graph representing its effect (see figure 2).
Figure 2: ModGraph output representing the moderating effect of extrinsic aspirations on the interaction of
wellbeing and HipHop involvement
Replicating Kasser:
In order to replicate Kasser’s (2002) findings concerning the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic
aspirations on wellbeing, two more regression analyses were conducted.
PWB was moderately correlated with intrinsic aspirations (r=.35, p<.001) and weakly correlated
with extrinsic aspirations (r=.146, p=.004). Regression of aspiration scores to wellbeing was
significant (F= 25.32; p<.001) for both intrinsic (t=6.528, p<.001) and extrinsic aspirations
46
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
(t=2.237, p=.026). Note that results were again higher for intrinsic variables, but still significantly
correlated for extrinsic aspirations.
Intrinsic aspirations accounted for 11.5% of the variance in wellbeing, extrinsic aspirations
accounted for only 1.35% of variance.
Regressing all sub-components of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations (wealth, image, fame,
relationships, personal growth and community) to wellbeing yielded significant results (F=9.155,
p<.001) but revealed non-significant t tests for all variables except community (t=4.259; p<.001;
accounted for 6.56% of the variance in PWB). Community (also frequently mentioned in the
qualitative data) seems to be an essential factor in HipHop culture.
Table 9 shows that the next highest significance scores are personal growth (p=.126; intrinsic),
image (p=.160; extrinsic) and relationships (p=.243; intrinsic). The presence of image again
supports the assumption that extrinsic aspirations might have different effects on a HipHop
sample compared to the general population.
Table 9: T-test results of sub-components of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in relation to wellbeing
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
(Constant)
B
24,099
Std. Error
3,581
AI_Wealth
,003
,066
AI_Fame
,047
,065
AI_Image
,118
AI_Growth
,193
AI_Relationships
AI_Community
Beta
t
Sig.
B
6,730
Std. Error
,000
,003
,042
,967
,050
,726
,468
,084
,099
1,407
,160
,126
,095
1,535
,126
,095
,082
,067
1,169
,243
,268
,063
,256
4,259
,000
In addition to the regression analysis, a linear correlation was calculated between wellbeing and
intrinsic/extrinsic variables (see table 10). Results depict that all aspiration scores (except wealth)
correlate weakly to moderately with PWB whereas, again, correlation scores of intrinsic
47
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
aspirations are higher and more significant. Image and fame therefore might have positive
connotations within HipHop culture which resonates well with depictions of HipHop’s history.
Table 10: Correlation scores between PWB and aspiration components
AI_INTRINSIC
AI_Community
AI_Relationships
AI_Growth
AI_EXTRINSIC
AI_Image
AI_Fame
AI_Wealth
Pearson Correlation
PWB_Scale
,342
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
Pearson Correlation
,323
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
Pearson Correlation
,200
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
Pearson Correlation
,269
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
Pearson Correlation
,147
Sig. (2-tailed)
,006
Pearson Correlation
,152
Sig. (2-tailed)
,003
Pearson Correlation
,154
Sig. (2-tailed)
,003
Pearson Correlation
,063
Sig. (2-tailed)
,228
Furthermore, when regressing not overall involvement (factor7) but its components (hours spent
weekly and subjective involvement) with PWB, subjective involvement accounted for 2.1% of
variance in wellbeing (t=2.655; p=0.008) whereas time spent weekly was non-significant.
Therefore level of subjective identification with the culture seems to be important for the PWBpotential of HipHop.
Descriptive analyses
In order to lay the groundwork for gaining some knowledge about the effects of the global spread
of HipHop culture and its current state, the data was split according to the following variables:





Gender
Age
Place of residence
Place of residence style (urban, sub-urban or rural)
Ethnicity
48
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture



Activity in a certain element (active MCs, active DJs etc)
Motivation group 2 (spreading something to others, indicators of degree of activism)
Element importance
Place of residence split
HipHoppers were divided into categories depending on their place or residence. In the UK,
wellbeing, extrinsic aspirations and subjective involvement were highest and they also valued the
“new” elements the most (see table 11).
Table 11: Comparison of relevant variables split by place of residence
Germany
(N=223236)
USA
(N=2532)
UK
(N=3035)
Swiss
(N=3036)
Austria
(N=9-11)
Rest EU
(N=9)
EsternEU
(N=9)
Canada
(N=5-7)
Mean
18,20
Mean
19,27
Mean
18,84
Mean
17,38
Mean
15,70
Mean
17,89
Mean
18,22
Mean
16,29
AI_Fame
15,26
15,92
18,13
14,97
16,82
12,56
16,78
13,86
AI_Image
13,24
14,86
15,23
12,93
12,33
11,33
15,00
14,50
AI_EXTRINSIC
AI_Growth
46,85
30,96
49,04
31,03
52,11
31,68
45,57
31,21
45,44
32,18
41,78
28,25
50,00
30,00
46,00
31,43
AI_Relationships
30,45
31,39
29,91
31,38
31,50
30,63
28,67
29,43
AI_Community
23,50
27,34
27,47
22,44
25,40
22,44
25,75
27,60
AI_INTRINSIC
85,11
90,63
87,94
84,58
90,00
81,71
87,38
84,80
PWB_Scale
Age
41,11
20,33
42,13
24,91
45,32
21,91
42,24
22,78
47,50
24,09
36,89
24,63
41,56
19,00
43,43
25,43
AI_Wealth
Involvement
6,666
6,156
7,629
6,571
8,364
7,111
6,556
8,143
39,9714
35,4839
45,2429
32,1667
38,0000
37,2222
43,6667
47,7857
MC
4,71
4,41
4,43
4,64
5,00
4,44
4,33
5,00
DJ
4,00
4,19
4,03
4,17
4,36
3,44
4,33
4,14
BBoy
3,01
3,22
3,06
3,28
3,45
2,78
3,33
3,00
Graffiti
3,67
3,47
3,40
3,69
3,91
3,56
3,33
3,86
Beatbox
3,17
3,13
2,83
3,19
3,27
2,78
3,00
3,67
Fashion
2,61
3,28
3,09
2,58
2,70
3,33
3,89
3,50
Language
2,28
2,73
3,26
2,03
2,45
2,44
3,22
3,17
Knowledge
3,37
4,09
4,35
3,39
3,27
3,67
4,11
4,86
Entrepreneur
1,94
2,84
3,09
1,92
1,70
2,67
3,00
3,43
Poetry
2,53
2,74
2,97
2,17
2,82
3,22
2,78
3,71
Producing
4,07
3,72
4,26
3,94
3,91
3,67
4,33
4,29
hrs_weekly
Particularly low score
Particularly high score
49
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Wellbeing
The average wellbeing of the current sample was 42. As seen in Table 12, the current sample’s
average scores seem to be lower than that of the general American population across various
states and a sample from Singapore (as reported in Diener et al, 2009). However, no further
information about the samples reported by Diener et al is available. Therefore only limited
conclusions can be drawn from this comparison.
Table 12: Comparison of wellbeing scores measured by the flourishing scale
Locations
N
Flourishing Scale scores:
Mean (SD)
42.6 (6.4)
48.1 (4.9)
43.2 (7.8)
46.6 (5.0)
45.6 (6.4)
43.8 (6.0)
Singapore
East Carolina
Virginia
New Jersey
Illinois
California
181
168
116
86
74
64
HipHoppers
387
42 (7.04)
(of this study)
Germany
USA
UK
Switzerland
Austria
Rest of Europe
Eastern Europe
Canada
227
30
31
34
10
9
9
7
41.1 (6.8)
42.1 (7.2)
45.3 (6.6)
42.2 (5.8)
47.5 (4.4)
36.9 (8.1)
41.6 (3)
43.4 (12)
Age group split:
Table X depicts scores according to three categories of age (<18, 19-29 and >30) in order to gain
some knowledge on the effects of age on various variables.
As seen in table 13, the age group above 30 years of age, although fairly small in numbers, are by
far the highest in wellbeing and lowest in extrinsic aspirations. They also seem to value HipHop’s
diverse elements the most although spending least time with the culture. Low scores in personal
growth correspond well with higher age. Language and fashion seem to drop in importance with
age (as depicted by several participants in the qualitative section of the research).
50
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
The age group between 19 and 29 seems to lay most importance on personal growth. They also
value producing the most.
The youngest age group (13 years till majority) is highest in extrinsic aspirations, which seems to
drop with age, whereas intrinsic aspirations seem to be fairly stable for all age groups.
Table 13: Comparison of relevant variables split by age groups
Age 13-18
N
Age 30-51
SD
N
Mean
SD
N
PWB_Scale
128
42,30
6,525
231
41,76
7,18
22
45,32
6,48
AI_EXTRINSIC
119
53,6723
16,87
214
45,0467
16,52
20
39,9500
15,08
AI_Wealth
127
19,89
6,887
230
17,45
7,070
21
16,48
7,37
AI_Fame
130
17,97
7,787
225
14,63
7,035
20
11,85
6,18
AI_Image
AI_INTRINSIC
125
118
15,46
85,0339
5,933
11,14
225
213
12,92
86,6901
5,826
10,77
21
19
11,62
85,2105
5,79
13,01
AI_Growth
128
30,80
3,598
230
31,28
3,361
22
29,64
4,71
AI_Relationships
126
30,45
4,960
229
30,49
4,800
21
30,19
6,29
AI_Community
125
24,16
6,606
228
24,48
6,779
20
25,00
6,20
Involvement
134
6,623
2,41
238
6,836
2,80
22
7,909
2,64
hrs_weekly
135
42,7537
24,82
241
38,1805
24,32
22
31,8409
23,93
MC
135
4,60
,924
242
4,65
,802
22
4,68
,568
DJ
131
3,77
1,206
240
4,16
1,027
21
4,48
1,03
BBoy
132
3,02
1,281
241
3,10
1,314
22
3,55
1,06
Graffiti
133
3,50
1,385
241
3,67
1,309
22
4,00
,976
Beatbox
133
3,16
1,224
239
3,10
1,231
22
3,32
,945
Fashion
131
3,05
1,392
240
2,64
1,273
21
2,71
1,45
Language
133
2,62
1,300
239
2,32
1,177
21
2,43
1,43
Knowledge
133
3,38
1,330
239
3,62
1,234
22
4,09
1,07
Entrepreneur
134
2,12
1,227
240
2,22
1,346
21
3,19
1,57
Poetry
132
2,62
1,251
239
2,57
1,297
22
3,00
1,48
Producing
130
3,91
1,266
230
4,14
1,257
21
4,05
1,28
Valid N (listwise)
93
Mean
Age 19-29
168
Mean
SD
13
Particularly low score
Particularly high score
Gender split
Table 14 lists average scores and standard deviations for males and females. Within HipHop,
women are slightly happier and more concerned with image, growth, relationships, fashion, and
knowledge while putting less value on producing.
Therefore, as would have been expected in the general population, they seem to put more
emphasis on both extrinsic and intrinsic values (and those to do with communication) and less
51
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
importance on technical procedures (such as producing). Women, in this sample were also
slightly happier than men.
Table 14: Comparison of relevant variables split by gender
MALE
FEMALE
AI_Wealth
N
341
Mean
18,16
Std. Deviation
7,192
N
38
Mean
18,87
Std. Deviation
6,170
AI_Fame
341
15,82
7,505
35
14,66
7,125
AI_Image
336
13,46
5,880
36
15,83
6,579
AI_EXTRINSIC
320
47,5969
16,97453
34
49,0294
17,53004
AI_Growth
346
30,93
3,562
35
31,91
3,501
AI_Relationships
342
30,31
5,062
36
31,64
3,531
AI_Community
339
24,33
6,684
35
24,77
6,958
AI_INTRINSIC
319
85,7085
11,13721
33
88,5455
10,39859
PWB_Scale
MC
347
362
42,04
4,65
6,819
,820
35
38
43,03
4,55
8,119
,950
DJ
355
4,07
1,106
38
3,82
1,111
BBoy
358
3,11
1,307
38
3,00
1,185
Graffiti
359
3,64
1,334
38
3,63
1,239
Beatbox
357
3,11
1,221
38
3,39
1,104
Fashion
356
2,73
1,340
37
3,30
1,199
Language
357
2,43
1,269
37
2,49
1,017
Knowledge
357
3,51
1,289
38
4,05
,985
Entrepreneur
359
2,24
1,349
37
2,22
1,228
Poetry
357
2,59
1,296
37
2,86
1,251
Producing
350
4,09
1,233
32
3,69
1,533
Age
361
21,27
5,265
38
22,03
4,606
Valid N (listwise)
253
23
Only values that deviated more than 0,5 in element importance and 1 for the other variables were marked.
Place of residence style split:
The sample was split into the categories urban, sub-urban and rural. Wellbeing in rural areas was
on average slightly higher and extrinsic aspirations were lowest. However, they valued image the
most.
Ethnicity split:
The sample was split by ethnicity. However, since 81.2% of the sample were white and the next
strongest groups had only 22, 13 and 11 members respectively, conclusions from these
descriptives should be interpreted with caution. In table 15 it can be seen that Hispanics are by far
52
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
the happiest but also the most extrinsically aspirated. They also spend the most time on HipHop
during an average week. The Middle Eastern sample scored by far highest on the intrinsic
aspiration scale but they are also highest in wealth and image while scoring very low on fame.
Table 15: Comparison of relevant variables split by ethnicity
White
N
Mean
Black
N
Middle
Eastern
Hispanic
N
Mean
N
Mean
N
294
41,88
9
41,44
10
41,10
12
45,33
6
41,50
21
43,05
AI_INTRINSIC
AI_Community
273
290
85,91
24,21
9
9
91,22
29,22
8
8
85,25
28,38
11
11
84,73
25,82
5
6
95,40
26,50
18
21
81,33
22,05
AI_Relationships
292
30,68
10
29,40
10
27,90
12
27,00
5
32,80
18
28,11
AI_Growth
292
30,93
10
32,30
10
30,60
13
31,08
6
32,50
21
30,48
AI_EXTRINSIC
AI_Image
279
290
46,67
13,24
8
10
56,13
16,00
7
9
42,71
14,33
9
9
60,00
18,89
6
6
54,17
18,67
19
20
46,37
12,95
AI_Fame
292
15,20
8
19,38
7
15,00
13
19,46
6
14,83
20
16,45
AI_Wealth
293
18,01
11
21,00
9
15,44
11
17,82
6
20,67
21
18,48
hrs_weekly
304
38,27
11
40,36
11
44,18
13
51,50
6
49,50
22
42,18
Valid N (listwise)
252
6
9
Mean
Mixed
PWB_Scale
6
Mean
Asian
5
N
Mean
17
Particularly low score
Particularly high score
Element split:
Mean scores were examined separately for all participants who reported to be active in any
certain element (note that participants might be active in more than one element).
Table 16 provides an overview on mean scores.
Most HipHoppers of the current sample are MCs and/or Producers.
The BBoys in the sample score highest on almost every factor in the table (although there are too
few to draw meaningful conclusions). They are by far the most extrinsically motivated and the
fact that they are also highest in wellbeing provides more support to the assumption that extrinsic
aspirations might have positive connotations (at least within breakdancers).
Graffiti writers report specifically low community scores which corresponds well with their
activity usually being practised beyond laws against vandalism.
53
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
DJs report the least intrinsic motivations (as they usually perform for in front of other people),
spend the least time weekly and are the oldest on average (although, as seen earlier, the hoighest
age group spends least time on HipHop anyway). However, these findings suggest that people
practice DJing longer than the other HipHop activities (possibly a result of the DJ’s possibility to
DJ other music besides rap).
All groups are report almost the same scores with regards to relationships. This is growing
support for the community being a common factor within the HipHop community.
Table 16: Comparison of relevant variables split by participants’ active involvement in certain elements
MCs
N
DJs
Mean
N
BBoys
Mean
N
Mean
Writer (Graffiti)
N
Mean
Beatboxers
N
Mean
Producers
N
Mean
PWB_Scale
135
42,16
48
43,33
14
46,29
68
43,29
26
44,31
114
42,43
AI_EXTRINSIC
AI_Wealth
127
137
50,0472
18,34
45
49
42,2889
16,22
13
16
63,4615
20,63
63
72
48,2222
17,67
24
25
55,0417
19,24
109
116
48,3486
18,27
AI_Fame
136
17,66
46
14,22
14
23,21
70
15,91
26
19,77
113
17,31
AI_Image
131
13,61
46
12,24
14
18,86
64
13,98
24
15,17
114
13,29
AI_INTRINSIC
AI_Growth
128
136
87,0469
31,54
42
48
86,9286
31,75
14
15
88,8571
32,60
63
71
84,7460
31,35
24
26
88,3750
31,73
104
114
87,7115
31,51
AI_Relationships
136
30,37
47
29,26
16
29,25
70
29,43
25
30,12
115
30,43
AI_Community
134
24,64
46
25,67
14
27,07
66
23,83
25
26,72
111
25,42
Involvement
138
7,688
52
7,788
16
8,875
73
7,247
26
8,000
119
7,655
hrs_weekly
142
46,6866
52
43,6250
16
44,1250
74
47,1047
27
46,5556
120
45,4458
Age
138
21,02
51
23,63
16
19,50
72
20,57
26
20,69
116
21,62
Valid N (listwise)
113
38
12
54
22
93
Particularly low score
Particularly high score
Motivation group 2 (spreading something to others)
Klar and Kasser (2009) had found that indicators of activism are positively correlated with scores
on hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being scales. Activists were also more likely to be
flourishing (Keyes, 2002 ). Motivation group 2 (spreading something to others as in raising
awareness, being political and teaching) was split up in three categories as an indicator for
activism (low=0 mentions, middle=1 and high=2-4).
54
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
As table 17 shows, in support of Klar and Kasser’s research, the more often HipHoppers
mentioned spreading something to others as a motivation to engage in the culture the higher were
their scores on the flourishing scale.
Table 17: Comparison of PWB scores split by the number of mentions in motivation group2 (spreading something to
others)
Group2 values
PWB_Scale
Low
N
272
Mean
41,13
Middle
SD
7,0
N
76
Mean
43,55
High
SD
6,7
N
39
Mean
45,44
SD
6,4
Element importance
Table 18 depicts mean scores of subjective element importance. MCing is valued the most.
Producing (which has not yet been considered to be an official element) shares second position
with DJing. Out of the suggested additional elements, knowledge scores are especially high and
therefore valued by the current sample.
Table 18: Means and standard deviations for element importance scores (range 1-5)
Element
1. MC
2. Producing
3. DJ
4. Graffiti
5. Knowledge
6. Beatbox
7. BBoy
8. Fashion
9. Poetry
10. Language
11. Entrepreneur
N
405
387
398
402
400
399
401
398
399
399
401
Mean
4,64
4,06
4,05
3,65
3,57
3,14
3,11
2,79
2,62
2,44
2,24
SD
,828
1,259
1,105
1,319
1,272
1,218
1,295
1,348
1,301
1,253
1,340
Correlations
In order to address the emerging questions about the relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic
aspirations regarding wellbeing in the current sample of HipHoppers a linear correlation analysis
was conducted. The light grey areas in table 19 indicate the zones where correlations would not
be expected in a sample of the general population. However, as can be seen, many extrinsic
55
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
aspiration scores correlate weakly but significantly with intrinsic aspects of motivation. As noted
earlier, all components (except wealth) correlate with PWB as measured by the flourishing scale.
Particularly interesting are the links between fame and growth (r=0.174, p=0.001) as well as
between wealth and relationships (r=0.131, p=0.012).
Table 19: Correlation scores between intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations and PWB
PWB
PWB
P
INTRIN
1
Sig
INTRIN
P
Sig
Commu
P
Sig
Relation
P
Sig
Growth
P
Sig
EXTRIN
P
Sig
Image
P
Sig
Fame
Wealth
P
,342(**)
Relate
Growth
EXTRIN
,342(**)
,323(**)
,200(**)
,269(**)
,147(*)
,152(*)
,154(*)
,063
,000
,000
,000
,000
,006
,003
,003
,228
1
,833(**)
,659(**)
,733(**)
,094
,123(*)
,123(*)
-,004
,000
,323(**)
,833(**)
Commu
Image
Fame
Wealth
,000
,000
,000
,087
,022
,022
,936
1
,253(**)
,451(**)
,031
,111(*)
,091
-,082
,000
,000
,200(**)
,659(**)
,253(**)
,000
,000
,561
,033
,084
,115
1
,388(**)
,130(*)
,131(*)
,089
,131(*)
,000
,000
,000
,000
,015
,012
,089
,012
,269(**)
,733(**)
,451(**)
,388(**)
,000
,000
,000
,000
1
,100
,084
,174(*)
-,029
,062
,110
,001
,583
,147(*)
,094
,031
,130(*)
,100
1
,827(**)
,856(**)
,816(**)
,006
,087
,561
,015
,062
,152(*)
,123(*)
,111(*)
,131(*)
,084
,827(**)
,003
,022
,033
,012
,110
,000
,000
,000
,000
1
,606(**)
,515(**)
,000
,000
1
,504(**)
,154(*)
,123(*)
,091
,089
,174(*)
,856(**)
,606(**)
Sig
,003
,022
,084
,089
,001
,000
,000
P
,063
-,004
-,082
,131(*)
-,029
,816(**)
,515(**)
,504(**)
Sig
,228
,936
,115
,012
,583
,000
,000
,000
,000
1
** Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Significant results
56
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
4. Discussion:
The purpose of the current study was to establish links between HipHop culture and wellbeing as
well as to examine the moderation effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and aspirations on
participants’ degree of involvement. Furthermore general information about the current state of
HipHop was gathered.
Results suggest that in the current sample higher involvement in HipHop was associated with
higher psychological wellbeing. The effect was moderated by the mode of life aspirations
whereas intrinsic aspirations moderated the effect stronger than extrinsic ones.
Motivational themes to engage in HipHop culture and its elements that had been identified
through a review of the literature could be identified within the current sample. In combination
with the additional themes that emerged from the qualitative data, they could be associated with
all components of prevalent wellbeing theories. Overall there were far more motivational themes
associated with wellbeing than those associated with extrinsic motivations (suggested by many
studies to be detrimental to wellbeing).
HipHop can be good for you
As stated in the introduction, King & Napa (1998) concluded from their research that a good life
is likely to include a sense of purpose (meaning), wisdom (knowledge and experience), creativity,
a philosophy of life, achievement and the experience of love (supported by Allport, 1961; Becker,
1992; and Rogers, 1961). All of these were tapped into by the motivational themes that emerged
from this study. The themes characterised a combination of eudaimonic and hedonic happiness.
Maslow (1970) stated that self actualisation (placed at the top of his hierarchy of needs and
regarded as the ultimate goal in terms of wellbeing) can only occur when basic needs are met.
The results of this study suggest that HipHop is able to satisfy basic (psychological) needs and
has enough potential to go beyond (depending on personal characteristics).
57
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Other researchers and psychologists theorized that people may be happy although in pain and
might be miserable despite hedonistic pleasure (Frankl, 1985; McDougal, 1921). Therefore, if
practised for intrinsic reasons (e.g. in search for meaning, a philosophy for life, good relations to
others etc), HipHop provides opportunities for wellbeing in both urban, underprivileged
environments as well as any other living conditions. A HipHop lifestyle might be an essential
means towards happiness in the face of misery and poverty. However, the culture’s diversity
which is partly a result of its globalisation allows people of all cultures and social classes to
benefit from its positive potential.
Even mere consumers may use the lyrical power and message of the music they listen to to
represent themselves and express their opinions and identity through the opinions of like minded
artists. Hence people do not have to actively create art to use HipHop for self-expression.
There will always be groups of people who try to claim that their HipHop is the only true
HipHop and that their rules should be followed to claim that label (possibly as a reaction to the
threat of assimilation by the mainstream, McLeod, 1999) but the truth seems to be that HipHop,
still carrying autonomy and authenticity at its core, has developed into a broadly diverse culture
and is practised in all of its facets around the world. Unity may have decreased among the local
communities but, considering the frequencies of motivational themes in the current study,
relating to people in general still seems to be one of HipHoppers’ main agendas.
However, average PWB of the current sample of HipHoppers was lower than the American
average on the same measurement scale.
The following discussion will provide possible explanations for this ranging from limitations of
the study’s methodology via the effects of the commercialisation of rap music to apparent
contradictions to the existing literature. In the process, some inherent characteristics of a HipHop
sample, possible future research as well as a few other interesting findings will be addressed.
58
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
First of all, only because there is potential for wellbeing within HipHop does not mean that its
followers make good use of it. Even proper awareness of the “right” way may not lead people to
follow this path. Especially youth (who frequently reported a rejection of the mainstream and
rebellious attitudes) might deliberately decide against doing something that the scientific
community or other institutions promote as “good for them”. Nevertheless, HipHop has recently
started to be used in therapy. Due to word count limitations please refer to Allen (2003; 2005;
2009) for a good summary of what has been accomplished already.
Comparison samples for wellbeing scores
Few details were available about the sample that the mean wellbeing scores were compared to
except means and standard deviations. Diener, the inventor of the flourishing scale, was
consulted in order to compare the current data with as many samples as possible but due to its
novelty data is not yet available. Further details for the comparison samples at hand (provided by
Diener in personal communication) revealed many differences to the current study’s sample. As a
result mean wellbeing scores of the general population are prone to change over the next years of
research.
Furthermore, when wellbeing of the current sample is analysed by age groups, 30-50 year olds
score considerably higher than the rest and fit in well with the American comparison samples.
However, there were only 22 participants in this age group and future research is necessary to
establish significant differences.
59
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Socio-economic and environmental status
Background of socio-economic and environmental status was not accounted for by this study
(other than reporting how participants turned to HipHop in the first place in the qualitative
section). Some of its possible consequences such as insufficient provision of safety, security and
sustenance while growing up might impact negatively on wellbeing even years later. Kasser
writes: “[A] fundamental truth: when sustenance and survival are threatened, people search for
material resources to help them feel safe and secure [Maslow 1954, Fromm 1976, Rogers 1964,
Inglehart 1977]. […] There is no doubt that humans require some material necessities and
comforts in order to feel secure.” (Kasser, 2002, p.29). HipHop originated in part out of extrinsic
motivation. The massive presence of references to material motivation in rap lyrics can be
explained due to life in urban inner city America usually not having provided sufficient safety,
security and sustenance and it was found that low socioeconomic status in families fosters
materialistic needs (Kasser, 2002). Therefore, even if socio-economic status may have changed,
individuals might not be able to grow out of materialistic values, when they are deeply
entrenched in their upbringing and culture. “[t]hese feelings [of chronic insecurity] can often last
throughout one’s life, even if one’s economic circumstances improve, and may eventually be
manifest in materialistic tendencies.” (Kasser, 2002, p.33).
However, the effect is not very likely to have much impact in the current study as most
participants were rather young Germans and the country’s welfare system has been providing free
provision for basic security and safety needs for decades. Nevertheless, future research should
take these information into account.
Extrinsic aspirations and the media
“Research on attitudes reveals that the culture we live in has a significant influence on what is
valued and appreciated. Research suggests that attitudes are learnt and not innate. Attitudes are
60
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
formed through socialization processes which are based on our experiences – including vicarious
experiences” (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; McGuire, 1996)
It is reasonable to suggest that, in modern society, attitudes are greatly influenced by the mass
media. As a result the commercialisation of rap music and promotion of materialistic values is
likely to have impacted negatively on wellbeing scores (especially those of young youth).
Philosopher Yalom’s (1980) thinking supports the view that the commercialisation of rap music
(which, as a result, many people think of as representing the whole of HipHop culture5) and the
promotion of certain rules and habits (which were created by the industry to promote
consumption and profit making), is detrimental to wellbeing “because it forces people to abandon
their unique personal development and to accept ill-fitting social roles and stifling
conventionality” (Yalom, 1980, p. 438).
If the new generation of HipHoppers therefore adopts materialistic values because of the media
image of HipHop, it might impact on a vast amount of young people all over the world. I hope
this study will spread some awareness and ultimately induce a change in the perception of what
HipHop is capable of so that more young people, parents, social workers, teachers etc can utilise
its potential. As Tyson recommends: “Youth feel validated and affirmed and relationships between
adults and youth become less adversarial when their culture is viewed as a “strength” (Tyson, 2002,
cited in Tyson 2003, p.19)
However, the spreading of HipHop in the mainstream media is not entirely damaging as many
participants state that the encounter with HipHop through the media initiated their interest in the
culture and in due time their motivations shifted from extrinsic to intrinsic ones. As Lull points
out, “many cultural crossings are made possible by the mass media and cultural industries” (Lull,
1995, cited in Androutsopoulos & Scholz, 2003, p.153). Accordingly, many participants
especially reported hearing Eminem (as well other popular artists) in the mainstream media
5
Time magazine (Farley , 1999) states that the term hiphop is used almost interchangeably for the music and the
culture
61
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
(billboard charts) as their kick-start into the whole culture. One participant reports: “In the
beginning my motivation was to make it big. I was 13-14, naïve and wanted fame. Today a lot
changed, I make art and enjoy my successes, I also work towards them, but I try to stay true to
the roots, to be who I am and am not too eager on success but want fame for me as person and not
for any product that I’m embodying, it’s about the fun and excitement that I feel while doing it
and of course I like to show that to the outside.” (P106, 2699-2709, translated from German)
Extrinsic motivation and age:
Quantitative results similarly suggest that extrinsic aspiration scores fall off with age while
intrinsic scores are constant for all three age groups. Similarly, a correlation analysis reports a
significant negative correlation (r= -0.224, p<0.001) between age and extrinsic aspiration scores.
However, it might be that older participants were especially motivated to participate in this study
to highlight the positive effects of their culture. As Klar and Kasser’s (2009) activism research
shows, these participants are likely to be happier and more intrinsically motivated. Furthermore,
their numbers were not great (n=22). However, other evidence from the results such as mean
wellbeing scores and comments throughout the qualitative data suggests that HipHop is
processed differently by young people compared to adults. Also, subgenre preference will
probably differ with age (less mainstream resistant and provocative, more meaningful and
thought provoking). Future research is suggested in this matter as there is much work on the
negative effects that some subgenres might have on youths (such as Gangsta rap or
violent/misogynistic rap) (Tyson, 2003), but none about the positive effects of, for example,
conscious rap, political rap or Christian rap. The growth of HipHop and its cross-influences with
virtually all other musical genres (Wikipedia alone lists 38 sub-genres (Wikipedia, 2009)) creates
opportunities for much further research. The implications of sub-genre preference has been tried
to be included in current study but participants reported listening to many opposing subgenres (in
62
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
terms of their implications for wellbeing). Time investment and individual importance need to be
accounted for in order to draw meaningful conclusions.
“It has been suggested that a comprehensive analysis would find that there is an enormous
potential of some rap music to uplift and mobilize members of marginalized communities, as well
as enlighten members of privileged communities” (Tyson, 2003) while other types of rap music
might be detrimental to wellbeing and might induce materialistic, sexist, homophobic and
misogynistic attitudes.
Participants’ reflexivity
Similarly to the explanation for adults’ higher wellbeing, it might be that a considerable amount
of participants took part in the research in an effort to preserve their culture. For example,
although the researcher’s reflectivity has been tried to be constantly monitored, it may have
added to this effect that the front of the promotion flyers that were handed out (Appendix F)
stated “save your culture” in order to attract participants. Therefore positive themes might have
been highlighted while negative effects might have been masked, rephrased or left out. Again, in
depth analysis of interviews will add to future research.
Another limitation regarding the qualitative results was the absence of a second coder. Although
the researcher’s supervisor acted as second coder it was not possible for her to validate the
German data (more than half of the sample). In general, the coding process, due to the high
participant number was not intended to be in depth but to give an overview of motivational
themes. The themes were therefore not categorised into degree of impact they had on the
individual participant but simply into “mentioned” or “not mentioned”. That is probably the
reason why the regression analysis using intrinsic motivation themes revealed non-significant
results. This process could be followed up using the existing data set. Many participants were
also willing to participate in follow up research by providing contact details.
63
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Some participants might also have reported high subjective involvement and activity within the
elements in order to feel more connected to the culture (need to belong) although they are mere
consumers. This was identified by comparing qualitative data (which often reported experiences
from a passive, consuming point of view) and the quantitative data (reporting activity in its
elements and high subjective involvement and time spent per week (→ high overall
involvement). But since the number of years that the participant had already been actively or
passively involved in the culture was (for statistical reasons) not accounted for in the calculation
of overall involvement, it might have resulted in higher involvement scores than actually
accurate. Young youth active on internet forums and discussion boards (about half of the
participants were recruited this way) also have a reputation of bragging and boasting and
somewhat altering their identities due to the internets anonymity. The invitation letter’s
information about anonymity of the study might not have been sufficient to counteract this effect.
HipHop & the ambiguous effects of extrinsic motivation (as defined by Kasser)
As mentioned throughout the discussion, the effects of extrinsic aspirations (in particular fame
and image) on wellbeing are somewhat ambiguous in terms of Kasser’s definition. Positive weak
but significant correlations were found for image and fame (not wealth) and qualitative data
repeatedly framed fame in a positive way leading to outcomes associated with wellbeing. For
example, one participant stated: “We were never concerned with making money. Rather with
performing, getting more famous, travelling around and getting to know people” (P48, 1173-76,
translated). Here it is suggested that fame provides the opportunity for relatedness and travel. 6
Similarly, competition has always been a major part of HipHop culture. It is sometimes described
as the extrinsic motivation to demonstrate one’s superiority but usually has more positive
6
Researchers have suggested that relationships with others can be both hedonic and meaningful (Baumeister &
Vohs, 2002; Ryan & Deci 2001). Fame might therefore lead to meaningful relations to others (meeting new people,
collaborating, new friends etc; long-term effects) or hedonic relations (sex, groupies, fans, etc; short-term effects).
64
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
implications. It may lead to a connectedness with others during a “battle”, it may lead to
inspiration, personal improvement of skills and therefore personal growth and it may provide a
sense of meaning and direction in life. Chang (2007) describes how the BBoy Crazy Legs’ went
on a quest to battle every remaining dancer in New York which resulted in his getting to know
them and the unity of many like minded dancers and ultimately the emergence of the most
famous breakdance crew of all times (the Rocksteady Crew) as well as the rebirth of a whole
movement. He was said to be on a mission that gave meaning to his life. McGregor & Little
(1998) describe meaning as “feelings of connectedness, purpose, and growth” (p.508). For them,
happiness derives from achieving one’s goals. Hence, achievement may lower PWB (if the goal
is not congruent with one’s values) or increase it (if the goal is personally meaningful). Goals can
be the pursuit of wealth, personal development or else. Though Kasser and Ahuvia (2002) have
demonstrated that materialistic aspirations are associated with lower wellbeing even in nations
and samples with high materialistic values, fame in a HipHop context might be different and
seemingly extrinsic achievement might provide opportunities for wellbeing. Martin Seligman has
similarly proposed that the pursuit of success or victory may be another route to happiness
(Peterson, 2006) and Waterman (2007) emphasized the need for constant challenges in pursuit of
happiness (eudaimonic staircase).
The elements of HipHop
An interesting finding (as a result of HipHop’s development) adds to the discussion of how many
elements the culture consists of nowadays. The 4 element structure of HipHop seems to have
changed. The original elements (MCing, DJing, BBoying and Graffiti writing) did not cluster
together in the factor analysis of this study. Beatboxing grouped with the other original elements
while MCing was separate in one factor analysis and loaded on the same factor with producing in
another. Also, MCing and producing were valued highest by participants (see table 18). The
65
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
extreme growth of rap music in comparison with the other elements supports this finding and it is
frequently referenced that rap music is HipHop’s dominant element with the producer having
replaced the DJ as beatmaker. The current study might be interpreted as MCing even being
separate from the other elements in today’s perception of HipHop culture. Similarly, there has
been ongoing debate (since HipHop’s early days) about graffiti’s inclusion into the culture.
Chang suggested that “perhaps only within the seven mile circle [a specific region in 1970’s New
York] did all these youth movements come together the way Crazy Legs [a famous BBoy and
breakdance activist] had experienced it. Regardless, they shared a revolutionary aesthetic”
(Chang, 2007, p.111).
HipHop’s diversity has been already highlighted and it is reasonable to suggest that the culture
has spread out into more facets than can be adequately researched.
Appendix U lists aspects that participants criticised about the current state of HipHop. The split
of the elements is part of it.
General limitations
Some general limitations of the study are its (in part) snowball sampling technique (contacting
participants that the researcher had access to), the unlikelihood of being able to recruit an evenly
distributed across all facets of HipHop culture, possible deviations in wording and content due to
the German translation of the questionnaire and the under-representation of black participants
(often still referred to as an attribute of core culture).
Although the flourishing scale correlates moderately to strongly with PWB scale, it is very short
(8 items) and has not been tested appropriately in the field. Therefore different wellbeing scales
would have ensured accuracy in wellbeing measurement and should be used in future studies.
66
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Future research
For a list of useful future research in addition to what has been already mentioned please refer to
Appendix T.
Conclusion
In conclusion, many links between motivations to engage in HipHop and wellbeing have been
found and participants’ degree of involvement, moderated by intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations,
was positively associated with wellbeing. However, mean wellbeing was below average
compared to American samples, possibly due to limitations in methodology, unavailability of
comparison data, effect of age on motivation and/or the effects of rap music’s commercialisation
through the mass media.
An apparent change in HipHop’s 4-element structure, deviating effects of extrinsic motivations
within the sample, limitations of the methodology and useful future research were discussed.
There are vast possibilities to study, understand and apply the positive potential of HipHop as a
means towards better communication, education and relation with youth7 as well as possibilities
for wellbeing for people from all age groups, social classes and cultures.
7
It came to the researchers attention at last minute that Tyson (2005) has developed a scale for the measurement of
rap music attitude and perception (RAP) which will most likely aid the process of connecting to youth for teachers,
social workers etc.
67
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
References
Alim, H.S. (2002). Street-conscious copula variation in the Hip Hop nation. American Speech
77, 288-304.
Allen, N.T. (2003). What is Hip Hop Therapy? Unpublished Manuscript, retrieved from
www.hiphoptherapyproject.com/Resources.html
Allen, N.T (2005). Exploring Hip Hop Therapy with High-Risk Youth. Praxis: School
of Social Work Journal, 5, 30-36.
Allen, N.T (2009). The Hip-Hop Therapy Project, LLC. Using Hip-Hop Music and Culture to
Engage, Educate, Understand, Heal, and Unite! Last retrieved December 29th, 2009 from
http://www.hiphoptherapyproject.com/
Allport, G.W. (1961). Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Androutsopoulos, J. & Scholz, A. (2003). "Spaghetti funk": Appropriations of hip-hop culture
and rap music in Europe. Popular Music and Society 26(4), 463-479.
Asante, M.K. (2008). An Afrocentric manifesto. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Barongan, C., & Nagayama-Hall, G. C. (1995). The influence of misogynous rap music on sexual
aggression against women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19, 195-207.
BBC News (2007). Judge blasts Kyle show as 'trash'. BBC News. 25 September 2007. Last
retrieved December 29, 2007 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7011962.stm
68
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Beadle, J. (1993). Will Pop Eat Itself? Pop music in the Soundbite Era. London: Faber and Faber.
Beau, M-A. (1996). Hip Hop and Rap in Europe. The culture of the urban ghetto's. In
Rutten, P. (1996). Music, culture and society in Europe. Journal on media culture, July 2,
1999, 129-134.
Becker, L. C. (1992). Good lives: Prolegomena. Social Philosophy and Policy, 9, 15–37.
Bennett, A., 1999. Hip-hop am main: the localization of rap music and hip-hop culture. Media,
Culture and Society, 21, 77–91.
Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P.G. (2004). Balancing time perspective in pursuit of
optimal functioning. In P.A Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice
(pp.165-178). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Bozza, A. (2001, August 20). Rap’s reform party. Rolling Stone, 874, 20-25.
Bozza, A. (2003). Whatever you say I am: The life and times of Eminem. London: Bantam Press.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
research in psychology, 3, 77-101.
Bryant, F.B., (2003). Savoring beliefs inventory (SBI): a scale for measuring beliefs
about savouring. Journal of Mental Health, 12(2), 175-196.
69
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Bushman, B.J., & Anderson, C.A. (2001). Media violence and the American public; Scientific
facts versus media misinformation. American Psychologist, 56(6/7), 477-489.
Carr, A. (2004). Positive psychology. Hove and New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Chang, J. (2007). Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. London: Ebury
Chuck D. (1997). Fight the power: Rap, race, and reality. New York:
Delacorte Press.
Cole, Y. (2003, August/September). Hip-hop’s urban mindset crosses all demographics.
DiversityInc Media, p. 19.
Creswell, J.W., & Plano Clark, V.L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. SAGE. Thousand Oaks. USA.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday life.
Basic Books, New York.
Cutler, C. A. (1999). Yorkville crossing: White teens, hip hop and African American English.
Journal of Sociolinguistics, 3(4), 428-442.
70
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
David, S. (2005), "Integrating an emotional intelligence framework into evidence-based
coaching", In Cavanagh M., Grant A. M., Kemp T., (Eds.), Evidence-based coaching, (Vol.
1): Theory, Research and Practice from the Behavioural Sciences. Australian Academic
Press, Bowen Hills, pp.183-92.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the
self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.
Decker, J. (1993). "The state of rap: time and place in hip hop nationalism", Social Text 34, 5384.
DeMott, D. (1988). The Future is Unwritten: Working-Class Youth Cultures in England and
American Critical Text 5(1): 42-56.
Diener, E., Biswas-Diener, R., Kim-Prieto, C., Oishi, S., Wirtz, D, Toy, W. et al., (2009). New
Measures of Well-Being. In E. Diener: Collected Works of Ed Diener, Volume 3. Springer.
Diner, R. (2006). "The Other White Meat": Princess Superstar, Irony, Sexuality, and Whiteness
in Hip Hop." Canadian Review of American Studies 36(2), 195-209
Dominello, Z. (2008). “Keeping it real, mate”: A study of identity in Australian Hip Hop. Griffith
Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 1(1), 40-47.
Dowdy, M. (2007). Live Hip Hop, Collective Agency, and „Acting in Concert“. Popular Music
and Society 30(1), 75–91.
71
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Dyson, M.E. (1996). Between god and gangsta rap: Bearing witness to black culture. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Farley, J. (1999, February 8). Hip-hop nation. Time, 54–64.
Fernando, S. H. (1994). The new Beats. Exploring the Music, Culture, and Attitudes of Hip-Hop.
New York: Anchor Books.
Fischoff, S. P. (1999). Gangsta’ rap and murder in Bakersfield. Journal of Applied
Social Psychology, 29(4), 795-805.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behaviour: An introduction to
theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Floyd S. A. (1995). The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United
States. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.
Forman, M. & Neal, M.A. (eds.). (2004). That's the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. New
York: Routledge.
Frankl, V. (1963). Man's search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. New York: Pocket
Books.
Frankl V. (1985). Logos, Paradox and the Search for Meaning. In: Mahoney, M., Freeman, A.
(Eds.): Cognition and Psychotherapy. New York: Plenum, 259ff.
72
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Fromm, E. (1976). To have or to be? New York, Harper. & Row.
Gardstrom, S. C. (1999). Music exposure and criminal behavior: Perceptions of juvenile
offenders. Journal of Music Therapy, 36(3), 207-221.
Hager, S. (1982). Afrika Bambaataa’s HipHop. Village Voice, 73.
Hager, S. (1984). Hip-Hop: The illustrated history of break dancing, rap music, and graffiti. New
York : St. Martin's Press.
Henning, T. (2004). The Black Man’s CNN - Rap als politischer und gesellschaftlicher Diskurs.
(Dissertation, University of Siegen, Germany, 2004). Retrieved from
http://www.grin.com/e-book/89214/the-black-man-s-cnn
Hess, A. (2007). Against Unspoilt Authenticity: a Re-appraisal of Helmuth Plessner's “The
Limits of Community” (1924), Irish Journal of Sociology 16(2), 11-16.
Hewitt, R. (1986). White Talk Black Talk: Inter-racial Friendship and Communication
amongst Adolescents. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Inglehart, R. (1977). The Silent Revolution. Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western
Publics. Princeton: University Press.
Jose, P.E. (2009). ModGraph-A computer program to graphically display moderation (Version
2.0). Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington. Last retrieved december
73
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
29, 2009 from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/psyc/staff/paul-josefiles/modgraph/modgraph.php
Kashdan, T.B., Biswas-Diener, R., & King, L.A. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: The costs of
distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3,
219-233.
Kasser, T. (2002). The high price of materialism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kasser, T. & Ahuvia, A. (2002). Materialistic values and well-being in business students.
European Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 137-146
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential
correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22,
280-287.
Kasser, T. (2008). Meaning in Making: Values, Motivation and Goal Theories [Lecture]. London:
University of East London, MSc Applied Positive Psychology, November 15th 2008.
Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Sheldon, K. M. (2004). Materialistic values: Their
causes and consequences. In T. Kasser & A. D. Kanner (Eds.), Psychology and consumer
culture: The struggle for a good life in a materialistic world (pp. 11–28). Washington DC:
American Psychological Association.
Keyes, C. L. (2002). Rap Music and Street Consciousness. Music in American Life. Urbana,
Illinois.
74
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Khaf, U. (2007). Arabic Hip Hop: Claims of authenticity and Identity of a New Genre. Journal of
Popular Music Studies, 19(4), 359–385.
King, L.A., & Napa, C.K. (1998). What makes a life good? Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 75, 156-165.
Kitwana, B. (2005). Why white kids love Hip-Hop: wankstas, wiggers, wannabes, and the reality
of race in America (1st ed.). New York: BasicCivitas Books.
Klar, M. & Kasser, T. (2009). Some Benefits of Being an Activist: Measuring Activism and Its
Role in Psychological Well-Being. Political Psychology, 30(5), 755-777.
Klein, G. & Friedrich, M. (2003). Ethnizität/Authentizität. Is it real? Die Kultur des HipHop.
Frankfurt: Suhrkamp
Krims, A. (2000). Rap music and the poetics of identity. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
Life After Death: Rap, Reality and Social Responsibility (1997). Harvard University, Cambridge,
MA, 3 May.
Lipsitz, G. (1994). Dangerous Crossroads: Popular music, postmodernism and the poetics of
place. London: Verso.
Maslow, A.H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper and Row: New York
75
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Maslow, A. (1970}. Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row
Maslow, A. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand.
Mattern, M. (1997). „Cajun Music, Cultural Revival: Theorizing Political Action in Popular
Music”. Paper prepared for delivery at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Political
Science Association, Washington DC.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Theory, findings, and
implications. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 197-215.
McGregor, I. & Little, B.R. (1998). Personal projects, happiness, and meaning: On doing well
and being yourself. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(22), 494–512.
McGuire, W. J. (1996). The nature of attitude and attitude change. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson
(Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (2nd ed, vol. 3, pp. 136-314). Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
McLeod, K. (1999). Authenticity within Hip Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with
Assimilation. Journal of Communication, 49(4), 134-150
Mitchell, G. (2001, June 16). Simmons mobilizes hip hop summit: meeting will focus on
marketing, conflict resolution issues. Billboard, 113, 25-26.
76
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Neal, A. (1999). What the music said: Blackpopular music and blackpublic culture. New York:
Routledge.
Nelson, G. (1990). Stop the Violence: Overcoming Self-Destruction.
National Urban League, Inc., New York, NY.
Nelson, Angela M. S. 1992. "The Persistence of Ethnicity in. African American Popular Music:
A Theology of Rap Music. Explorations in Ethnic Studies. 15(1), 47-57.
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nia, M. (1997). `From God's to Niggas, From Queens to Bitch's: Do Rappers Have An Identity
Crisis?', Beat Down5(5), 20.
O'Hanlon, R. (2006). Australian hip hop: A sociolinguistic investigation. Australian Journal of
Linguistics, 26(2), 193-209.
Pardue, D. (2004). ‘Writing in the Margins’: Brazilian Hip-Hop as an Educational
Project.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 35(4), 411-432.
Pardue, D. (2007). Hip Hop as Pedagogy: A Look into “Heaven” and “Soul” in São Paulo, Brazil.
Anthropological Quarterly, 80, 673-710.
Parker, C. (1999). KRS gives 9 elements of Hip Hop at Harvard. [Lecture] (ed.). Last retrieved
December 29, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tUaGFI2m5Y&feature=related
77
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Parker, C. (2004). Hip Hop Beyond Entertainment [Lecture]. Last retrieved December 29, 2009
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoAXsSoEcZw&feature=related
Parker, C. (2007). KRS One Lecture @ Cal Poly Pomona: Excerpts from a lecture from KRS One
titled "History and Fundamentals of Hip Hop" at a meeting of Cal Poly Pomona's Session A
hip hop club [Lecture]. Last retrieved December 29, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HD1Bb_XDa8
Pennebaker. J.W. (1992). Putting stress into words: Writing .thorn personal upheavals and health.
American Journal of Health Promotion. 6, 200-207.
Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and transcultural flows. London: Routledge.
Perry, I. (2004). Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
Peterson, C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and
Classification. Washington, D.C.: APA Press and Oxford University Press.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life
satisfaction: the full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 25-41.
Potter, R. A. (1995). Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip hop and the politics of postmodernism.
Albany: State University Press.
78
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Powell, C. (1991). Rap music - an education with a beat from the street. Journal of Negro
Education, 60, 245-259.
Rebensdorf, A. (1996). Representing the real: Exploring appropriations of hip hop
culture in the Internet and Nairobi. Unpublished senior undergraduate thesis - Portland,
Oregon: Lewis and Clark University. Retrieved June 3, 2009 from
http://lclark.edu/~-soan/alicia/rebensdorf.express.html
Remes, P. (1991). Rapping: A sociolinguistic study of oral tradition in black urban communities
in the United States. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 22,129-149.
Rogers, C. R. (1954). Psychotherapy and personality change. Chicago: University of Chicago
Rogers, C. R. (1961) On Becoming a Person. A therapist's view of psychotherapy. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin
Rogers, C. R. (1964). Toward a modern approach to values: The valuing approach in the mature
person. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 68, 160-167.
Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and black culture in contemporary America. Hanover ,
NH : Wesleyan University Press.
Rosen, R. & Marks, D. (1999). Comedies of Transgression in Gangsta Rap and Ancient Classical
Poetry. New Literary History 30(4), 897-928.
79
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Ryan, R.M. & Deci, E.L.(2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on
hedonic and eudaimonic well being. Annual Review Psychology. 52, 141-66.
Ryan, R.M., Huta, V., & Deci, E.L. (2008). Living Well: A self-determination theory perspective
on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 139-170.
Ryff, C.D., & Keyes, C.L.M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719-727.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2006). Best news yet on the six-factor model of well-being. Social
Science Research, 35, 1103–1119.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize
your potential for lasting fulfilment. New York: Free Press.
Salsa, M. (1997). Hard Lines. HipHop Connection, 104, 5
Stapleton, K.R. (1998). From the margins to mainstream: the political power of hip-hop. Media
Culture Society, 20; 219–34.
Stephens, G. (1991). Rap Music’s Double-Voiced Discourse. Journal of Communication Inquiry,
15(2): 70-91.
Sugarhill Gang (1979). Rapper’s Delight [12” single]. Sugar Hill Records, Pye Records
80
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Thornton, S. (1996). Club cultures: Music, media and subcultural capital. Hanover , NH :
Wesleyan University Press.
Tyson, E. H. (2002). Hip hop therapy: An exploratory study of a rap-music intervention with atrisk and delinquent youth. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 15(3), 131-144.
Tyson, E. H. (2003). Directions in Rap music research: A content analysis of Empirical studies
published over the past 15 years. Unpublished Manuscript presented at the thirty-fifth
annual conference of the national association of black social workers, Jacksonville, Florida,
2003. (in press with the Journal of Youth and Adolescence)
Tyson, E. H. (2005). The Rap Music Attitude and Perception (RAP) Scale: Scale development
and preliminary analysis of psychometric properties. Journal of Human Behavior and the
Social Environment, 11(3/4), 59-82.
Waterman, A.S. (2007). On the importance of distinguishing hedonia and eudaimonia when
contemplating the hedonic treadmill. American Psychologist, 62 (6), 612-613.
Waterman, A.S., Schwartz, S.J, & Conti, R. (2008). The implications of two conceptions of
happiness (hedonic enjoyment and eudaimonia) for the understanding of intrinsic
motivation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 41-79.
Watkins, S.C. (2001). A Nation of Millions: Hip Hop Culture and the Legacy of Black
Nationalism. The Communication Review, 4, 373-98.
81
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Watts, R.J., Griffith, D. M., & Abdul-Adil, J. (1999). Sociopolitical development as an antidote
for oppression-Theory and Action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(2),
255-271.
Wermuth, M. (2001). Rap in the low countries: Global dichotomies on a national scale. In T.
Mitchell (Ed.), Global noise: Rap and hip-hop outside the USA (pp. 149–170). Middletown,
CT: Wesleyan University Press
Wikipedia (2009). List of hip hop genres. Last retrieved on 18th December, 2009 at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hip_hop_genres
McDougal, W. (1921). An Introduction to Social Psychology. Boston: Luce
Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books
Yousman, B. (2003). Blackophilia and Blackophobia: whie youth, the consumption of rap music
and white supremacy. Communication theory, Nov 2003, 366.
82
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
HipHop Therapy references
Source and formatting: Allen (2009; → http://www.hiphoptherapyproject.com/Resources.html)
Ali, L. (2003). New Lyrics, same controversy: Why the Eminem furor is nothing special. In J.
Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip Hop: Examining Pop Culture (1st ed., pp. 158-161). Farmington
Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Akil, B. II (2003). Is Hip Hop Culture? Retrieved April 14, 2004,
http://www.urbanthinktank.org/ishiphopculture.cfm
Allen, N.T. (2003). What is Hip Hop Therapy? Unpublished Manuscript.
Allen, N.T (2004). The Hip Hop Community in America. Unpublished Manuscript.
Allen, N.T (2005). Exploring Hip Hop Therapy with High-Risk Youth. Praxis: School
of Social Work Journal, 5, 30-36
Allen, N.T & Hess. L (2005). Exploring Hip Hop Therapy with High-Risk Black
Youth: A qualitative study. Unpublished Manuscript
Ayazi-Hashjin, S. (1999). Rap and Hip Hop: a voice of a generation (1st ed.). New York:
Rosen Publishing Group.
Ciardiello, S. (2003). Meet them in the lab: Using hip-hop music therapy groups with
adolescents in residential settings. In N. E. Sullivan, E. S. Mesbur, N. C. Lang, D.
Goodman, & L. Mitchell (Eds.), Social work with groups: Social justice through personal
83
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
community, and societal change. (1st ed., pp. 103-115). New York: Haworth Press.
Dyson, M. E. (1996). Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing witness to Black Culture (1st ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
Elligan, D. (2004). Rap therapy: A practical guide for communicating with youth and
young adults through Rap music (1st Ed.). New York: Kensington Publishing
Corporation.
Foreman, M. (2002). The Hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip Hop (1st
ed.). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Forman, M. (2003). Rap teaches a lesson. In J. Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip Hop: Examining Pop
Culture (1st ed., pp. 126-129). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Gee, A. & Teter, J. (2003). Jesus and the Hip Hop Prophets (1st ed.). Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press.
George, N. (1998). Hip Hop America (1st ed.). New York: Viking Penguin Group.
George, N. (2003). Rap: A capitalist tool. In J. Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip Hop: Examining Pop
Culture (1st ed., pp. 68-79). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Gore, T. (2003). Hate, Rape, and Rap. In J. Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip Hop: Examining Pop
Culture (1st ed., pp. 110-113). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
84
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Kitwana, B. (1994). The Rap on Gangsta Rap (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Third World Press.
Kitwana, B. (2002). The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American
Culture (1st ed.). New York: BasicCivitas Books.
Kitwana, B. (2005). Why white kids love Hip-Hop: wankstas, wiggers, wannabes, and the reality
of race in America (1st ed.). New York: BasicCivitas Books.
Liles, K. & Marshall, S. (2005). Make it happen: the hip-hop generation guide to success (1st
ed.). New York: Atria Books.
Mauer, M. & Huling, T. (2000). Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System. In J.
H. Skolnick, & E. Currie (Eds.), Crisis in American Institutions (11th ed., pp. 417-424).
Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
McIver, D. L. ed. (2002). Droppin' Science: Straight-Up talk from Hip Hop's greatest
voices (1st ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press.
Powell, K. & Karon, T. (2003). Hip Hop is the most important youth culture on the planet. In J.
Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip Hop: Examining Pop Culture (1st ed., pp. 94-100). Farmington
Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Ro, R. (2003). Marketing Gangsta Rap: Where is the real danger? In J. Green (Ed.), Rap and Hip
Hop: Examining Pop Culture (1st ed., pp. 130-137). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven
Press.
85
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Rose, T. (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1st ed.).
Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Simmons, R. & Spencer, J. (2003). Rap Culture's influence is pervasive. In J. Green (Ed.), Rap
and Hip Hop: Examining Pop Culture (1st ed., pp. 80-84). Farmington Hills, MI:
Greenhaven Press.
Simmons, R. & George, N. (2001). Life and Def: Sex, drugs, money, + GOD (1st Ed.).
New York: Three Rivers Press.
Tyson, E. H. (2002). Hip-Hop Therapy: An exploratory study of a Rap Music intervention
with at-risk and delinquent youth. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 15(3), 133-144.
Tyson, E. H. (2003). Directions in Rap music research: A content analysis of Empirical studies
published over the past 15 years. Unpublished Manuscript.
Tyson, E. H. (2003). Rap music in social work practice with African American and Latino youth:
A conceptual model with practical applications. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social
Environment, 8(4), 1-21.
Tyson, E. H. (2003). The Rap Music Attitude and Perception (RAP) Scale: Scale development
and preliminary analysis of psychometric properties. Journal of Human Behavior and the
Social Environment, 11(3/4), 59-82.
86
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Urban Think Tank (2002). Interview with Bakari Kitwana: Author of "The Hip-Hop
Generation: the crisis in African American Culture". Retrieved April
14,2004,http://www.urbanthinktank.org/bakari%20interview.cfm
87
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendices:
Appendix A: Motivational themes and a list of supporting references . Error! Bookmark not defined.
Additional themes for why people might engage in HipHop: ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix B: Stop the Violence Movement (STV) ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Stop the Violence Movement – Self destruction (1989) ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Stop the Violence Movement – Self Construction (2008)................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix C: The Power of HipHop ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix D: HipHop sub-genres .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix E: Promotional texts and targets............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Platforms: ............................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Promotion texts: .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix F: Promotional flyer ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix H: Demographic information questionnaire .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix I: HipHop involvement and preference questionnaire .......... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix J: Aspirations Index ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix K: Well-being (Flourishing Scale) ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix L: Qualitative section ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix M: Invitation letter and consent form .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix N: Dummy coding ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix O: Content analysis codebook and text examples for all themes ....... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Appendix P: Merging of motivational themes ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix Q: Deal with univariate outliers .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix R: Normality ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix S: Correlation between wellbeing and motivational sub-themes: ...... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Appendix T: Future Research................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix U: What’s wrong with HipHop? ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Why did you stop engaging? ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
What’s wrong in general today? .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
88
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix A: Motivational themes and a list of supporting references
Motivational themes:
Mentions In the literature (in no particular order)
To express myself/ manifest my
identity
McLoed, 1999; Tyson 2003, Dyson, 1996; Potter, 1995; Rose, 1994;
Rose, 1995; Tyson, 2002; Dominello 2008, p40 & p43; O’Hanlon
2006; Parker, 2004; Parker, 207; Mitchell, 2007; Alim, 2002; Kahf,
2007; Forman 2000; Kahf, 2007; Beadle, 1993; Rose, 1994; Pardue
(HipHop therapy in brazil)
Rose, 1994; McLeod, 1999; Dyson, 1996; O’Hanlon, 2006;
Dominello, 2008; Nelson, 1992; Remes, 1991; Stapleton, 1998;
Powell, 1991; Stapleton, 1998; Kahf, 2007; Androutsopoulos &
Scholz, 2003
Tyson, 2003; Bozza, 2001; Dyson, 1996; Watts & Abdul-Adil, 1999;
Rose, 1994; Nelson, 1992; Remes, 1991, Stapleton, 1998; Jackson,
1994; Chuck D (black man’s CNN); Salsa, 1997; Mattern, 1997;
McLeod, 1999; Kahf, 2007; Androutsopoulos & Scholz, 2003;
Bennett, 1999
Bozza, 2001; Watts & Abdul-Adil, 1999; Tyson, 2002; Tyson, 2003;
Bambaata (Unity); KRS-1, 2004; Dominello, 2008; Rose, 1994;
Stapleton, 1998; Stephens, 1991; Watkins, 2001; Kahf, 2007; Dowdy,
2007;
To deliver a true representation
of my life / authenticity
To have a voice / be political /
raise awareness
To relate to other people
(individuals, my crew, my local
community, etc)
Unity
Watkins, 2001; Mattern, 1997; Lipsitz, 1994; Rebensdorf, 1996
(cited in Cutler 1999); Dowdy, 2007
As an alternative to
violence/gang culture
Mitchell, 2001; Parker, 2004; Stapleton, 1998; Nelson, 1990; Lipsitz,
1994; Bennett, 1999; Barogan and Nagayama-Hall, 1995; Fischoff,
1999; Gadstrom, 1999 (cited in Tyson, 2003); Mattern, 1997 (cited in
Stapleton, 1998)
Tyson, 2003; KRS-1, 2004; Dominello, 2008; Stapleton, 1998; Salsa,
1997; Yousman, 2003
To reject the mainstream / be
different
To be part of / belong to / find a
place in society
Identification or fascination
with black culture
To be cool
Kitwana, 2005*; Yousman, 2003
Kitwana, 2005*; Stapleton, 1998; DeMott, 1988; Floyd, 1995; Remes,
1991; Stevens, 1991; KRS-1, 2004; Nelson, 1992; Remes, 1991;
Decker, 1993, Chuck D (cited in Stapleton 1998 p228); Bennett,
1999; Rose, 1994; Cutler, 1999; Hewitt, 1986; Cutler, 1999
Allison, 1994; Stapleton, 1998; Rose, 1994, Cutler, 1999; Hewitt,
1986; Kitwana, 2005*
To feel superior
Yousman, 2003 (cited in Kitwana, 2005); Stanley crouch, 2003 (cited
in Kitwana 2005*, p.108)
To be creative / as an art form
Stapleton, 1998; Beadle, 1993; Bennett 1999; Kitwana, 2005*
Because I like the music
To get rich and/or famous
For the fun of it
Stapleton 1998, Kitwana, 2005*
Rose, 1994; Kitwana, 2005
Afrika Bambaata and the ZULU Nation (KRS-1, 2004); Kitwana,
2005*; Chang, 2007
Kitwana, 2005*
Because my friends are
involved
Meaning
Levy, 2001 (cited in Dominello 2008); Stapleton, 1998; Chuck D,
1997
(*Note that Kitwana (2005) has written specifically about white adolescents’ motivation to engage in HipHop)
89
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Additional themes for why people might engage in HipHop:
(The following themes were recorded in the process of the literature review without proper referencing)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
To entertain other people
Because my friends are involved
To be part of / belong to / find a place in society
To pursue the HipHop lifestyle promoted by the media
Recycling / To create something new out of the old
Fascination with lyrics
To be respected
Because I like the lifestyle
Because I like a particular element
Other people’s stories
90
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix B: Stop the Violence Movement (STV)
For detailed information about the STV movement see Nelson (1990).
The music and lyrics printed below from two songs produced in 1989 and 2008 speak for
themselves and get the reader an idea of the format within the STV is acting. For the audio
recording please refer to the Youtube links below the lyrics.
Stop the Violence Movement – Self destruction (1989)
Single by The Stop the Violence Movement
Released 1989
Format 12-inch single
Recorded Power Play Studios
Label Jive
Producer KRS-One, D-Nice
[Chorus x2:] Self-Destruction, ya headed for Self-Destruction
[KRS-One]
Well, today's topic, self destruction
It really ain't the rap audience that's buggin
It's one or two suckas, ignorant brothers
Trying to rob and steal from one another
You get caught in the mid
So to crush the stereotype here's what we did
We got ourselves together
so that you could unite and fight for what's right
Not negative 'cause the way we live is positive
We don't kill our relatives
[MC Delight (Stetsasonic)]
Pop pop pop
when it's shot who's to blame?
Headlines, front page, and rap's the name
MC Delight here to state the bottom line
That black-on-black crime was way before our time
[Kool Moe Dee]
Took a brother's life with a knife as his wife
Cried cause he died a trifling death
When he left his very last breath
Was I slept so watch your step
Back in the sixties our brothers and sisters were hanged
How could you gang-bang?
I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan
and I shouldn't have to run from a black man
cause that's
[Chorus]
91
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
[MC Lyte]
Funky Fresh dressed to impress ready to party
Money in your pocket, dying to move your body
To get inside you paid the whole ten dollars
Scotch taped with a razor blade taped to your collar
Leave the guns and the crack and the knives alone
MC Lyte's on the microphone
Bum rushin and crushin, snatchin and taxin
I cram to understand why brother's don't be maxin
There's only one disco, they'll close one more
You ain't guarding the door
so what you got a gun for?
Do you rob the rich and give to the poor?
Yo Daddy-O, school em some more
[Daddy-O, Wise (Stetsasonic)]
Straight from the mouth of Wise and Daddy-o
Do a crime end up in jail and gotta go
Cause you could do crime and get paid today
And tomorrow you're behind bars in the worst way
Far from your family, cause you're locked away
Now tell me, do you really think crime pays?
Scheming on taking what your brother has?
You little suckers.. you talkin' all that jazz.
[D-Nice]
It's time to stand together in a unity
Cause if not then we're soon to be
Self-destroyed, unemployed
The rap race will be lost without a trace
Or a clue but what to do
Is stop the violence and kick the science
Down the road that we call eternity
Where knowledge is formed and you'll learn to be
Self-sufficient, independent
To teach to each is what rap intended
But society wants to invade
So do not walk this path they laid.
It's
[Chorus]
[Ms. Melodie]
I'm Ms. Melodie and I'm a born again rebel
The violence in rap must cease and seckle
If we want to develop and grow to another level
We can't be guinea pigs for the devil
The enemy knows, they're no fools
Because everyone knows that hip-hop rules
So we gotta get a grip and grab what's wrong
The opposition is weak and rap is strong
92
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
[Doug E. Fresh]
This is all about, no doubt, to stop violence
But first let's have a moment of silence
*Fresh beatboxes*... swing
Things been stated re-educated, evaluated
THoughts of the past have faded
The only thing left is the memories of our belated
and I hate it, when
Someone dies and gets all hurt up
For a silly gold chain by a chump; WORD IP
It doesn't make you a big man, and
To want to go out and dis your brother man, and
You don't know that's part of the plan
Why? Cause rap music is in full demand.
Understand
[Chorus]
[Just-Ice]
My name is Just-Ice a man not a prankster
I was known... as the gangster
But believe me that is no fun
The time is now to unite everyone
You don't have to be soft to be for peace
Robbin and killin and muderin is the least
You don't have to be chained by the beast
But party people it's time I release!
[Heavy D]
Aiyyo here's the situation: Idio[di]cy
Nonsense, violence, not a good policy
Therefore we must ignore, fightin and fussin
Hev is at the door so there'll be no bum-rushin
Let's get together so we'll be fallin apart
I heard a brother shot another. It broke my heart
I don't understand the difficulty, people
Love your brother, treat him as an equal
They call us animals mmm mmm I don't agree with them
I'll prove them wrong, but right is what your proving them
Take heed before I lead to what I'm sayin
Or we'll all be on our knees, prayin
[Fruitkwan (Stetsasonic)]
Yo Heavy D, deep in the heart of the matter
The self-destruction is served on a platter
Makin a day not failing to aniticipate
They got greedy so they fell for the bait
That makes them a victim, picked then plucked
New jack in jail, but to the vets they're a duck
There's no one to rob, cause in jail you're a number
They never took the time to wonder about
93
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
[Chorus]
[Chuck D, Flavor Flav (Public Enemy)]
Yes we urge to merge we live for the love
Of our people the hope that they get along
(Yeah, so we did a song)
Getting the point to our brothers and sisters
Who don't know the time (boyyyee, so we wrote a rhyme)
It's dead in your head, you know, I'll drive to build
And collect ourselves with intellect, come on
To revolve to evolve to self-respect
Cause we got to keep ourselves in check
Or else it's...
[Chorus]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bzU6YycLv0&feature=related
Stop the Violence Movement – Self Construction (2008)
KRS-One relaunched the campaign to record a 2008 version of the song titled "SelfConstruction", with the contribution of over 55 artists, including David Banner, The Game,
Nelly, Ne-Yo, Talib Kweli, Method Man, Styles P, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Cassidy, MC Lyte, 50
Cent, and various others. Recording of the track took place in LA from February 7 to February 9.
Producer Duane DaRock Ramos
(KRS-1)
Today’s topic self construction
We all came together just to tell y’all something
Guns in school ain’t right to me
You gotta be the peace you’d like to see
See yourself free
I use my mind beyond time to talk to the future me
See yourself wealthy
It’s time to settle all these beefs
Yo Nelly help me
(Nelly)
It’s like we livin’ in that you can’t stop me era
Like man when I see you ima pop you era
Like we ain’t learned nothing from the 2pac era
From the B I Terror
Take a look in the mirror
Gets your hands out your pockets like man
It’s time we get up get out and get sumin’ get a plan
You know a plan not a scam
I’m talkin’ sumin’ beneficial in helpin’ the next man
(Styles P.)
94
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
From self destruction to self construction
Really depends on self production
Our family’s dysfunctional
But we cud function
To make our next generation option something
Better than we had which was close to nothing
Come from the ages of minimum wages
Brothers is outrages millennium slave tips
Put it in the book
But we ain’t go through pages
(Redman)
What I like to see is MCs get along
If you gotta buck a shot
Do it in a song
Get your lyrics up
It all sound raw
When I drop I rock till the cows come home
(The Game)
I never thought I’d tell anybody to put a gun down
Till last week I saw a 12 year old kid gunned down
This ain’t what life’s about
All this shoot ‘em up bang bang you never think twice about
That’s somebody’s son you shot somebody’s daughter you slaughtered
I shed tears for our dearly departed
And the shooters get X’d like Malcolm
One dead in the grave, one behind bars is the out come
(Chorus Ne-Yo)
Self construction
I said what we doin’ to each other what we need
Self construction
Cryin’ mothers, dying brothers what we need
Self construction
Never ever ran from the Klu Klux Klan
Shouldn’t have to run from a black man
We need self construction
Hey self construction hey
(Method Man)
Look at the pot callin’ the kettle black
I’m in the ghetto black
And I ain’t tryin’ to be where delao and shawn bell is at
I show these people where hell is at
It’s right around the corner from no hope where the dope be sellin’ at
(Busta Rhymes)
Ayo I’d like to see us open the lines of communication
Prioritizing and dealing with self preservation
Being constructive is something I’m completing endorsing
95
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Cuz the mind state of the youth kinda needed some reinforcing
(Talib Kweli)
Hip-hop’s responsibility goes far beyond rappin’
We can talk about the happens
Sing songs without action
Activist activism must enforce your lyricism
This is how you gunna add vilolence and lying politicians
(David Banner)
Cut throat Americana
Powder keg California
Big business wu shaolin
Hip hop is out to warn ya
Black or brown
Brown and black
North and south beef
Self construction now
These rockers all about peace
(Chorus Ne-Yo)
Self construction
I said what we doin’ to each other what we need
Self construction
Cryin’ mothers, dying brothers what we need
Self construction
Never ever ran from the Klu Klux Klan
Shouldn’t have to run from a black man
We need self construction
Hey self construction hey
I ain’t cosigning none of that
I’m not just rhyming
We losin’ babies to the streets
So we could not be silent
Together we could stop the violence
We listen to music
Even bullets be whistlin’ when the shots is firin’
Chicks ain’t even exempt now
Even Got us goin’ in and out of the pen now
Years in the game
Think its goin’ on ten now
Must be mad think I’m putting the pen down
I wasn’t here for the first move
I’m thirteen let me put in my 2 cents
A nation divided equals silence
So let’s join together and stop the violence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl8f1iRAbwo
96
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix C: The Power of HipHop
The following paragraph is taken from Chang (2007) and depicts well what the subculture of
HipHop meant to its followers:
“They [These youth movements] were about unleashing youth style as an expression of the soul,
unmediated by corporate money, unauthorized by the powerful, protected and enclosed by almost
monastic rites, codes and orders. They sprung from kids who had been born into the shadows of
the baby boom generation, who never grew up expecting the whole world to be watching. What
TV camera would ever capture their struggles and dreams? They were invisible
But invisibility was its own kind of reward; it meant you have to answer to no one except the
others who shared your condition. It meant you became obsessed with showing and proving,
distinguishing yourself and your originality above the crowd. It put you on a relentless quest to
prove to them that you were bigger, wilder and bolder than circumstances dictated you should
ever be, to try to generate something from nothing, something no one else had, until everyone
around you had to admit you had something they might never have, something that might even
make other people – big, important people – stand up and take notice themselves, offer you
money, give you power, or try to crush your very soul. That was the key to having style.” (Chang,
2007, p.111)
97
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix D: HipHop sub-genres
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia (2009). List of hip hop genres. Last retrieved on 18th
December, 2009 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hip_hop_genres
Contents
 1 Historical time periods
 2 Derived styles
 3 United States regional scenes
o 3.1 Eastern
o 3.2 Midwest
o 3.3 Southern
o 3.4 Western
 4 World scenes
o 4.1 Africa
o 4.2 Americas
o 4.3 Asia
o 4.4 Europe
o 4.5 Middle East
o 4.6 Oceania
 5 World genres influenced by hip hop





















Acid rap
Alternative hip hop
Christian hip hop
Comedy hip hop
Conscious hip hop
Country-rap
Crunk
Crunk&B
Crunkcore
Electro music*
Freestyle music
Freestyle rap
Funk carioca
G-Funk
Gangsta rap
Ghetto house
Ghettotech*
Grime*
Hardcore hip hop
Hip hop soul***
Hip house
















House music*
Horrorcore
Hyphy
Instrumental hip hop
Jazz rap
Mafioso rap
Merenhouse*
Nerdcore hip hop
New jack swing
Political hip hop
Pop-rap**
Ragga
Rap opera
Rap rock
o Rapcore
o Rap metal
 Nu metal
Snap music
Turntablism
*:Genres of hip-hop that are connected with rave culture
**: Mix of pop, hip-hop, soul, rhythm and blues and gospel
***: subgenre of contemporary R&B and mix of hip-hop and soul
98
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix E: Promotional texts and targets
This Appendix will list the portals, networking websites, discussion boards, blogs, magazines and
other places where invitations to take part in the study were posted and the procedures to do so
will be described. Due to word count limitations on the different websites, text boxes or message
fields, different promotion texts have been used. They are listed below for each section.
Promotional texts were posted in German where appropriate.
Platforms:
MySpace
Friendship requests with a short invitation to take part in the study have been sent out.
Invitations were sent out to people by searching for the following terms and contacting each
person separately:
HipHop (pages 1-50 (10 people per page)),
Rap (1-50),
Graffiti (1-50),
Bboy (1-50),
Breakdance (1-13),
Beatbox (1-20)
DJ could not be added as it was usually not clear whether they are connected to HipHop
Youtube
Comments were left on HipHop-related channels and underneath videos from play lists with the
following search terms:
HipHop
Burmese HipHop
Arabic HipHop
International HipHop
African HipHop
Facebook
A profile was created called HipHopStudy London (http://www.facebook.com/hiphopstudy)
Additionally, groups were created, friendship requests send to relevant people (with HipHop
related terms in their names), invitations, reminders and updates posted in the status field (being
send out to all friends)
HipHop Blogs
Bloggers managing HipHop related sites were either contacted personally via email oder
something posted on their blogs as comments or in the “shout box” (a chat-like text box on the
index page of the blog and accessible by anyone).
Forums:
Promotion texts were posted on the following forums and discussion boards:
http: //www.hiphopcanada.com/site/community/p hpBB2/
http://www.myhiphop.ch/forums/showthread.php?p=1660#post1660
http://www.hiphop.de/community/topic.php?bwthreadid=73001
http://forum.rap.de/forum/showthread.php?p=1854953#post1854953
99
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
http://www.hiphop.at/forum/allgemeines/hiphopstudie-and-der-university-of-east-london20758.html
http://www.koolsavas.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=371919#371919
http://www.mkzwo.de/home/viewtopic.php?topic=4287
http://www.extremebits.org/forums.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4225&page=p59426#59426
www.rapworlds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php
http://www.rapworlds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
http://www.rapcentral.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=36119
http://www.hip-hop.net/forum/topics/take-part-in-a-hiphopstudy
http://www.hip-hoppen.de/forum/posts/id_125/
http://www.forum.thugz-network.com/take-part-hiphopstudy-20min-questionnaire5349.html#post22124
www.black-music.org/forum/forum7.html
http://forums.undergroundhiphop.com/readpost.asp?Forum=Common&Whichpage=
1&QuestionID=2060289
http://www.mzee.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7420435#post7420435
http: //www.myhiphop.ch/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=6ff7fc8c75e
4e700ec433fd922d5871f&f=1
http://www.aightgenossen.ch/showthread.php?p=16235602#post16235602
www.b-boys.com
www.hip-hoppen.de/forum/
www.britcore.net/board/
http://www.accesshiphop.com/forums/
forum.artikulabor.de
austrianhiphop.forumkostenlos.at/
http://www.lastfm.de/forum
hip-hop.foren-city.de
Online HipHop magazines
Online and print magazines were contacted with the request for promotion in the name of both
science and HipHop and it was offered to be interviewed or providing additional information.
Could not follow up on publications
www.backspin.de/
www.flashmag.de/
www.thesource.com/
www.juice.de
www.xxlmag.com/
www.delicious-mag.de/
www.soulfoodmagazin.de/
www.ugsmag.com/
www.wildstylemag.com
www.hiphop.at/
www.aightgenossen.ch/portal_hiphopmag.php
www.corner-magazin.de/
100
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Promotion texts:
Forum post short:
This goes out to all HipHoppers!!!
MCs, DJs, B-boys, writers and all those who got some love for the culture.
What attracts YOU to HipHop? Why are you into it? Was everything better back in the days or
is HipHop more alive than ever? What is HipHop about in 2009? I’m currently doing a
scientific study for the University of East London and I’m interested in a possible change of
motivations within the HipHop community. Since the commercialisation of rap music during the
1990’s HipHop has spread across the world; however, some say that the real HipHop died along
the way. The reasons to do, watch or listen to HipHop (Rapping, DJing, Breakdancing and/or
Graffiti) seem to have changed since Herc and Bambaataa. So is the majority by now in it for
fame and money? Who’s taking it serious? Who just wants to have some fun? And how does it
influence your well-being? I wanna know where HipHop is going and what drives people to be
part of it.
Please take 20 minutes and complete my questionnaire.
www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy
www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
or fill it out directly at http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
Peace
Yannick
PS: please send this to any Hopper you know (oldschool head to crunk maniac). Every opinion
counts!
Forum post long:
In short:
This goes out to all HipHoppers!!!
MCs, DJs, B-boys, Writers, BeatBoxers, Producers and Fans!
What attracts YOU to HipHop? Why are you into it? Was everything better back in the days or is
HipHop more alive than ever? What is HipHop about in 2009? I’m currently doing a scientific
study for the University of East London and I’m interested in a possible change of motivations
within the HipHop community. Since the commercialisation of rap music during the 1990’s
HipHop has spread across the world; however, some say that the real HipHop died along the way.
The reasons to do, watch or listen to HipHop (Rapping, DJing, Breakdancing and/or Graffiti)
seem to have changed since Kool Herc and Bambaataa. So is the majority by now in it for fame
and money? Who’s taking it serious? Who just wants to have some fun? And how does it affect
your well-being? I wanna know where HipHop is going and what drives people to be part of it.
Please take 20 minutes and complete my questionnaire.
http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
more info and download at
101
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy
http://www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
Peace
Yannick
PS: You’d really help me out if you could spread this to whoever feels a connection to HipHop.
From Oldschool heads to whatever it may have developed into. Every opinion counts!
___________________________________________________________________________
In more words:
My name is Yannick Jacob and I’m currently conducting a study about HipHop and motivation
with the University of East London where I am doing my Masters in Applied Positive
Psychology.
The aim of my study is to find out why people in 2009 are into HipHop and its elements (Rap,
DJing, Breakdance, Graffiti, Producing etc) and detect possible changes in that motivation during
the last three decades and especially since the commercialisation of rap music in the 1990’s.
As literature from and about the 1970’s and 80’s has shown, HipHop as a cultural movement and
what it provides for its followers, is capable of satisfying every component of prevalent wellbeing
theories such as the Self-Determination Theory (SDT, Ryan & Deci 2000: autonomy,
competence and relatedness) or Psychological Well-Being (PWB, Ryff & Keyes 1995: personal
growth, self-acceptance, purpose). However, it is reasonable to suggest that since rap music has
spread into the mainstream (and into the world) motivations to participate and sympathise with
HipHop as a culture have changed. I have found many references in the literature about the
reasons people got involved in HipHop in the early years but I could not find a single study about
what drives (young) people to do HipHop in 2009.
I aim to include as many different populations within the HipHop community as possible,
whether they are actively involved or just sympathising (varying across culture, colour, age,
gender, education, level of involvement, genre preference, element affiliation, residential area
etc). This is where I need your help in distributing my questionnaire to literally anyone who
considers him or herself connected to HipHop in any way.
If you’re one of them, please fill out the questionnaire yourself.
You will be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire. First some questions about where you are
from and your involvement in HipHop, then two open ended questions about what got you into
HipHop in the first place and your motivation to engage in HipHop now. Another questionnaire
will then ask you several questions about your general aspirations in life and your well-being.
Overall this should take no longer than 20minutes depending on how much you choose to write
about your motivations. It is entirely up to you how much you write, however, the more the
better.
Find more info and download of the questionnaire online at:
www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy
www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
Direct link to questionnaire:
English: http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
Deutsch: http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/fragebogen.html
102
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Flyer:
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-front-small.jpg
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-back-small.jpg
Thanks
Yannick Jacob
HipHop-related blogs:
1.
Calling all bloggers!!!
I study HipHop and people’s motivations to be a part of the whole thing. Please check it out and
see for yourself if you think it’s worth promoting. www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
2.
Calling all bloggers!!!
I’m doing a study about HipHop and people’s motivation to be part of this whole thing, let it be
as MCs, DJs, B’Boys, Writers, Producers or Fans. Please check it out and see for yourself
whether you think it’s worth promoting.
Thanks
Yannick
www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy
www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
Direct link to questionnaire:
http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
Flyer:
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-front-small.jpg
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-back-small.jpg
MySpace and Facebook friendship requests:
MCs, DJs, B'Boys, Writers, Producers & Fans! Why are YOU into HipHop? Please take part in
my study and promote the real HipHop: YOUR HipHop! Peace
http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
Comments on Youtube (unable to post links):
MCs, DJs, B'Boys, Writers, Beatboxers, Producers & all Fans!!!
Why are YOU into HipHop? What is HipHop about in 2009? And where is it going?
I’m currently doing a scientific study for the University of East London and I’m interested in a
possible change of motivations within the HipHop community.
Please take 20 minutes, complete my questionnaire and promote the real HipHop: YOUR
HipHop! Peace
myspace[dot]com/hiphopstudy
103
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Contacting individuals with access to large crowds of HipHoppers:
Dear _________,
My name is Yannick Jacob and I’m currently conducting a study about HipHop and motivation
with the University of East London where I am doing my Masters in Applied Positive
Psychology.
The aim of my study is to find out why people in 2009 are into HipHop and its elements
(Rap, DJing, Breakdance, Graffiti, Producing etc) and detect possible changes in that
motivation during the last three decades and especially since the commercialisation of rap music
in the 1990’s.
As literature from and about the 1970’s and 80’s has shown, HipHop as a cultural movement and
what it provides for its followers, is capable of satisfying every component of prevalent wellbeing
theories such as the Self-Determination Theory (SDT, Ryan & Deci 2000: autonomy,
competence and relatedness) or Psychological Well-Being (PWB, Ryff & Keyes 1995: personal
growth, self-acceptance, purpose). However, it is reasonable to suggest that since rap music has
spread into the mainstream (and into the world) motivations to participate and sympathise with
HipHop as a culture have changed. I have found many references in the literature about the
reasons people got involved in HipHop in the early years but I could not find a single study about
what drives (young) people to do HipHop in 2009.
I aim to include as many different populations within the HipHop community as possible,
whether they are actively involved or just sympathising (varying across culture, colour, age,
gender, education, level of involvement, genre preference, element affiliation, residential area
etc). This is where I need your help in distributing my questionnaire to literally
anyone who considers him or herself connected to HipHop in any way.
If you’re one of them, please fill out the questionnaire yourself.
You will be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire. First some questions about where you are
from and your involvement in HipHop, then two open ended questions about what got you into
HipHop in the first place and your motivation to engage in HipHop now. Another questionnaire
will then ask you several questions about your general aspirations in life and your well-being.
Overall this should take no longer than 20minutes depending on how much you choose to write
about your motivations. It is entirely up to you how much you write, however, the more the
better.
Find more info and download of the questionnaire online at:
www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy
www.myspace.com/hiphopstudy
Direct link to questionnaire:
English: http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/questionnaire.html
Deutsch: http://www.jazzmen.be/en4ce/fragebogen.html
Flyer:
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-front-small.jpg
http://www.jazzmen.be/hiphopstudy/HipHopStudy-Flyer-back-small.jpg
Thanks
Yannick Jacob
104
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix F: Promotional flyer
Appendix G: Ethics form
Available on request
105
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix H: Demographic information questionnaire
Gender:
Male
Female
Age:
Place of birth: (Country, city, borough/hood)
Where do you live? (Country, city, borough/hood)
Urban inner city
Suburban parts of the city
Other (please specify if possible)
Countryside
Ethnicity (Black, white, Asian, mixed etc):
(Officially completed) Education level:
None
Elementary school
GCSE/Realschulabschluss/10 school years
Job training
High school/Abitur/A-Level etc
University (undergraduate)
University (post-graduate)
PhD
Other (please name):
What is your current occupation? (Work, education, hobbies, etc)
106
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix I: HipHop involvement and preference questionnaire
What sub-genres of rap music are you listening to on a regular basis?
(Check Wikipedia for further description, but don't spend too much time on this one)
Gangsta rap
Conscious rap
Political rap
Abstract rap
Hardcore rap
Storytelling
Party rap
Popular rap (billboard charts, MTV's TRL, popular radio stations, etc)
Comedy rap
Freestyle rap
Dirty south
Jazz rap
Crunk
Grime
Crossover rap
Country rap
Horrorcore
Acid rap
Student rap / Academic rap
Gospel rap / Christian rap
Nerdcore rap
Other subgenres of rap (Please name or describe if possible)
How important are the following to you?
MCing (Rapping)
not at all 1
2
3
4
5
extremely important
4
5
extremely important
4
5
extremely important
5
extremely important
5
extremely important
DJing (Mixing, scratching, turntablism)
not at all 1
2
3
Breakdancing (B-boying, street dancing)
not at all 1
2
3
Graffiti (Bombing, tagging, writing)
not at all 1
2
3
4
Beatboxing (Making music with your mouth)
not at all 1
2
3
4
Street fashion (Having your own individual and authentic style of dress)
not at all 1
2
3
4
5
extremely important
Street language (Communicating though slang, vernacular speech and/or local expressions/codes )
not at all 1
2
3
4
5
extremely important
107
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Street knowledge (Wisdom of the elders, common sense, being aware of one's surroundings and events)
not at all 1
2
3
4
5
extremely important
Street entrepreneurship (Marketing your HipHop activity and building a business out of it)
not at all 1
2
3
4
5
extremely important
5
extremely important
5
extremely important
Poetry slams (Spoken-word poetry competition)
not at all 1
2
3
4
Producing (Producing HipHop beats and tracks)
not at all 1
2
3
4
Are you actively practising…
…MCing (Rapping)?
…DJing?
…Breakdancing?
…Graffiti?
…Beatboxing?
…Street fashion?
…Street language?
…Street entrepreneurship?
…Poetry slams?
…Producing?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
A little
How much time do you spend with HipHop on an average week or day?
(Actively doing, listening, watching or thinking about anything HipHop-related)
Or:
Approximately
Approximately
hours a week
hours a day
How long have you been listening to rap music/HipHop DJs or watching
breakdance/graffiti?
Approximately
years
How long have you been actively involved in any HipHop activities?
Approximately
years
To what extent do you consider yourself part of HipHop culture/the HipHop community?
1
2
3
4
“I like HipHop but do not consider myself part of it”
5
6
7
8
9
10
“I am HipHop”
108
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix J: Aspirations Index
Everyone has long-term Goals or Aspirations. These are the things that people hope to
accomplish over the course of their lives. In this section, you will find a number of life goals,
presented one at a time, and we ask you how important this goal is to you personally. Please use
the following scale in answering the question about each life goal.
not at all important
1
2
3
moderately
4
5
6
very important
7
How important are the following life goals to you?
To be a very wealthy person.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
3
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
To grow and learn new things.
not at all
1
2
To have my name known by many people.
not at all
1
2
3
To have good friends that I can count on.
not at all
1
2
3
To successfully hide the signs of aging.
not at all
1
2
3
To work for the betterment of society.
not at all
1
2
3
To have many expensive possessions.
not at all
1
2
3
At the end of my life, to be able to look back on my life as meaningful and complete.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
3
4
5
6
7
very important
To be admired by many people.
not at all
1
2
To share my life with someone I love.
109
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
6
7
very important
To have people comment often about how attractive I look.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
To assist people who need it, asking nothing in return.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
To be financially successful.
not at all
1
To choose what I do, instead of being pushed along by life.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
To be famous.
not at all
To have committed, intimate relationships.
not at all
1
2
3
4
To keep up with fashions in hair and clothing.
not at all
1
2
3
To work to make the world a better place.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
6
7
very important
To be rich.
To know and accept who I really am.
not at all
1
2
3
To have my name appear frequently in the media.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
To feel that there are people who really love me, and whom I love.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
110
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
To achieve the "look" I've been after.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
3
4
5
6
7
very important
5
6
7
very important
To help others improve their lives.
not at all
1
2
To have enough money to buy everything I want.
not at all
1
2
3
4
To gain increasing insight into why I do the things I do.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
4
5
6
7
very important
To be admired by lots of different people.
not at all
1
2
3
To have deep enduring relationships.
not at all
1
2
3
To have an image that others find appealing.
not at all
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
2
3
4
5
6
7
very important
To help people in need.
not at all
1
111
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix K: Well-being (Flourishing Scale)
Below are eight statements with which you may agree or disagree. Using the scale below,
indicate your agreement with each item by ticking the appropriate box.
7 Strongly agree
6 Agree
5 Slightly agree
4 Mixed, or neither agree nor disagree
3 Slightly disagree
2 Disagree
1 Strongly disagree
I lead a purposeful and meaningful life.
Strongly disagree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Strongly agree
5
6
7
Strongly agree
5
6
7
Strongly agree
6
7
Strongly agree
My social relationships are supportive and rewarding.
Strongly disagree
1
2
3
4
I am engaged and interested in my daily activities.
Strongly disagree
1
2
3
4
I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others.
Strongly disagree
1
2
3
4
5
I am competent and capable in the activities that are important to me.
Strongly disagree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Strongly agree
2
3
4
5
6
7
Strongly agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Strongly agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Strongly agree
I am a good person and live a good life.
Strongly disagree
1
I am optimistic about the future.
Strongly disagree
People respect me.
Strongly disagree
112
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix L: Qualitative section
Instructions for qualitative section
In the next section there are 2 open-ended questions. Please read both of them carefully and think
about them for a little while. Take as much time as you want to answer the questions. There’s no
need to write an essay. The only thing that’s important is that you are authentic and true in your
answers. I wanna know why you are really doing it and that is why I want you to think about it
for a second. You can write as much as you like in any format: essays, lists, stories, key words,
sketches or rhymes (use additional space if necessary). There are no tricks involved or any hidden
agenda psychology hit. What I ask is exactly what I want to know.
Why did you get into HipHop in the first place? What attracted you to the
culture/music/lifestyle (or whatever it was that attracted you)?
Has anything changed in that motivation? If yes, why are you into HipHop in 2009 or why
not?
113
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix M: Invitation letter and consent form
UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
INFORMATION SHEET
University Research Ethics Committee
HipHop and Motivation
I would like to invite you to participate in my study which looks into people’s motivation to engage in
HipHop Culture. That means actively doing, enjoying or having respect and sympathy for the elements
of HipHop such as Rap, DJing, Breakdance and/or Graffiti. I want to help better understand the reasons
why people all over the world engage in HipHop in 2009 and possible shifts in that motivation since the
commercialisation of rap music during the 1990’s. If you consider yourself connected to HipHop in
any way, please take part in this study.
You will be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire. First some questions about where you are from
and your involvement in HipHop, then two open ended questions about what got you into HipHop in
the first place and your motivation to engage in HipHop now. Another questionnaire will then ask you
several questions about your general aspirations in life and your well-being.
Overall this should take no longer than 20minutes depending on how much you choose to write about
your motivations. It is entirely up to you how much you write, however, the more the better.
You can ask me any questions anytime. My email, phone, Facebook, MySpace and chat/messenger
contacts are listed below. Please answer the questions as honestly as you can. This is most important.
All of your information will be kept strictly confidential.
Confidentiality of Data
Your data will be stored in my database using a number system (no names) and all the information
collected will be anonymous to anyone outside the research team (the research team includes me and my
supervisor). Please note that the data will be used for the completion of an MSc dissertation and
potentially publications. If you are comfortable with providing your contact details, I would appreciate
this as I may want to follow up on your specific case.
Disclaimer
You are not obliged to take part in this study, and are free to withdraw at any time. Should you choose
to withdraw from the research you may do so without disadvantage to yourself and without giving a
reason, even if you are in the middle of it.
Contact
Yannick Jacob, School of Psychology, University of East London, London, E15 4LZ.
E-mail: dj@jazzmen.be
Tel: +44 (0)7914 057703 (London, UK)
+49 (0)1726747898 (Frankfurt, Germany)
Facebook: Yannick Jacob
Skype: jiggyjazzmen
StudiVZ: Yannick Jacob
MSN: delafysh@yahoo.de
myspace.com/hiphopstudy
ICQ: 248010554
114
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
Consent to participate in a research study involving the use of human participants
HipHop and Motivation
I have read the information letter relating to the above research study in which I have been asked to
participate. The nature and purpose of the research have been explained to me, and I have had the
opportunity to discuss the details and ask questions about this information. I understand what is being
proposed and the procedures in which I will be involved have been explained to me.
I understand that my involvement in this study, and particularly the data from this research, will remain
strictly confidential. Only the researchers involved in the study will have access to the data.
I hereby fully and freely consent to participate in the study.
Having given this consent I understand that I have the right to withdraw from the study at any time
without disadvantage to myself and without having to give a reason.
By filling out the following questionnaires I agree that my data will be used anonymously for research
purposes.
Participant’s initials:
Date:
115
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix N: Dummy coding
In order to use non-dichotomous categorical variables in multiple regression analysis,
dummy coding has to be applied. The process includes creating as many variables as the
variable has categories. For example, place of residence was divided into 14 categories.
Therefore, 14 dummy variables were created, one for each country or region and each
dichotomous (1=yes, 2=no).
Dummy coding variables were created for the following variables:
 PoR Style
 PoR
 Ethnicity
 Education
Detailed instructions can be found at http://ssc.utexas.edu/software/faqs/spss#SPSS_10
116
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix O: Content analysis codebook and text examples for all themes
1. To express
myself/
manifest my
identity
Mentions of HipHop activity
(HHA) as a mirror to one’s
personality, identity, value
system etc.
Mentions of HipHop being a
part of oneself.
Mentions of being able to
express oneself through any
HHA. Mentions of defining
oneself through HipHop and
individuality. Mentions of being
able to relate to it.
Today I define a considerable part of my
personality through HipHop (P19, 453-54, trans)
HipHop is part of who I am (P22, 549-50)
Because I realised that I can express myself
through Hip Hop (P43, 958-59, trans)
The opportunity for self expression and the group
identification that came with being a HIPHOPPER
was also attractive. The music was probably the
overwelming draw, it found common ground with
me. The lyrics were not alienating but identifiable.
In addition the music brought with it an education
offered no where else (P63, 1556-64)
I\'m still into hip hop, because hip hop is me.. And
it will always be.. (P67, 1656-57)
It’s simply a way of expressing yourself that other
music can’t offer (P79, 2020-22, trans)
2. To deliver a
true, authentic
representatio
n of my life
(→1)
Mentions of HHA used as a
means for delivering a true
personal narrative to oneself
(as e.g. a diary) and/or others
I got into Hip Hop because it spoke directly to me
and the more I listened is the more it spoke till we
ended up having a conversation with each other
and became friends and today...we are one!
What attracted me to the culture is definately the
form of expresion (P355, 8872-80)
Important was to have a fix point to which you
could come back and where you did not have to
be someone other than yourself (P71, 1778-82,
trans)
I was fascinated with what other’s put in their
lyrics and how it appealed to me and how it spoke
from my soul (P115, 2927-30, trans)
3. To have a
voice / be
political / raise
awareness
4. To relate to
other people
(individuals,
my crew, my
local
community,
etc)
Mentions of using HHA to
express political agenda or
public awareness of certain
issues (important to oneself) by
creating (lyrics, music,
paintings, dance moves/styles
etc) or using other artists work
and spread it as a
representative of one’s own
opinion.
Mentions of a message being
spread
Mentions of positive
relationships to HipHop related
people (individuals, a crew, a
local community/scene, etc).
Mentions of (perceived)
positive emotions resulting
from the direct contact to
It wasn’t the music or the fashion. It was the
attitude, out views, our opinions. (P404, 10036-38,
trans)
Hip Hop in it\'s truest form is the voice of the
people who are unable to speak and have no
voice. And because of that I continue to listen
because I believe I don\'t really have a voice yet
I\'m still trying to find it. Until then I\'d rather just
keep silent and let hip Hop speak for me.(P66,
1644-50)
The more I was fascinated by it and actively
engaged in it the more people I got to know who
were on my wavelength (P36, 790-94, trans)
Through this enthusiasm I did get to know my best
friend today (P45, 1019-22, trans)
117
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
people around the participant
(as a result of the HHA).
Mentions of participating in
HHA with others.
became a breakdancer and body popper, for
many years back in Dublin (Ireland) used to go
busking with my crew in the city.. ah those where
the days (P46, 1072-76)
On the outside all rappers and HipHops hate each
other, but if you are at the splash [biggest HipHop
festival in Germany] or something, we are one.
(P51, 1319-22, trans)
I remain involved in Hip Hop as I have found a
select audiences alongside fellow artists accross
many countries (P129, 3327-29)
5. To master my
skills,
because I
enjoy getting
better at what
I do, to grow
as a person
6. As an
alternative to
violence/gang
culture. To
channel anger
and
frustration
7. To reject the
mainstream /
be
different/rebel
8. For the fun of
it/because it
feels good.
Mentions of personal
development of either technical
skills or growth of
character/insight.
Mentions of abandoning
HipHop as a result of lack of
own progress/development
Mentions of conflict resolution
through HHA. Mentions of
behaving more peaceful/being
more at ease with oneself.
Mentions of using HHA as a
valve for aggression
Mentions of rebellious
attitudes.
Negative mentions of
mainstream culture.
Mentions of being different
from others.
Positive mentions of the
“underground” or underground
artists and identifying with
them.
Mentions of abandoning
HipHop because of its
commercialisation (everybody
doing it).
Mentions of interest in
something new (not
mainstream)
All mentions of having fun,
enjoyment and good times.
Mentions uplifting feelings etc
Above all, to conquer one’s boundaries, and to
grow with them, never lacks to provide a thrilling
experience (P7, 131-133, trans)
I aborted my attempts to be active relatively
quickly since my graffitis did not look good and my
lyrics sounded copied.
The ambition to improve my rap technique (P173,
4222-23, trans)
It helped to get my anger and frustrations out, and
helped boost my self-confidence.(P23, 590-92)
I don’t really know what fascinated me but I
believe it was the feeling of unity and to resolve
your conflicts with words (P276, 6871-74, trans)
Alternative to what was in the mainstream. Young,
black and just don’t give a fuck attitude (P27, 65960, trans)
I never wanted to be like the other kids, wanted to
be authentic or rather I didn’t want to float with the
current (P41, 904-7, trans)
a culture that cannot be tamed, cannot be defined
or contained within the normal boundaries and
boxes. It cannot be labelled by the mass media
and business world (P129, 3300-04)
The 2 of us against the rest of the world (P404,
10038-39)
The biggest motivation is probably the simplest…
having fun doing what you do. As long as you
don’t lose that you will co on doing it (P7, 149-52 ,
trans)
Then came painting and scratching and I always
had a lot of fun watching other people doing it
(P111, 2825-29, trans)
P315, 7717-7772 (I truly believe it\'s about having
fun.. in general.)
118
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
9. Because I’m
part of and/or
fascinated
with black
culture / To
continue
African
culture in
modern times
Positive mentioning of
black/African/Jamaican etc
culture. Mentions of
fascination, interest or the wish
to preserve black culture.
10. To get rich
Positive mentions of financial
success as a result of the HHA
(without stating that it is
regarded strictly as a byproduct and not in any way
motivation to participate).
Stories about the big money were appealing to me
(P146, 3691-92, trans)
Positive mentions of being
famous as a result of HHA.
Mentions of doing it to impress
other people, getting respect,
being known by many, leaving
a legacy, becoming immortal
through one’s HHA etc
I paint and listen to raps because it’s fun. And
because of fame of course (P126, 3241-42, trans)
10,5. Fame
11. To
entertain/give
something to
other people
12. Because my
friends/sibling
s/partner are
involved
13. To be part of /
belong to /
find a place in
society
Many of hiphops cornerstones can be traced back
to Jamaica such as scratching and MCing or
\'Toasting\' and this was another factor influencing
my involvement in hip hop culture and the
consciousness behind it. (P5, 95-100)
From there I explored other rappers\' work (such
as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common) and then
decided to find out where it all started, so went
way back to Grandmaster Flash, Beastie Boys,
Sugar Hill Gang etc. I love old school rap and
conscious rap more than anything, the rappers
are speaking on relevant topics more often than
not, things they really believe in. (P286, 7089-98)
Positive mentions of other
people enjoying/being
entertained by one’s own HHA.
Mentions of motivating,
teaching etc other people
Hustle for cash (P182, 4499, trans)
Also I can make money. By selling CDs, live
performances and business on the street I pay the
rent and survive another month… (P240, 589497)
Of course you cannot forget the fame factor
(P127, 3265-66, trans)
Lastly there is, and I would be lying if I wouldn’t
write it now, the fame (although money doesn’t
play a role for me at the moment) (P190, 4764-68,
trans)
I was hoping to impress girls (P239, 5842-43)
I do HipHop (Dancing, battles, coaching) because
I can contribute to something positive with my
energy and creativity (P81, 2087-2090)
I decided, since God gave me the skills to make
beats, and use my voice, i will try and make
music. Music that the young will listen to, and
relate to. And tell them there is a better way to
take, without selling weed and white. Even if you
didn\'t graduate, it still isn\'t over. I want to put in
my message for the world \"Dont give up.\" (P101,
2568-76)
Mentions of friends, siblings etc
being involved in the HHA
which led to own participation.
i wanted to dj because my friends were djing, and
emcee for the same reason. (P35, 752-54)
Positive mentions of belonging
to a certain group. Mentions of
feeling “at home”, of security.
Mentions of “living” HipHop
To the present day I feel like I belong, it is a
lifestyle (P8, 182-83, trans)
i was attracted to underground becuz it was
counter culture and i had trouble fitting in in high
school. then i started getting into promoting, so i
119
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
could get into the scene and learn how to be an
emcee in the real life community. it then became
a big part of my life. (P35, 754-60)
14. To be cool
15. Competition /
To feel
superior
16. To be creative
/ as an art
form
Mentions of aspiring coolness,
raise in social status,
superiority as a result of
participation in HHA.
Mentions of abandoning hiphop
/ being embarrassed because
of its unfavourable public
image.
Mentions of the will/need/want
to compete/be better than
others
Negative mentions of out-group
members.
Mentions of own superiority as
a result of engagement in
HipHop.
Mentions of wanting to prove
oneself to others / demonstrate
superiority.
Mentions of artistic
appreciation within HipHop.
Mentions of own creativity.
the closest international crew for me is called
Balkan Maffia. my biggest motivation right now is
to reach that level, when they will come to me and
ask me to be a part of that family (P90, 2314-17)
All the cool kids listened to it and I wanted to be
cool too (P15, 320-21, trans)
Also, the fact that it was considered pretty cool to
listen to hip hop. (P52, 1347-49)
I want people to listen to my music and think: “why
didn’t I think about that?” (P125, 3217-19, trans)
When I saw some older guys breaking I had to
learn it too and better than them!!! (P85, 2160-63)
The music along with breaking had me hard wired
into the genre and way of life. Big trainers,
tracksuits car stereos and the face off\'s with other
breakers (P99, 2470-74)
im practicing to create my own moves, because i
realised the only thing that matters in bboyin, is
originalty (P90, 2296-98)
Iv always been \"different\" from alot of my other
friends and have always had a thing for art and
self expression (P92, 2325-29)
17. Because I
like/feel the
music/rhythm
18. Because I like
graffiti
19. To pursue the
HipHop
lifestyle
promoted by
the media
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc the music..
All positive mentions of
melody, beat, rhythm, lyrics,
feeling when listening to
HipHop etc
Mentions of rap groups as a
reason for engaging in HipHop.
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc the graffiti.
All positive mentions of a
HipHop lifestyle as portrayed
by the media
(fame/popularity/fans/women,
money/possessions, power, TV
appearances, music videos,
I believe it to be the only truely honest artform
(P129, 3288-89)
In the first place and foremost simply because I
liked and like the music better than other kinds of
music (P9, 194-96)
The sound was heavy and gave me an instant
buzz (P23, 585-86)
I simply liked the music (P103, 2660, trans)
Around 1996 in the course of a yard party in my
neighbourhood, a wall got painted as a purchase
order. That, so to say, planted the graffiti virus into
me (P75, 1945-48, trans)
that influence me was all graffiti writer wuth skills.
Graff and Rap are the two things that attracted me
about this culture (P102, 2596-98)
No specific mentions, see 26
120
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
20. Recycling / To
create
something
new out of the
old
21. Fascination
with/like the
lyrics
22. The
authenticity of
the
music/culture
23. Respect
All mentions of creating
something out of limited
resources. Positive mentions of
creating something out of
something that would not have
been associated with HipHop.
Taking something considered
neutral or negative and turning
it into something
hip/cool/exciting etc
All positive mentions of HipHop
lyrics, stories, topics etc
All positive mentions of
authenticity within the culture
(real/authentic stories being
told, characters being
represented in an authentic
way etc).
Mentions of artists, songs,
stories etc representing one’s
own life, stories, feelings,
philosophy etc. mentions of
being able to relate to the
content/stories.
Negative mentions of being
fake, in-authenticity etc
Mentions of saying it how it is
(bluntly and straight)
All mentions of receiving/being
treated with respect from
others as a result of the HHA.
Positive mentions of existing
respect within the culture.
Musically: making something new out of the old
(P1, 1-2)
I still enjoy listening to records from old times that
I didn’t know or finding samples or studying the
music from the 60’s and 70’s that were the basis
for the original breaks (P392, 9712-17, trans)
See also 29
Topics that nobody else would address (P31, 69597, trans)
I also prefered the rythmes and beats and really
enjoyed the witty and clever lyrics that came along
with that. (P56, 1432-35)
The lyrics have reality-related messages (P57,
1465-66, trans)
These MC\'s where talking about my life and other
people\'s lives that where like mine. As well as
family and friends lives. In essence these MC\'s I
had begun to listen to had become preachers in a
sense. Telling the truth, raw and uncut about
everything like a documentary filmed live 24/7
365. (P66, 1605-14)
In my opinion hip hip is self expression of your
feelings and not just being a sell out like the rest
of the mainstream people, I go back to the days
where hip hop was real(KRS one,smif-nwessun,gang starr etc. etc.) (P88, 2229-33)
Everybody is cool with each other. Despite some
very few individuals there are only unknown artists
who have a lot of respect for each other even if
they follow completely different styles (P45, 106165, trans)
But in spite of everything there out were hip hop
people that have a opne mind, and RESPECT for
ohters, (P102, 2652-54)
24. Because I like
Beatboxing
25. Because I like
producing
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc Beatboxing/making music
with your mouth.
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc producing HipHop
music/beats.
In the first place i heard \"Geto boys\". I loved it!
then i started Beatboxing (P93, 2378-79)
All aspects named under “are you active in?”
fascinate me (P215, 5377-78)
Via MCing I got to DJing and producing. T he
musical aspect of the culture fascinated me
(P134, 3419-22, trans)
NEW YORK is hot, and similarly, I’m hot. The
MPC [producing tool] is running hot everyday and
my speakers are screaming (P220, 5517-20)
121
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
26. Because I like
the lifestyle/
culture
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc the HipHop lifestyle/culture
27. Because I like
a particular
element
Mentions if liking, loving,
digging, appreciating, enjoying
etc a particular element of
HipHop culture
28. Other
people’s
stories (→21)
29. Because
everybody
can do it / it’s
“simplicity”
Mentions of interest in the
stories/lives/careers of HipHop
artists.
Mentions of transforming
something old into something
new, something useless into
something fun and exciting etc
Making something out of
nothing,
No need for anything
(equipment, money, assets,
environments), everybody
everywhere can do it.
30. Flow and
engagement
Mentions of complete
involvement in a HHA, drug like
states, etc
31. Love
Any mentions of love for the
culture, any particular element
or people involved.
32. Philosophy
33. Because of
it’s diversity
Positive mentions of the
philosophy behind the culture
(positively perceived values,
attitudes, spirit). Positive
references to the mentality of
HipHoppers (modern or
Oldschool).
Positive mentions of the
diversity within HipHop culture.
Mentions of broad opportunity
to express oneself/spend one’s
time, different facets of
elements, activities and people
within the culture
Mentions of other related
cultures or types of music that
are part of HipHop/related to
HipHop such as sampling
sould/funk/jazz etc or HipHop
being mixed with reggae, metal
etc
Mentions of individuality within
the culture.
Then i informed myself about the whole culture
and i realised how awesome it all is (P69, 168487)
I love this culture (P151, 3766-67, trans)
I could identify with the lifestyle (P192, 4802-03,
trans)
See 17, 18, 24, 25, 37, 38, 43
See 21
I am a real rap fan and listen to rap primarily
because everybody can do it. (P138, 3475-78,
trans)
I always admired the do-it-yourself attitude of
HipHop and HipHoppers, because you actually
don’t need anything to express yourself (P154,
3826-30, trans)
You don’t need anything to be HipHop but love
and respect (P158, 3875-77, trans)
The fascination expresses itself while, for
example, I’m writing this text. I’m just listening to
some A Tribe Called Quest mixtape and i realise
how the music catches me and for some moments
i automatically nod my head and the music simply
flows into me and i don’t think about my actual
occupation. Wicked! (P59, 1507-16, trans)
Now I listen to it because I truly love it (P52, 135354)
I don\'t really know what attracted me to hiphop,
but I love it. (P62, 1542-44)
I lvoe HipHop, always have always will... I don\'t
listen to it for its mainstream popularity or the
labels it carries, I listen to it because I get it and it
speaks to my soul (P22, 559-63)
I still like how many facets hiphop culture has
(P12, 272-73)
Moreover, HipHop’s diversity enthralled me, in my
opinion there is no other musical genre that
combines so many other musical styles like
classical music, jazz, electro, acoustic, folk, … all
within HipHop (P36, 805-15, trans)
That is what makes HipHop so terrific! There is
something for every situation!! From hardcore
partying to philosophising about life… (P80, 204852, trans)
Dont forgett that versatility makes a culture rich,
and Hip Hop its a rich and living culture. (P102,
2617-19)
122
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
34. Partying/clubb
ing,
concerts/gigs/
jams, dancing
35. Atmosphere
36. Growing
up(→39)
37. Because I like
breakdancing
38. Because I like
the fashion
39. Reminisce/
memories
40. Anti-Boredom
/ as a hobby
41. Technique /
appreciation
of skill and
excellence
(→5)
Mentions of going to parties,
jams, gigs, sessions, concerts
etc., dancing, socialising,
performing etc
Positive mentions of an
atmosphere, flavour, feel within
the HipHop culture and its
events/gatherings.
Mentions of having grown up
surrounded by HipHop music
and/or culture. Expressions of
HipHop as a bench mark for
one’s past.
Mentions of breakdancing
Positive mentions of fashion,
trainers, caps, accessories
Mentions of reminiscing about
the past through any HHA.
References to one’s own past
in connection with certain
HHAs
Mentions of HipHop as a
hobby.
Mentions of having nothing to
do but HHA.
Mentions of boredom as
motivation to do something
Appreciative mentions of
artists’/peoples’ skills.
Mentions of specific details in
rhyming techniques, dance
moves, producing procedures,
painting style etc.
First motivation: Going out, going dancing, parties
and concerts… so mainly HipHop as music but
also the atmosphere at parties and concerts and
the shared fun while dancing (P16, 329-35, trans)
For example at the royal arena festival, there is
still this feeling since because of the acts there
are many people with similar HipHop taste. Also
there’s a breakdance battle and a graffiti wall
(P215, 5394-99, trans)
I just enjoyed the music, the mood and people
(P113, 2895-96)
mainly HipHop as music but also the atmosphere
at parties and concerts and the shared fun while
dancing (P16, 332-35, trans)
I got into hip hop because it is something that I
seen around me everyday (P84, 2143-44)
i grew up around alot who were into Hip hop
(P101, 2553-54)
Then I embraced the lifestyle even more after I
saw breakdance for my first time. I saw this guy
do no-handed windmills and it just fascinated me.
I began breakin ever since and havn\'t stopped
yet. i enjoy watching dance battles (P97, 2417-24)
Of course also because of the wide clothes that
are so comfortable (P96, 2407-08, trans)
ITS JUST SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY THEY
FLOW TO THE MUSIC<ENTER><ENTER>AND
THE WAY THEY DRESSED THEIR OWN WAY
(P100, 2507-12)
I still feel the hype in me when I listen to a song
from way back or a real dope tune from the
underground (P41, 914-16, trans)
I feel like Hip Hop has made me who I am today. I
feel proud to have started listening to Hip Hop
music at the start of the \"Golden Age\" of hip hop,
because I lived through most of the growth and
development of the music. (P280, 6959-65)
Now, I still reminisce on a lot of the old tunes I
listened to when I was younger, and am often
looking for new artists who still have the same
kind of sound as the stuff I listened to from the
beginning (P24, 636-40)
If I was bored I started Beatboxing (P88, 2215-16)
I started with HipHop because my best friend and
I were bored (P184, 4519-4521, trans)
I am time and again stoked how fast some
rappers are able to rap and how many rhetoric
means are packed into a song (P69, 1689-92,
trans)
Above all the lyrical skills and rhyme diversity
fascinated me (P405, 10117-18, trans)
123
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
42. Channelling
emotions
43. DJing/Scratch
ing
44. Spread
knowledge, a
message / to
learn from
others
Mentions of getting in touch
with one’s
emotions/channelling and
expressing emotions through
any HHA.
Positive mentions of DJing,
scratching, cutting, juggling,
turntablism, record collecting
etc
Mentions of HipHop’s ability to
spread knowledge, awareness,
wisdom, a message etc to
other people. Mentions of
preaching, teaching. Mentions
of having learned from any
HHA.
HipHop simply reflects how I feel and gives me a
bit of strength (P20, 511-513, trans)
I wrote as to free myself, to channel emotions into
rhymes and circumscribe them. By now there are
enough artists who channel my emotions in
certain songs. (P36, 842-46, trans)
I started rapping because I had a heavy burden
on my soul (P141, 3522-25, trans)
I always loved the DJ\'s who scratched, so I got
into that around 1986, became really good and
was well know around Dublin for that too (P46,
1077-81)
All aspects named under “are you active in?”
fascinate me (P215, 5377-78)
Long live old school hip hop.. I\'m here to bring
that beat back via the blog and to introduce the
younger generation to the old school flava. (P46,
1104-8)
...cause now I KNOW MY TIME IS COMING. And
when it does I AM going to make a difference. I
want to give back all that I can to inspire people to
be more than they ever THOUGHT they could be.
To rise up and take a stand. That\'s why I do what
I do...that\'s me. (P65, 1587-93)
I see that many people who do HipHop nowadays
don’t understand what HipHop is!!! of course I’m
doing it to show people what real HipHop is! (P85,
2169-2172, trans)
45. Performing
46. Because it
gives (energy/
strength/
power/
perspective)
Mentions of performing one’s
HHA (alone or for people)
Mentions of HipHop as a
motivator, energiser, source of
strength, power, comfort,
confidence, perspective,
motivation etc
For me HipHop became a hobby, school and
sports in one (P184, 4548-50, trans)
I\'m a better singer now, so I want to write a lot
more music. I also feel more confident performing
with people and would like to collaborate on more
hiphop (P325, 7988-91)
I still find an enormous sense of direction and
purpose in writing, recording, and performing
(P431, 11038-40)
So when I took the time to research the music
myself I fell in love with it, it motivated me, amped
me up (P50, 1286-88)
Psychologically speaking HipHop was the secure
base from which I started to open up to other
music and find my own path through music. (P71,
1773-76, trans)
And the other reason is that a like the Hip-Hop
lifestyle in extreme sports, and in those videos
and video parts the music is always good and
makes you wanna go ride... (P396, 9852-55)
I have the feeling that I have to give something
back to HipHop because it was always there for
me, ALWAYS (P375, 9310-12, trans)
124
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
47. Autonomy /
do whatever
you want
48. Because it
makes me
think /
inspiration
49. Because it
makes me
happy
50. Achievement
51. Positive
energy of
HipHop
52. Drug-like
53. As a
counterweight
to the
mainstream /
as balance in
my life
Mentions of autonomy, the
opportunity to do whatever you
want without being judged or
treated differently, the absence
of tenets/dogma,
Mentions of feeling free
Mentions of anything HipHop
related being thought
provoking, deep, inspiring
and/or intelligent
Specific mentions of any HHA
resulting in happiness and
psychological wellbeing,
satisfaction,
Mentions of wanting to achieve
something (not necessarily
fame and money)
Specific mentions of HipHop’s
positive energy
All mentions and comparisons
of HHA resulting in drug-like
feelings, experiences (being
stoked, flashed, in flow,
addicted etc)
Mentions of a perceived need
or will to counteract
mainstream HipHop and the
mainstream in general, the
popular media image of
HipHop.
Mentions of having to bring
HipHop back to the roots.
Mentions of restoring the
balance to something
perceived as unbalanced.
On the other side I just liked the attitude to do
whatever you want. (P71, 1768-71, trans)
The lettering says: I was here and you can’t do
anything about it, I do what I want and nobody
hinders me (P75, 1982-85, trans)
I make rap because it is a creative way to express
myself and 257ers, Hollywood Hank, Prinz Porno
and JAW inspire me (P82, 2127-30, trans)
Furthermore it is simply fun to party away to good
music or think about the (unfortunately less and
less frequent) intelligent lyrics (P87, 2196-2000)
I got into HipHop because it had this energy and
and a happy, uplifting vibe (P73, 1902-03)
I know my dreams with breakdance will truly make
me happy (P97, 2437-38)
i feel better if i am doing something hip hop
related (P110, 2801-02)
I came from Nothin and the rap game was my way
of makin somethin out of NOTHIN (P65, 1570-72)
Because hip-hop is like a extreme games.Its Like
Throw aur life to a something to
achieve.<ENTER><ENTER>(sory bad english)
(P89, 2236-40)
I could argue to most that the content more often
than not was sending a good message if you can
get past the cuss words and depreciative tones.
(P22, 555-59)
There was positive energy and creativity in the air
(P291, 3125-26)
Graffiti is my drug anyway that’s why I don’t think
I’ll stop anytime soon (P44, 989-91, trans)
After the first adrenalin rush I was addicted (P75,
1662-63, trans)
It was like a drug… I couldn’t get enough of it all
of a sudden (P144, 3633-35, trans)
For me, the fascination around HipHop lies in the
contrast to my life as a heavy metal head. […]
after a hard day of work chilled out beats and
thought provoking lyrics are much more relaxing
than full throttle heavy metal sound (P55, 140615, trans)
I\'ve became somewhat of a campaigner for Hip
Hop trying to maintain the elements. (P70, 175456)
Also for this reason I do HipHop, so that there is
something up to date that I like (P122, 3149-50,
trans)
My motivation is bigger than it ever was as I think
it is important to build a counterweight to all this
pop shit (P154, 3838-42, trans)
125
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
54. Growing/alive/
developing
culture
55. Escapism
56. Meaning
Positive mentions of the culture
being fresh, alive and growing.
Positive mentions of HipHop’s
constant development, its not
getting boring etc
Mentions of using HHA to
escape from something/to
somewhere, switch off, not
having to deal with something
etc
All mentions of HipHop giving
meaning, purpose, perspective
to one’s life, being meaningful
etc
Nowadays a new style emerges with every
released album and that motivates me (P125,
3212-17, trans)
everything changes, styles, lyrics. Its always
growing, thats what keeps it fresh. its always
different (P291, 7227-29)
Writing and recording of my lyrics gives me the
opportunity to come to terms with myself. That is
to say that I had a childhood far from easy-going,
had to endure a lot of shit that I still haven’t
properly processed. It helps me to edge out my
problems (P190, 4742-50, trans)
when i first heard Kool G Rap he opened a new
door for me to a whole new world where my mind
would always be at peace and i could just forget
about all the sh*t that goes on (P92, 2333-39)
After i started slowly absorbing the message and
lifestyle in the music, that part clearly became
more important. It was very different view of world
and life from anything i had ever witnessed in my
natural habitat. Especially conscious rap became
meaningful to me, as it taught me things of justice,
equality and spirituality, that were not taught in a
similar straight-forward way at school or by people
around me. (P318, 7809-20)
I still find an enormous sense of direction and
purpose in writing, recording, and performing
(P431, 11038-40)
* trans = translated from German by the researcher (who is a German native)
126
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix P: Merging of motivational themes
First, theme 19 (to pursue the HipHop lifestyle promoted by the media) was deleted as it was
equal to theme 26 (because I like the lifestyle/culture). Similarly, theme 54 (Because HipHop is a
growing/alive/developing culture) was made part of theme 26 as it was simply a bit more
specific.
Theme 28 (Interest in other people’s stories) was merged with theme 21 (Fascination with/like
the lyrics).
Theme 27 (because I like a particular element) was eliminated as it did not result in any useful
information.
Theme 2 (To deliver a true, authentic representation of my life) was merged into theme 1 (To
express myself/ manifest my identity) since they both represent the motivation to express one’s
identity.
Theme 10 (to get rich and famous) was first split up into two separate themes (to get rich→ 10;
and to get famous → 20) as they appeared to draw on two separate motivations. However, both
themes were later merged with category 50 (extrinsic achievement).
Theme 49 (Because it makes me happy) was merged with theme 31 (love) assuming that love in a
HipHop context is usually associated with happiness. The same was assumed for themes 8 (fun)
and 51 (positive energy). The combination of these themes was titled “happiness” (theme 31).
Theme 56 (meaning) was combined with theme 46 (Because it gives (energy/strength/power/
perspective etc)) since meaning did not emerge as a strong theme on its own.
Theme 45 (performing) was joined with theme 34 (Partying/clubbing, concerts/gigs/jams,
dancing) because performing usually takes place in theme 34 surroundings.
Theme 12 (because my peers are involved) was come together with theme 4 (relatedness) as it
implies a motivation to bond with and relate to others.
Theme 36 (I grew up with HipHop) implies that a lot of memories are related to HipHop.
Therefore it was combined with theme 39 (Reminisce/ memories).
As mentioned in the literature review, to get/give respect (theme 23) is part of HipHop’s
philosophy and was therefore made part of theme 32 (philosophy).
Theme 6 (to counter gang violence/to channel anger and frustration) was merged with theme 42
(channelling emotions).
Theme 13 (To be part of / belong to / find a place in society) was combined with theme 4
(relatedness) as motivation to belong and find a place in society reflects the motivation to relate
to the people around you.
Some themes were renamed in order to better capture the theme’s core. Theme 5 (To master my
skills, because I enjoy getting better at what I do, to grow as a person) was renamed “personal
development/ intrinsic achievement”, theme 44 (Spread something to others) was renamed
“Spread knowledge, a message / to learn from others” and theme 9 (Because I’m part of and/or
fascinated with black culture / To continue African culture in modern times) was renamed
“HipHop roots/History”.
127
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix Q: Deal with univariate outliers
Outliers have been dealt with for all dependent variable.
As an indicator, the mean was compared to the 5% trimmed mean.
Using the explore function in SPSS outlying scores were detected. Outliers that deviated more
than three standard deviations from the mean were modified and values were changed to the next
highest/lowest (non-outlier) number plus one unit increment higher/lower.
For PWB:
Adjust all scores <21 (mean 42, SD 7.2, 3 standard deviations from the mean) to 21
Hours weekly
Transform all scores>84 (12hours/day) into 84
Extrinsic aspirations: 1 outlier (score: 97) changed to 92
For intrinsic aspiration scores, there were many outlier scores over a wide range. Therefore all
scores <61 were changed in 5-steps downwards:
before
37
40
41
43
48
48
51
53
53
56
57
57
58
59
after
55
56
56
56
57
57
58
58
58
59
59
59
59
59
For the variable “years actively involved” the same procedure was used but with a 3-step routine
for scores>17
before
18
18
18
20
20
20
22
23
25
25
25
25
26
27
30
after
18
18
18
18
18
18
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
21
128
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
The same 3-step routine was used for the variable years passively involved for scores>22
before
24
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
26
26
27
27
30
30
after
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
24
24
25
25
129
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix R: Normality
Normality was checked for all 490 participants. Table 15 depicts normality for all possible
dependent variables. Normality was assured for all variables that can be compared with the
general public. HipHop-related variables are expectedly slightly skewed.
Within-HipHop variables are slightly negatively skewed (since it is a HipHop sample)
Histograms follow below.
Table 15: normality, skewness and kurtosis for all dependent variables
Variable
Normality all PP
Age:
Education:
Hours spent weekly:
Years passive
Years active:
Involvement:
AI extrinsic:
AI intrinsic:
PWB:
Normality active pp
only
normal
same
normal
same
negatively skewed, Negative kurtosis
same
slightly negatively skewed
same
positively skewed, Negative kurtosis
same
negatively skewed, slightly negative kurtosis same
normal
same
slightly negative
same
normal
same
Age
50
Frequency
40
30
20
10
Mean =21,6
Std. Dev. =5,281
N =481
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Age
130
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Education
200
Frequency
150
100
50
Mean =4,44
Std. Dev. =1,374
N =477
0
0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
10,00
Education
hrs_weekly
Frequency
60
40
20
Mean =33,85
Std. Dev. =26,406
N =486
0
0,00
20,00
40,00
60,00
80,00
100,00
hrs_weekly
131
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
yearsPASSIV
Frequency
60
40
20
Mean =9,71
Std. Dev. =5,015
N =485
0
0,00
5,00
10,00
15,00
20,00
25,00
yearsPASSIV
yearsACTIVE
100
Frequency
80
60
40
20
Mean =4,83
Std. Dev. =4,819
N =486
0
0,00
5,00
10,00
15,00
20,00
25,00
yearsACTIVE
132
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Involvement
100
Frequency
80
60
40
20
Mean =6,4
Std. Dev. =2,852
N =481
0
0,0
2,0
4,0
6,0
8,0
10,0
12,0
Involvement
AI_EXTRINSIC
40
Frequency
30
20
10
Mean =47,75
Std. Dev. =16,753
N =429
0
0,00
20,00
40,00
60,00
80,00
100,00
AI_EXTRINSIC
133
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
AI_INTRINSIC
40
Frequency
30
20
10
Mean =85,54
Std. Dev. =11,351
N =424
0
50,00
60,00
70,00
80,00
90,00
100,00
110,00
AI_INTRINSIC
PWB_Scale
40
Frequency
30
20
10
Mean =42,09
Std. Dev. =6,999
N =467
0
20
30
40
50
60
PWB_Scale
134
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix S: Correlation between wellbeing and motivational sub-themes:
A linear correlation analysis was conducted to assess correlations between the 6 sub-themes and
the sum of the intrinsic sub-themes (group2, 3 and 4).
As can be seen in table X, groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as the intrinsic sub-themes correlate
weakly but significantly with PWB.
These results were moved to the appendix as it became clear that motivation sub-theme analysis
was insufficient for correlation analysis.
PWB_Scale
PWB_Scale
Pearson Correlation
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
group01
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
group02
group03
Pearson Correlation
,000
387
Pearson Correlation
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
group06
intrinsicMotivation
387
,202(**)
N
N
group05
,006
Sig. (2-tailed)
Sig. (2-tailed)
group04
387
,138(**)
,126(*)
,013
387
,106(*)
,037
N
387
Pearson Correlation
,059
Sig. (2-tailed)
,245
N
387
Pearson Correlation
,065
Sig. (2-tailed)
,204
N
387
Pearson Correlation
,196(**)
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
N
387
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
135
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix T: Future Research
Peterson et al. (2005) distinguished between the pleasant (hedonic) life, the good (meaningful)
life, and the engaged (flow-inducing) life. HipHop has been demonstrated to relate to all three.
Hence, it may be useful for future studies to make the same distinction.
In general, it would be interesting to look at subjective wellbeing and positive affect in
HipHoppers. Have they become more hedonistic as a result of commercialisation?
Flow research in particular should be conducted within the active HipHop elements since they all
provide most necessary components for flow induction (intrinsic motivation assumed) and
participants of this study frequently mentioned flow associated states in the qualitative data (full
engagement, passing of time and drug like effects). There is also almost infinite space for
individual improvement and mastery in most HipHop activities.
Analysing lyrics and interviews of authentic artists using the code book of this study is likely to
endorse and possibly extend the motivational categories found in this study (McLeod, 1999,
singled out the main theme of authenticity using this approach).
Other positive psychology concepts mentioned in the introduction and building on the findings of
the present study could be made the subject of future work such as emotional intelligence (getting
in touch with emotions →theme 42: channelling emotions) and time perspective (savouring the
past →theme 39: reminisce, memories).
Sub theme 5 (characteristics of the culture) could be split into followers of specific elements in
order to find out about the inherent characteristics and preferences for, e.g. mentality/philosophy,
authenticity, diversity or autonomy within the specific elements (sub-cultures).
As reported, relatedness and competence seem to protrude in terms of frequency of mentions in
the current data set and should be followed up by future research into HipHop, motivation and
wellbeing.
136
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
Appendix U: What’s wrong with HipHop?
Why did you stop engaging?
The following points have been mentioned by participants under the question: “Has your
motivation changed, if yes, why are you into HipHop today”. Accompanying numbers represent
the participant number who have mentioned the theme first. Many have been mentioned
frequently, but due to time restrictions a full analysis could not be conducted, therefore exact
frequencies are not available in this stage of the research. However, it gives an overview of
mentioned themes and a better understanding of why participants engage/d in HipHop.



























Lack of depth and consciousness 5
Lack of passion 13, 46, 259
Loss of meaning 255
Lack of unity within the scene 243, 188,
Lack of authenticity 220
Commercialisation 19
HipHop went Pop 6
The image of HipHop became so negative that I rather stay underground / I’m
embarrassed of my culture 222, 220
Misrepresentation in the media 22
Materialism / Bling Bling attitude 4, 227, 187
Lost its charm as a subculture 14
I grew up 26
The process of becoming a person has been completed / don’t need HipHop anymore 71
Do not need confidence anymore 24
No need to channel my anger and frustration anymore 24
My taste of music changed 49
Cannot identify myself with HipHop anymore (topics incongruent with own values and
goals) 17
No more HipHoppers around
No more stories that interest me 46
Atmosphere ist nicht mehr locker 16
I have no influence on the culture anymore (HipHop doesn’t give anything back to me) 18
Too much ghetto talk 1, 51, 227,
I’m too busy now 28
The sound (of most modern HipHop) does not appeal to me anymore 32
137
Be Happy or Die Trying: Examining the Potential for Wellbeing and the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation within HipHop Culture
What’s wrong in general today?
The following lists aspects that were mentioned by participants to be wrong with HipHop in
general, not necessarily connected to their own motivation and engagement. The author thought
that a general awareness of the state of the culture might be useful to record.
 The public image of HipHop 199, 222, 220,
 Loss of understanding/respect for its roots 255
 Split between Oldschool und new school (lack of Unity) 51
 People are too focused on its roots. Development/change often gets fronted and dissed
 Lack of innovation / boring music 205
 Lack of demand for quality music/art
 Everything sounds the same today 227
 Too many rappers 228
 Too many haters and wannabes 217
 Lack of fun 16
 Too much aggressiveness
 Lack of message
138