Empathy, self-esteem and creativity among junior ballet dancers.

62 junior ballet dancers from the Finnish National Opera (44 girls, 18 boys, ages 9 to 17 yr.) completed the Battle Self-esteem Inventory Form B or AD, the Tennessee Self-concept Scale, 2 factors from Coopersmith's Self-esteem Inventory, 10 items from Rosenberg's scale, the modified Mehrabian and Epstein Empathy Scale, a questionnaire on hobbies, the Rorschach and the Figural B Form of Torrance's creativity test. Analysis showed dancers trained 4-5 nights/week, tended to have creative hobbies, were more empathetic and sensitive (especially girls) than controls. Dancers had higher self-esteem than the normative sample.