Article Sidebar

Submitted
February 22, 2025
Accepted
August 14, 2025
Published
August 29, 2025
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 138 Download : 104

Main Article Content

Abstract

Introduction:


While art museums are ubiquitous cultural institutions, their role in enhancing psychological well-being remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how art museum visits influence multidimensional psychological well-being, offering novel insights into their societal purpose beyond education and tourism.


Methodology:


A survey was conducted with 40 visitors at Bali’s Pasifika Museum, utilizing an adapted version of Ryff’s (1989) Psychological Well-Being Scale (α = 0.889). Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to assess six well-being dimensions: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The sampling technique used in this research is incidental sampling technique.


Findings:


Results revealed significant improvements in psychological well-being, with an average score of 102.75 (range: 70–126), Personal growth and positive relationships emerged as the most impacted dimensions, highlighting art museums’ capacity to foster self-discovery and social connection.


Conclusion:


This study demonstrates that art museums function not merely as repositories of culture but as accessible spaces for mental and emotional flourishing. Practically, the findings advocate for museums to design exhibits prioritizing interactive engagement and cross-cultural narratives, positioning museums as wellness destinations. However, the study’s limitations include the modest sample size, non-representative incidental sampling, and single-site focus restricting generalizability across cultural contexts.

Keywords

Art Museums Psychological well-being

Article Details

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Mandalika Review

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Antchak, V., & Adams, E. (2020). Unusual venues for business events: Key quality attributes of museums and art galleries. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 6(4), 847–862. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-09-2019-0156
  2. Batat, W. (2020). How can art museums develop new business opportunities? Exploring young visitors’ experience. Young Consumers, 21(1), 109–131. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-09-2019-1049
  3. Binnie, J. (2021). Does viewing art in the museum reduce anxiety and improve wellbeing? In Museums & Social Issues (pp. 191–201). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315421735-4
  4. Botton, A., & Armstrong, J. (2016). Art as therapy. Phaidon Press.
  5. Caldwell, N. (2018). Art for audience’s sake: How can audience-centric art interpretation enhance meaning, diversity and accessibility? [Master’s thesis, Victoria University of Wellington]. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.19288310
  6. Camic, P. M., & Chatterjee, H. J. (2013). Museums and art galleries as partners for public health interventions. Perspectives in Public Health, 133(1), 66–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912468523
  7. Cotter, K. N., & Pawelski, J. (2021). Art museums as institutions for flourishing. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kpq3m
  8. Dissanayake, E. (1990). What is art for? University of Washington Press.
  9. Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2016). The museum experience. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315417899
  10. Green, J. (2019). Cultivating emotional wellbeing: Museums and art therapy. MuseumNext.
  11. Guzman, L. (2020). Essential art therapy exercises: Effective techniques to manage anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Rockridge Press.
  12. Hannay, A. H. (1954). The concept of art for art’s sake. Philosophy, 29(108), 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031819100022129
  13. Heenan, D. (2006). Art as therapy: An effective way of promoting positive mental health? Disability & Society, 21(2), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590500498143
  14. Jackson, J. (2010). Likert scaling. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of research design (pp. 686–689). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288.n219
  15. Jensen, A. (2018). Mental health recovery and arts engagement. The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, 13(3), 157–166. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-08-2017-0048
  16. Kolbe, K. J., Velthuis, O., Aengenheyster, J., Rozenbaum, A. F., & Zhang, M. (2022). The global rise of private art museums: A literature review. Poetics, 95, 101712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2022.101712
  17. Pelowski, M., Leder, H., & Tinio, P. P. L. (2017). Creativity in the visual arts. In V. Glăveanu (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity across domains (pp. 80–109). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316274385.006
  18. Prettejohn, E. (2007). Art for art’s sake: Aestheticism in Victorian painting. Yale University Press.
  19. Reynolds, M. W., Nabors, L., & Quinlan, A. (2000). The effectiveness of art therapy: Does it work? Art Therapy, 17(3), 207–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2000.10129706
  20. Rollins, J. (2021). 'Purpose-built’ art in hospitals: Art with intent. In J. Rollins (Ed.), Arts, health and wellbeing (pp. 89–100). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/9781800435946-007
  21. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Psychological well-being scale. PsycTests Dataset. https://doi.org/10.1037/t04262-000
  22. Saavedra-Macías, F. J., Arias-Sánchez, S., & Rodríguez-Gómez, A. (2023). Promoting mental health recovery in a contemporary art museum. In Painting (pp. 85–100). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-352-720231007
  23. Silva, J. da. (2022, March 28). Visitor figures 2021: The 100 most popular art museums in the world—but is COVID still taking its toll? The Art Newspaper. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/03/28/visitor-figures-2021-top-100-most-popular-art-museums-in-the-world
  24. Siyoto, S., & Sodik, M. A. (2015). DASAR METODOLOGI PENELITIAN. Literasi Media Publishing.
  25. Slayton, S. C., D’Archer, J., & Kaplan, F. (2010). Outcome studies on the efficacy of art therapy: A review of findings. Art Therapy, 27(3), 108–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2010.10129660
  26. Šveb Dragija, M., & Jelinčić, D. A. (2022). Can museums help visitors thrive? Review of studies on psychological well-being in museums. Behavioral Sciences, 12(11), 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110458
  27. Van Riel, C. B. M. (2019). Why do people love museums so much? Empirical evidence about the stellar reputations of art museums and what companies can learn from it. In T. Devinney (Ed.), Research in global strategic management (Vol. 18, pp. 185–209). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1064-485720190000018013