Sarah Zhou

Investment in Ballroom Dance

Started Dec. 23, 2025

Abstract or project description

This study examines the perceived returns of ballroom dance participants, both parents and guardians of ballroom dancers and adult dancers, with a particular focus on the financial, psychological, social, and developmental outcomes that influence the continuation of ballroom dance participation despite the uncertain financial and competitive returns shown in existing literature and professional careers. Specifically, this study asks: What factors motivate parents, guardians, and adult dancers to invest their financial resources, time, and effort in ballroom dance, and how do their perceived financial, psychological, social, and developmental returns influence their continued investment despite the uncertain returns? Data were collected through a researcher-developed questionnaire distributed using convenience and snowball sampling. Out of a sample of 68, 17 parents or guardians of ballroom dancers and 51 adult ballroom dancers from the United States and China completed the survey. The survey includes multiple-choice, short-answer, ranking, and Likert-scale questions, examining participants’ financial and time investments, opportunity costs, motivation for participation, perceived returns, and future participation intentions. Results indicated that participants placed greater importance for motivations on developmental and experiential benefits rather than anticipated financial or career-re;ated outcomes. Among adult dancers, stronger expectations of future extrinsic returns generally corresponded with greater financial expenditure, while no similarly clear pattern showed among parents and guardians. However, continuation intentions remain high across varying levels of expected returns and perceived financial burden, despite that participants acknowledged the uncertainty for professional pathways in ballroom dance. These findings suggest a distinction between investment intensity, the magnitude of resources allocated to participation, and investment persistence, the decisions to continue investing over time. Related to Human Capital Theory, this study proposes a conceptual framework in which ballroom dance participation is understood as a repeated resource-allocation decision under uncertainty, shaped by expected and perceived returns, financial and opportunity costs, and other border perceived values. The findings provide a framework for understanding continued human capital investment in resource-intensive activities where future economic and competitive outcomes remain uncertain. Keywords: Ballroom Dance; Dance; DanceSport; Human Capital Investment; Perceived Returns, Opportunity Cost