Effects of music on affective responses to acute exercise: A meta‐analytic review and multilevel meta‐analysis

Positive exercise experiences are associated with greater health benefits. However, no large-scale synthesis has been conducted to clarify how music influences the affective responses to acute exercise. This study systematically examined the effects of music on affective responses to acute exercise. The Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ProQuest databases were systematically searched. A total of 507 effect sizes extracted from 59 studies were included in the multilevel meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that music had a positive effect on affective valence (g = 0.403, 95% CI [0.317, 0.489]) and arousal (g = 0.391, 95% CI [0.252, 0.530]) in response to acute exercise. Moderation analyses revealed that exercise intensity, music tempo, and motivational quality moderated the effects of music on both valence and arousal, while exercise habits moderated the effect on valence. Sex, exercise type, selection, and delivery mode were not significant moderators. This study highlights the important role of music in optimizing exercise experience, which may create favorable conditions for long-term exercise engagement and enhance health benefits.