Mapping the relationship between flow experience and music performance anxiety: a scoping review

TL;DR

This review explores how the experience of flow and music performance anxiety are related, showing they can coexist and interact in complex ways.

Contribution

The study provides a systematic synthesis of FE and MPA interactions, revealing their dynamic relationship and key mediating factors.

Findings

A negative correlation exists between flow experience and music performance anxiety across multiple measures.

Moderate anxiety can support flow when perceived as a challenge, with self-regulation and self-efficacy as key mediators.

Interventions like yoga and mindfulness reduce anxiety and enhance flow in musical performance contexts.

Abstract

This scoping review systematically mapped and synthesized the literature examining the relationship between Flow Experience (FE) and Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) in musical performance and educational contexts. Examining their interaction is crucial to understand how musicians balance emotional activation and attentional focus to achieve optimal performance states.

Following PRISMA-ScR, a comprehensive search across Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and SAGE databases identified 18 empirical studies. These were systematically analyzed according to author(s) and year, main aim, sample characteristics, measurement instruments, study design, FE–MPA interaction, mediating or moderating factors, performance setting, analytical or procedural approach and main findings.

Findings reveal a predominant negative correlation between FE and MPA across dispositional, situational, and psychophysiological measures. However, moderate anxiety levels can coexist with or even facilitate flow when they are interpreted as a challenge rather than a threat. Emotional self-regulation, self-efficacy, and self-esteem emerged as key mediating factors, while interventions involving yoga, mindfulness, and self-regulation training consistently reduced MPA and enhanced FE propensity.

Overall, the findings highlight a dynamic continuum between FE and MPA, suggesting that anxiety regulation is not merely inhibitory but can function as a potential precursor to flow. Despite substantial empirical work examining FE and MPA as individual constructs, the present synthesis demonstrates that an integrated understanding of their interaction remains methodologically fragmented. Future research should therefore prioritize multimodal and longitudinal designs to clarify underlying mechanisms and support the development of evidence-informed approaches to performance preparation and emotional regulation in musicians.

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