This study investigated the relationship between flow experiences and music performance anxiety (MPA) among school-age musicians in China, with a particular focus on adolescent students (aged 13–15 years). While previous research has examined flow and MPA in professional musicians, limited attention has been paid to younger and less experienced populations. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study combined quantitative data from two validated self-report measures with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews. Participants were students who had recently performed in a school concert and represented a range of proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). The findings suggested that: (a) both flow and MPA were commonly experienced by adolescent students; (b) flow and MPA were negatively correlated, particularly among more proficient students; and (c) higher proficiency appeared to facilitate flow experiences while mitigating MPA, possibly due to accumulated performance experience. These results suggested that musical proficiency may serve as a buffer against MPA by promoting optimal performance states. Implications for music education and psychological interventions were discussed, and directions for future research were proposed.
AntoniniP. R.KosirnikC.OrtuñoE.BiasuttiM. (2022). Flow and music performance: Professional musicians and music students’ views. Psychology of Music, 50(4), 1023–1038. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211030987
2.
BakhtiariP.NikanmajdN.Ghasemi ShayanR. (2025). Recent developments in coping strategies focusing on music performance anxiety: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1507229. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1507229
3.
BakkerA. B. (2005). Flow among music teachers and their students: The crossover of peak experiences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(1), 26–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2003.11.001
4.
BarrosS.MarinhoH.FrançaA. B.PereiraA. (2024). Music performance anxiety: A study of anxiety predictors in higher education music students in Portugal. International Journal of Music Education, 44(2). https://doi.prg/10.1177/02557614241280040
5.
BarrosS.MarinhoH.PereiraA. (2023). Music performance anxiety in Portuguese higher education: Contextual factors, perceptions, and strategies. Musicae Scientiae, 28(2), 287–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649231202977
6.
BershB. (2022). The relationship between music performance anxiety and self-efficacy in sixth- to eighth-grade instrumental students. Psychology of Music, 50(5), 1477–1493. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211049421
7.
BrodskyW. (1996). Music performance anxiety reconceptualized: A critique of current research practices and findings. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 11(3), 88–98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45440582
8.
BroughtonM. (2015). Indicators of music performance anxiety in nonverbal behaviors: A case report of a classical vocal soloist. Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy, 5(2), 1000176.
9.
BuilI.CatalánS.MartínezE. (2018). Exploring students’ flow experiences in business simulation games. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34(2), 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12237
10.
CasanovaÓ.ZarzaF. J.OrejudoS. (2018). Differences in performance anxiety levels among advanced conservatory students in Spain, according to type of instrument and academic year of enrolment. Music Education Research, 20(3), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2018.1433145
11.
ClementsonC. J. (2019). A mixed methods investigation of flow experience in the middle school instrumental music classroom. Research Studies in Music Education, 41(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X18773093
12.
CohenS.BodnerE. (2018). The relationship between flow and music performance anxiety among professional classical orchestral musicians. Psychology of Music, 47, 420–435. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735618754689
13.
CohenS.BodnerE. (2021). Flow and music performance anxiety: The influence of contextual and background variables. Musicae Scientiae, 25(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864919838600
14.
CoxW. J.KenardyJ. (1993). Performance anxiety, social phobia, and setting effects in instrumental music students. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 7(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/0887-6185(93)90020-L
15.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
16.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. HarperCollins.
17.
DanielR. (2004). Innovations in piano teaching: A small-group model for the tertiary level. Music Education Research, 6(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461380032000182911
18.
De LimaA. A.XimenesR. C. C.de SouzaS. L. (2024). Factors associated with music performance anxiety in adolescents: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 164, 107860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107860
19.
DiazF. M.SilveiraJ. (2013). Dimensions of flow in academic and social activities among summer music camp participants. International Journal of Music Education, 31(3), 310–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761411434455
20.
EngeserS.RheinbergF. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. Motivation and Emotion, 32(3), 158–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9102-4
21.
FitzpatrickK. R. (2011). A mixed methods portrait of urban instrumental music teaching. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(3), 229–256.
22.
FullagarC. J.KnightP. A.SovernH. S. (2013). Challenge/skill balance, flow, and performance anxiety. Applied Psychology-An International Review-Psychologie Appliquee-Revue Internationale, 62, 236–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2012.00494.x
23.
Martin-GagnonG.CreechA. (2019). Cool jazz: Music performance anxiety in jazz performance students. Music Education Research, 21, 4414–4425. DOI: 10.1080/14613808.2019.1605346
24.
GabrielssonA. (1992). Music performance. In DeutschD. (Ed.), The psychology of music (2nd ed., pp. 501–602). Academic Press.
25.
GuyonA. J. A. A.HildebrandtH.GusewellA.HorschA.NaterU. M.GomezP. (2022). How audience and general music performance anxiety affect classical music students’ flow experience: A close look at its dimensions. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 959190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.959190
26.
IuscaD. (2015). The relationship between flow and music performance level of undergraduates in exam situations: The effect of musical instrument. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 177, 396–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.376
27.
JackmanP. C.HawkinsR. M.WhiteheadA. E.BrickN. E. (2021). Integrating models of self-regulation and optimal experiences: A qualitative study into flow and clutch states in recreational distance running. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 57, 102051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102051
28.
JacksonS. A.EklundR. C. (2002). Assessing flow in physical activity: The Flow State Scale-2 and Dispositional Flow Scale-2. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 24(2), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.24.2.133
29.
JacksonS. A.MarshH. W. (1996). Development and validation of a scale to measure optimal experience: The flow state scale. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18, 17–35.
30.
JinS.-A. A. (2012). “Toward integrative models of flow”: Effects of performance, skill, challenge, playfulness, and presence on flow in video games. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56(2), 169–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2012.678516
31.
KennyD. T. (2011) The psychology of music performance anxiety. Oxford University Press.
32.
KennyD. TDriscollT.AckermannB. (2014). Psychological well-being in professional orchestral musicians in Australia: A descriptive population study. Psychology of Music, 42(2), 210–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612463950
33.
KirchnerJ. M.BloomA. J.Skutnick-HenleyP. (2008). The relationship between performance anxiety and flow. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 23(2), 59–65. http://doi.org/10.21091/mppa.2008.2012
34.
Moral-BofillL.López de la LlaveA.Pérez-LlantadaM. C.Holgado-TelloF. P. (2020). Adaptation to Spanish and psychometric study of the Flow State Scale-2 in the field of musical performers. PLoS ONE, 15(4), e0231054. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231054
35.
NakamuraJ.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2002). The concept of flow. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 89–105). Oxford University Press.
36.
NormanG. (2010). Likert scales, levels of measurement and the “laws” of statistics. Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice, 15(5), 625–632. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-010-9222-y
37.
NusseckM.ZanderM.SpahnC. (2015). Music performance anxiety in young musicians: Comparison of playing classical or popular music. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 30(1), 30–37. https://doi.org/10.21091/mppa.2015.1005
38.
O’NeillS. (1999). Flow theory and the development of musical performance skills. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 141, 129–134.
39.
OrejudoS.ZarzaF. J.CasanovaÓ.RodríguezC.MazasB. (2017). The relation of music performance anxiety (MPA) to optimism, self-efficacy, and sensitivity to reward and punishment: Testing Barlow’s theory of personal vulnerability on a sample of Spanish music students. Psychology of Music, 45(4), 570–583. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735616674791
40.
PapageorgiI. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of music performance anxiety in adolescent learners: Contributions of individual, task-related and environmental factors. Musicae Scientiae, 26(1), 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864920923128
41.
PapageorgiI.CreechA.WelchG. F. (2011). Perceived performance anxiety in advanced musicians specializing in different musical genres. Psychology of Music, 41(1), 18–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735611408995
42.
PapageorgiI.HaddonE.CreechA.MortonF.De BezenacC.HimonidesE.PotterJ.DuffyC.WhytonT.WelchG. F. (2010). Institutional culture and learning II: Inter-relationships between perceptions of the learning environment and undergraduate musicians’ attitudes to performance. Music Education Research, 12(4), 427–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2010.520432
43.
PeiferC.EngeserS. (2021). Theoretical integration and future lines of flow research. In ContrerasR. J. (Ed.), Advances in flow research (2nd ed., pp. 1–27). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53468-4_13
44.
RobsonK. E.KennyD. T. (2017). Music performance anxiety in ensemble rehearsals and concerts: A comparison of music and non-music major undergraduate musicians. Psychology of Music, 45(6), 868–885. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735617693472
45.
RyanC.AndrewsN. (2009). An investigation into the choral singer’s experience of music performance anxiety. Journal of Research in Music Education, 57(2), 108–126. http://doi.org/10.1177/0022429409336132
46.
RyanC.BoucherH.RyanG. (2021). Performance preparation, anxiety, and the teacher: Experiences of adolescent pianists. Revue Musicale OICRM, 8(1), 38–62. https://doi.org/10.7202/1076813ar
47.
SalmonP. G. (1990). A psychological perspective on musical performance anxiety: A review of the literature. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 5, 2–11.
48.
SchwandtT. A. (1994). Constructivist, interpretivist approaches to human inquiry. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 118–137). Sage.
49.
SpahnC.KrampeF.NusseckM. (2021). Live music performance: The relationship between flow and music performance anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 725569. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.725569
50.
TardifC.BoucherH.LaneJ.BarbeauA. K. (2024). Music performance anxiety in children 9–12 years old in a music program. Psychology in the Schools, 61(2), 671–685. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22980
51.
TenenbaumG.FogartyG. J.JacksonS. A. (1999). The flow experience: A rasch analysis of Jackson’s flow state scale. Journal of Outcome Measurement, 3(3), 278–294.
52.
ThompsonK. (1984). An analysis of group instrumental teaching. British Journal of Music Education, 1(2), 153–171.
53.
TorngC. S.WengM. S.LuC. J. (2018). Serious leisure and flow experience of teenagers–a case study on the activities of orchestra. In BarolliL.EnokidoT. (Eds.), Innovative mobile and internet services in ubiquitous computing. IMIS 2017. Advances in intelligent systems and computing (Vol. 612, pp. 735–740). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61542-4_74
54.
WolfeM. L. (1989). Correlates of adaptive and maladaptive musical performance anxiety. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 4(1), 49–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45440195
55.
WrigleyW. J.EmmersonS. B. (2013). The experience of the flow state in live music performance. Psychology of Music, 41(3), 292–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735611425903
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
