How Does Music Influence Athletes’ Motivation? (Course name: Motivation, Where Does It Come from?)

Abstract

This paper reviews previous research to show the positive relationship between music and motivation in sports. After defining what motivation means in this paper, the authors review studies investigating the influence of listening to music on motivation to play a sport. The results showed that, by watching music video clips, the participating athletes were able to build strong, successful self-images, which contributed to enhancing their motivation and performance. Based on another set of previous studies, the authors argue that listening to music can promote the secretion of dopamine, which improves motivation and, thus, performance. The authors suggest that students as well as athletes listen to music before an important occasion, such as an exam, to help them become more motivated and perform better.