Investigation of the effects of music on emotions, athletic mental energy, and cognitive flexibility in elite athletes

The aim of this research is to examine the effects of music on emotions, athletic mental energy, and cognitive flexibility in sports. The research group consists of a total of 206 athletes, including 67 wrestlers, 45 taekwondo practitioners, 57 karate fighters, and 37 boxers, all of whom are actively pursuing their sports careers in the national team. Athletes were administered an individual information form prepared by the researcher, along with the "Scale of the Effect of Music on Sports Applications," "Sports Emotion Scale," "Athletic Mental Energy Scale," and "Athlete Cognitive Flexibility Scale." When examining the skewness and kurtosis values for the assumption of normality, it was determined that the data were normally distributed, as the values fell between -1.5 and +1.5. To identify whether there were differences in dependent variables based on independent variables, MANOVA tests and path analysis in line with the research model were used. As a result, it was found that the impact of music showed differences according to demographic variables in the subdimensions of emotions in sports, athletic mental energy, and cognitive flexibility, where music significantly predicted emotions in sports (excitement = 5%; happiness = 4%), athletic mental energy (36%), and the alternatives subdimension (27%). The research demonstrated that music has a strong regulatory effect on athletes' emotional states, cognitive flexibility, and mental energy levels. It was concluded that listening to music enhances athletes' positive emotions (excitement, happiness), reduces negative emotions (anxiety, anger), and may help them be more effective in finding alternative solutions during crisis moments while also affecting their mental energy levels. Key Words: Athletic Mental Energy, Cognitive Flexibility, Music, Emotion in Sports.