The effect of emotion on prospective memory: a three-level meta-analytic review

Prospective memory (PM), or the ability to remember to perform planned actions in the future, is fundamental in daily life. As a potential influencing factor of prospective memory, emotion has garnered significant attention. However, prior studies examining the impact of emotion on PM yield mixed findings. This study systematically reviewed 37 studies examining the effects of emotion on prospective memory, extracting a total of 171 effect sizes. The main effect analysis from the three-level meta-analysis revealed that positive emotions enhance prospective memory performance, supporting the positive effect theory. However, the facilitating effect of emotion varied depending on factors such as prospective memory task type, participant age, emotion induction method, study design, and the ecological validity of the experiment. The current study represents the first comprehensive review and meta-analysis of emotion’s impact on PM and proposes directions for future research on emotional effects on PM.