The nature of music to express and evoke a wide range of emotions is one of the central reasons for its universal appeal. Within music psychology, two theoretical perspectives —cognitivism and emotivism —offer different perspectives on understanding musical emotions. Cognitivism emphasizes expressive emotion, referring to the type of emotion that a listener perceives a piece of music communicates. In contrast, emotivism focuses on the felt emotion, which refers to the subjective emotions actually experienced by the listener during the listening process. The degree of alignment between expressive and felt emotions is understood as musical emotional resonance, and a closer match is thought to strengthen a listener’s appreciation and enjoyment of music.This study employs an empirical research design to examine the relationship between expressive and felt emotions, specifically investigating whether higher levels of alignment enhance listeners’ preference for music. A questionnaire survey was conducted with university students from diverse backgrounds, including gender (male and female), academic discipline (music majors and non-music majors), and level of study (undergraduates and graduate students). The research instrument, the Music Listening Emotion Scale, was carefully validated for both reliability and expert validity to ensure measurement consistency and accuracy.Findings indicate that the relationship between expressive and felt emotions is not uniform but may manifest in multiple forms, including positive correlation, negative correlation, and no systematic correlation. These results suggest that musical emotional resonance is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon rather than a simple linear process. By clarifying the mechanisms underlying emotional resonance, this study contributes empirical evidence to the theoretical discourse in music psychology. Furthermore, the findings highlight potential applications of musical emotional resonance in music education, where aligning expressive and felt emotions may foster stronger musical preference, enhance aesthetic understanding, and enrich listening experiences.