A nonmagnetic spacer layer in a magnetoresistive effect element includes a nonmagnetic metal layer that is formed of Ag and at least one of a first insertion layer that is disposed on a bottom surface of the nonmagnetic metal layer and a second insertion layer that is disposed on a top surface of the nonmagnetic metal layer. The first insertion layer and the second insertion layer include an Fe alloy that is expressed by FeγX1-γ. Here, X denotes one or more elements selected from a group consisting of O, Al, Si, Ga, Mo, Ag, and Au, and γ satisfies 0