It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetoresistance effect element which has a film with a spin valve structure or an artificial lattice film having good soft magnetic characteristics, and which can be applied to a high-sensitivity magnetic head. The present invention provides a magnetoresistance effect element including a stacked film formed on a substrate by sequentially stacking a ferromagnetic film containing as its main constituents at least one elements selected from the group consisting of Co, Fe, and Ni, a nonmagnetic film, and the ferromagnetic film, wherein the two ferromagnetic films are not coupled with each other, and the closest packed plane of each ferromagnetic film is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the film surface.