Flow theory and research - Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi - 2009 - Article

Focusing on full involvement in the present moment is an answer of flow research on the question what makes a life good. In this chapter the flow model of optimal experience and development is described, measuring of flow is explained, recent work is discussed and directions for future research is identified.

Optimal experience and its role in development

The origin of flow research and theory comes from a desire to understand intrinsic motivation or activities that are rewarding of itself. Two conditions for entering flow are: having perceived challenges or opportunities for action and having clear proximal goals with immediate feedback about the progress. When these conditions are met, one can enter a subjective state with intense and focused concentration on the present moment, merging of action and awareness, loss of reflective self-consciousness, sense of control of one’s actions, distortion of temporal experience and experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding.

The original model of the flow state is robust, it states that flow can be experienced when perceived opportunities for action are in balance with one’s perceived skills. The flow experience is shaped by person and environment and therefore involves ‘emergent motivation’ in an open system.

Flow, complexity and development

An individual can achieve an ordered state of consciousness by absorbing the attention in the challenges at hand. Growth is achieved because of replicating flow experiences and mastering challenges in an activity.

The autotelic personality

Actually everyone can experience flow, but the frequency and quality of the experience differs. A person with an autotelic personality tends to enjoy life or does things for own sake. This type of personality is distinguished by ‘meta-skills’, for example curiosity and interest in life. This enables the person to enter and stay in the flow. Psychological capital (PK) is an broader set of meta-skills that allow a person to increase the likelihood of enjoying future experiences besides enjoying whatever one does at the moment. Optimal life-span development involves the formation of PK.

Measuring flow and autotelic personality

Measuring flow

Using a semistructured interview provides a holistic account of the flow experience. A questionnaire has been used when the dimensions of the flow experience are measured and differences across contexts or individuals. The Flow Questionnaire and the 10-item Flow Scale are two ways to measure this. The frequency of flow and the degree to which flow dimensions characterize an experience or event are to scales to measure. The experience sampling method focuses on moments when the conditions for flow exist and when the flow state is reported. This way of objective measurement painstaking and time-intensive however. Also a computer game is developed to measure flow with laboratory manipulation.

Measuring the autotelic personality

‘Time spent in the high-challenge, high-skill situations conductive to flow’ and ‘intrinsic motivation in high-challenge, high-skill situations’ have been the most common used measures of the general propensity toward flow. It is expected that measures of psychological capital will encompass what has been known as autotelic personality.

Recent directions in flow research

Consequences of flow

According to longitudinal research, students who experienced more flow, are less anxious, perform better and probably have a better self-esteem. Experiencing flow encourages a person to persist in and return to an activity, like the model proposes.

The nature and dynamics of flow

The flow state is an end in itself, it is an self-justifying experience. It is universal across different activities. On the other hand nuanced pictures of flow are yielded by research. Increasingly research is done in educational contexts. Under specific circumstances, students experience more flow. For example active pedagogies such as cooperative learning make that students experience more flow than passive pedagogies. Research done in work contexts shows that there are facilitators for flow, for example self-efficacy and job resources. These resources create a positive upward spiral that positively affects work-related flow. Flow can have its fluctuations.

When challenges and skills are in balance and also above average levels, flow is fostered. There are different representations of the model of flow state. One representation shows that flow is experienced when perceived challenges and skills are above a person’s average levels and when they are below, apathy is experienced. Intensity of experience increases with distance from the person’s average levels of challenge and skill.

Both relaxation and flow might be intrinsically rewarding, relaxation because of the conservation of energy and flow because of the use of skills to seize greater opportunities. Finally, increasingly research is examining how dispositions affect the experience of flow.

Interventions and programs to foster flow

There are two types of interventions: for shaping activity structures and environments to foster flow or obstruct it less and for attempting to assist in finding flow. These interventions are applied in different areas, for example educational, but also in companies or therapies. The focus lies on identifying activities that a person enjoys and learning how to invest attention in the work of these activities.

Directions for future research

Some questions about flow need further research. For example, questions about the nature of the attentional processes that foster flow and how attentional practices can be formed optimally. For example how it is learned what goals deserve attention or how flow can lead to addiction to computer games for instance. Also the situating of flow is an important issue for future research.

Conclusion

Flow serves as a buffer against adversity and it also prevents pathology, its major contribution to the quality of life consist in endowing momentary experience with value.