Flow (psychology)


Flow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in 'the zone or locked in', is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time. Flow is the melting together of action and consciousness; the state of finding a balance between a skill and how challenging that task is. It requires a high level of concentration. Flow is used as a coping skill for stress and anxiety when productively pursuing a form of leisure that matches one's skill set.
First presented in the 1975 book Beyond Boredom and Anxiety by the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the concept has been widely referred to across a variety of fields.
The flow state shares many characteristics with hyperfocus. However, hyperfocus is not always described in a positive light. Some examples include spending "too much" time playing video games or becoming pleasurably absorbed by one aspect of an assignment or task to the detriment of the overall assignment. In some cases, hyperfocus can "capture" a person, perhaps causing them to appear unfocused or to start several projects, but complete few. Hyperfocus is often mentioned "in the context of autism, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – conditions that have consequences on attentional abilities."
Flow is an individual experience and the idea behind flow originated from the sport psychology theory about an Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning. The individuality of the concept of flow suggests that each person has their subjective area of flow, where they would function best given the situation. One is most likely to experience flow at moderate levels of psychological arousal, as one is unlikely to be overwhelmed, but not understimulated to the point of boredom.

Etymology

Flow is so named because, during Csíkszentmihályi's 1975 interviews, several people described their "flow" experiences using the metaphor of a water current carrying them along:

History

and others began researching flow after he became fascinated by artists who would essentially get lost in their work. Artists, especially painters, got so immersed in their work that they would disregard their need for food, water and even sleep. The theory of flow came about when Csikszentmihályi tried to understand the phenomenon experienced by these artists. Flow research became prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s, with Csikszentmihályi and his colleagues in Italy still at the forefront. Researchers grew interested in optimal experiences and emphasizing positive experiences, especially in places such as schools and the business world. They also began studying the theory of flow at this time.
The cognitive science of flow has been studied under the rubric of effortless attention.

Components

Jeanne Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow:
  1. Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
  2. Merging of action and awareness
  3. A loss of reflective self-consciousness
  4. A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
  5. A distortion of temporal experience, as one's subjective experience of time is altered
  6. Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience
Those aspects can appear independently of each other, but only in combination do they constitute a so-called flow experience. Additionally, psychology writer Kendra Cherry has mentioned three other components that Csíkszentmihályi lists as being a part of the flow experience:
  1. Immediate feedback
  2. Feeling the potential to succeed
  3. Feeling so engrossed in the experience that other needs become negligible
Just as with the conditions listed above, these conditions can be independent of one another.
In 2021, Cameron Norsworthy and colleagues aimed to address the inconsistencies and concerns of many of the flow-related models and studies, and proposed a framework that differentiated the flow antecedents and experiential dimensions. Norsworthy identified a core experience of flow including overarching antecedent constructs:
  1. Optimal challenge: A perceived capability to meet the challenging demands of the situation
  2. High motivation: A high motivational force
And recurring characteristics of the flow experience itself included:
  1. Absorption: A state of absorption in the task characterized by focused, undistracted attention, and a merging of action and awareness
  2. Effort-less control: A high sense of control in which the task feels less effortful than is typical for that person, characterized by fluidity of performance and an absence of concern over losing control
  3. Intrinsic reward: An intrinsically rewarding experience characterized by positive valence and optimal levels of arousal
The proposed definition of flow: Flow is an intrinsically rewarding state of absorption in a task in which a high degree of control feels more effort-less than normal.

Mechanism

In any given moment, a great deal of information is made available to each individual. Psychologists have found that one's mind can attend to only a certain amount of information at a time. According to Csikszentmihályi's 2004 TED talk, that number is about "110 bits of information per second." That may seem like a lot of information, but simple daily tasks take quite a lot of information. Just decoding speech takes about 40–60 bits of information per second, which is why when having a conversation, one cannot focus as much attention on other things.
Generally, people have the ability to decide what they will give their full attention to. This excludes basic distinctive feelings, such as hunger and pain. However, when one is in the flow state, they are completely engrossed with the one task at hand and, without making the conscious decision to do so, lose awareness of all other things: time, people, distractions, and even basic bodily needs. According to Csikszentmihályi, this event occurs because all of the attention of the person in the flow state is on the task at hand; there is no more attention to be allocated.
The flow state has been described by Csikszentmihályi as the "optimal experience" in that one gets to a level of high gratification from the experience. Achieving this experience is considered to be personal and "depends on the ability" of the individual. One's capacity and desire to overcome challenges in order to achieve their ultimate goals leads not only to the optimal experience but also to a sense of life satisfaction overall.

Operationalizing flow

Despite the attraction of flow and the varying flow interventions there has existed no gold standard intervention to promote flow experiences. Recently, Norsworthy et al. found continued evidence that it may be possible to 'train' flow through an educational intervention of flow.

Measurement

There are three common ways to measure flow experiences: the flow questionnaire, the experience sampling method, and the "standardized scales of the componential approach."

Flow questionnaire

The FQ requires individuals to identify definitions of flow and situations in which they believe that they have experienced flow, followed by a section that asks them to evaluate their personal experiences in these flow-inducing situations. The FQ identifies flow as multiple constructs, therefore allowing the results to be used to estimate differences in the likelihood of experiencing flow across a variety of factors. Another strength of the FQ is that it does not assume that everyone's flow experiences are the same. Because of this, the FQ is the ideal measure for estimating the prevalence of flow. However, the FQ has some weaknesses that more recent methods have set out to address. The FQ does not allow for a measurement of the intensity of flow during specific activities. This method also does not measure the influence of the ratio of challenge to skill on the flow state.

Experience sampling method

The ESM requires individuals to fill out the experience sampling form at eight randomly chosen time intervals throughout the day. The purpose of this is to understand subjective experiences by estimating the time intervals that individuals spend in specific states during everyday life. The ESF is made up of 13 categorical items and 29 scaled items. The purpose of the categorical items is to determine the context and motivational aspects of the current actions. Because these are open-ended questions, the answers need to be coded by researchers. This needs to be done carefully so as to avoid any biases in the statistical analysis. The scaled items are intended to measure the levels of a variety of subjective feelings that the individual may be experiencing. The ESM is more complex than the FQ and contributes to understanding how flow plays out in a variety of situations. However, the possible biases make it a risky choice.

Standardized scales

Jackson and colleagues have created several scales that have been proven to be psychometrically valid and reliable: the Flow State Scale-2 , and the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 , being the most widely known. The statistical analysis of the DFS-2 and FSS-2 scales gives a more complete understanding of flow from a dimensional perspective than the ESM or the FQ. Jackson and colleagues also created short versions of the FSS-2 and DFS-2, and an additional brief scale that assesses the subjective experience of flow, called the Core Flow Scales. More recently, the Psychological Flow Scale that was designed to be used across domains and scientific disciplines was validated and offers a parsimonious alternative model of flow.