Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow.

Handbook of positive psychology, 89-105.

The Concept of Flow

Jeanne Nakamura & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

What constitutes a good life? Few questions are Flow research and theory had their origin in a
of more fundamental importance to a positive desire to understand this phenomenon of in-
psychology. Flow research has yielded one an- trinsically motivated, or autotelic, activity: ac-
swer, providing an understanding of experiences tivity rewarding in and of itself (auto self,
during which individuals are fully involved in telos goal), quite apart from its end product
the present moment. Viewed through the ex- or any extrinsic good that might result from the
periential lens of ow, a good life is one that is activity.
characterized by complete absorption in what Signicant research had been conducted on
one does. In this chapter, we describe the ow the intrinsic motivation concept by this period
model of optimal experience and optimal devel- (summarized in Deci & Ryan, 1985). Never-
opment, explain how ow and related constructs theless, no systematic empirical research had
have been measured, discuss recent work in this been undertaken to clarify the subjective phe-
area, and identify some promising directions for nomenology of intrinsically motivated activ-
future research. ity. Csikszentmihalyi (1975/2000) investigated
the nature and conditions of enjoyment by inter-
viewing chess players, rock climbers, dancers,
Optimal Experience and Its Role and others who emphasized enjoyment as the
in Development main reason for pursuing an activity. The re-
searchers focused on play and games, where in-
trinsic rewards are salient. Additionally, they
The Flow Concept
studied workspecically, surgerywhere the
Studying the creative process in the 1960s extrinsic rewards of money and prestige could by
(Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi, 1976), Csikszent- themselves justify participation. They formed a
mihalyi was struck by the fact that when work picture of the general characteristics of optimal
on a painting was going well, the artist persisted experience and its proximal conditions, nding
single-mindedly, disregarding hunger, fatigue, that the reported phenomenology was remark-
and discomfortyet rapidly lost interest in the ably similar across play and work settings. The
artistic creation once it had been completed. conditions of ow include:

89
90 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

Perceived challenges, or opportunities for ac- literary writing (Perry, 1999), and other activ-
tion, that stretch (neither overmatching nor ities. The experience is the same across lines of
underutilizing) existing skills; a sense that culture, class, gender, and age, as well as across
one is engaging challenges at a level appro- kinds of activity.
priate to ones capacities Flow research was pursued throughout the
Clear proximal goals and immediate feedback 1980s and 1990s in the laboratories of Csik-
about the progress that is being made. szentmihalyi and colleagues in Italy (e.g., Csik-
szentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Ing-
Being in ow is the way that some inter- hilleri, 1999; Massimini & Carli, 1988;
viewees described the subjective experience of Massimini & Delle Fave, 2000). The research in
engaging just-manageable challenges by tack- Italy employed the Experience Sampling
ling a series of goals, continuously processing Method (ESM), using pagers to randomly sam-
feedback about progress, and adjusting action ple everyday experience. It yielded several re-
based on this feedback. Under these conditions, nements of the model of experiential states
experience seamlessly unfolds from moment to and dynamics in which the ow concept is em-
moment, and one enters a subjective state with bedded. The ESM and the theoretical advances
the following characteristics: that it made possible are discussed in the section
on measuring ow.
Intense and focused concentration on what During the 1980s and 1990s, the ow concept
one is doing in the present moment also was embraced by researchers studying opti-
Merging of action and awareness mal experience (e.g., leisure, play, sports, art, in-
Loss of reective self-consciousness (i.e., loss trinsic motivation) and by researchers and prac-
of awareness of oneself as a social actor) titioners working in contexts where fostering
A sense that one can control ones actions; positive experience is especially important (in
that is, a sense that one can in principle deal particular, formal schooling at all levels). In ad-
with the situation because one knows how to dition, the concept of ow had growing impact
respond to whatever happens next outside academia, in the spheres of popular cul-
Distortion of temporal experience (typically, a ture, professional sport, business, and politics.
sense that time has passed faster than normal) In the 1980s, work on ow was assimilated
Experience of the activity as intrinsically re- by psychology primarily within the humanistic
warding, such that often the end goal is just tradition of Maslow and Rogers (McAdams,
an excuse for the process. 1990) or as part of the empirical literature on
intrinsic motivation and interest (e.g., Deci &
When in ow, the individual operates at full Ryan, 1985; Renninger, Hidi, & Krapp, 1992).
capacity (cf. de Charms, 1968; Deci, 1975; In recent years, a model of the individual as a
White, 1959). The state is one of dynamic equi- proactive, self-regulating organism interacting
librium. Entering ow depends on establishing with the environment has become increasingly
a balance between perceived action capacities central in psychology (for reviews, see Brand-
and perceived action opportunities (cf. optimal stadter, 1998; Magnusson & Stattin, 1998). This
arousal, Berlyne, 1960; Hunt, 1965). The bal- is highly compatible with the model of psycho-
ance is intrinsically fragile. If challenges begin logical functioning and development formed in
to exceed skills, one rst becomes vigilant and concert with the ow concept (Csikszentmihalyi
then anxious; if skills begin to exceed chal- & Rathunde, 1998; Inghilleri, 1999).
lenges, one rst relaxes and then becomes A key characteristic that the ow model
bored. Shifts in subjective state provide feedback shares with these other contemporary theories
about the changing relationship to the environ- is interactionism (Magnusson & Stattin, 1998).
ment. Experiencing anxiety or boredom presses Rather than focusing on the person, abstracted
a person to adjust his or her level of skill and/ from context (i.e., traits, personality types, sta-
or challenge in order to escape the aversive state ble dispositions), ow research has emphasized
and reenter ow. the dynamic system composed of person and
The original account of the ow state has environment, as well as the phenomenology of
proven remarkably robust, conrmed through person-environment interactions. Rock climb-
studies of art and science (Csikszentmihalyi, ers, surgeons, and others who routinely nd
1996), aesthetic experience (Csikszentmihalyi & deep enjoyment in an activity illustrate how an
Robinson, 1990), sport (Jackson, 1995, 1996), organized set of challenges and a corresponding
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 91

set of skills result in optimal experience. The model of experience, consciousness, and the self
activities afford rich opportunities for action. that was developed in conjunction with the ow
Complementarily, effectively engaging these concept (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi,
challenges depends on the possession of relevant 1988). According to this model, people are con-
capacities for action. The effortless absorption fronted with an overwhelming amount of in-
experienced by the practiced artist at work on a formation. Consciousness is the complex system
difcult project always is premised upon earlier that has evolved in humans for selecting infor-
mastery of a complex body of skills. mation from this profusion, processing it, and
Because the direction of the unfolding ow storing it. Information appears in consciousness
experience is shaped by both person and envi- through the selective investment of attention.
ronment, we speak of emergent motivation in Once attended to, information enters aware-
an open system (Csikszentmihalyi, 1985): what ness, the system encompassing all of the pro-
happens at any moment is responsive to what cesses that take place in consciousness, such as
happened immediately before within the inter- thinking, willing, and feeling about this infor-
action, rather than being dictated by a preexist- mation (i.e., cognition, motivation, and emo-
ing intentional structure located within either tion). The memory system then stores and re-
the person (e.g., a drive) or the environment trieves the information. We can think of
(e.g., a tradition or script). Here, motivation is subjective experience as the content of con-
emergent in the sense that proximal goals arise sciousness.
out of the interaction; later we will consider the The self emerges when consciousness comes
companion notion of emergent long-term goals, into existence and becomes aware of itself as
such as new interests. information about the body, subjective states,
In one sense, an asymmetry characterizes the past memories, and the personal future. Mead
person-environment equation. It is the subjec- (1934; cf. James, 1890/1981) distinguished be-
tively perceived opportunities and capacities for tween two aspects of the self, the knower (the
action that determine experience. That is, there I) and the known (the me). In our terms,
is no objectively dened body of information these two aspects of the self reect (a) the sum
and set of challenges within the stream of the of ones conscious processes and (b) the infor-
persons experience, but rather the information mation about oneself that enters awareness
that is selectively attended to and the opportu- when one becomes the object of ones own at-
nities for action that are perceived. Likewise, it tention. The self becomes organized around
is not meaningful to speak about a persons goals (see Locke, this volume; Snyder, Rand, &
skills and attentional capacities in objective Sigmon, this volume).
terms; what enters into lived experience are Consciousness gives us a measure of control,
those capacities for action and those attentional freeing us from complete subservience to the
resources and biases (e.g., trait interest) that are dictates of genes and culture by representing
engaged by this presently encountered environ- them in awareness, thereby introducing the al-
ment. ternative of rejecting rather than enacting them.
Sports, games, and other ow activities pro- Consciousness thus serves as a clutch between
vide goal and feedback structures that make ow programmed instructions and adaptive behav-
more likely. A given individual can nd ow in iors (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi,
almost any activity, howeverworking a cash 1988, p. 21). Alongside the genetic and cultural
register, ironing clothes, driving a car. Simi- guides to action, it establishes a teleonomy of
larly, under certain conditions and depending the self, a set of goals that have been freely cho-
on an individuals history with the activity, al- sen by the individual (cf. Brandstadter, 1998;
most any pursuita museum visit, a round of Deci & Ryan, 1985). It might, of course, prove
golf, a game of chesscan bore or create anx- dangerous to disengage our behavior from di-
iety. It is the subjective challenges and subjec- rect control by the genetic and cultural instruc-
tive skills, not objective ones, that inuence the tions that have evolved over millennia of adapt-
quality of a persons experience. ing to the environment. On the other hand,
doing so may increase the chances for adaptive
t with the present environment, particularly
Flow, Attention, and the Self
under conditions of radical or rapid change.
To understand what happens in ow experi- Attentional processes shape a persons expe-
ences, we need to invoke the more general rience. The ability to regulate ones attention is
92 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

underappreciated. As we have noted elsewhere,

Flow, Complexity, and Development
What to pay attention to, how intensely and
for how long, are choices that will determine the When attention is completely absorbed in the
content of consciousness, and therefore the ex- challenges at hand, the individual achieves an
periential information available to the organ- ordered state of consciousness. Thoughts, feel-
ism. Thus, William James was right in claiming, ings, wishes, and action are in concert. Subjec-
My experience is what I agree to attend to. tive experience is both differentiated and inte-
Only those items which I notice shape my grated, the dening qualities of a complex
mind (Csikszentmihalyi, 1978, p. 339). The phenomenon.
choices made are critical because attention is - The notion of complexity applies in a second
nite, limiting the amount of information that sense, as well. The ow state is intrinsically re-
can be processed in consciousness (Csikszent- warding and leads the individual to seek to rep-
mihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). This infor- licate ow experiences; this introduces a selec-
mation is the medium of exchange between per- tive mechanism into psychological functioning
son and environment, as well as the material that fosters growth. As people master chal-
out of which the self is formed. lenges in an activity, they develop greater lev-
Attention thus plays a key role in entering els of skill, and the activity ceases to be as in-
and staying in ow. Entering ow is largely a volving as before. In order to continue
function of how attention has been focused in experiencing ow, they must identify and en-
the past and how it is focused in the present by gage progressively more complex challenges.
the activitys structural conditions. Interests de- The teleonomy of the self is thus a growth
veloped in the past will direct attention to spe- principle; the optimal level of challenge
cic challenges. Clear proximal goals, immedi- stretches existing skills (cf. Vygotsky, 1978),
ate feedback, and just-manageable levels of resulting in a more complex set of capacities
challenge orient the organism, in a unied and for action. This factor distinguishes the ow
coordinated way, so that attention becomes model from theories that dene optimal chal-
completely absorbed into the stimulus eld de- lenge in terms of either a homeostatic equilib-
ned by the activity. rium point to be returned to or a maximum
The phenomenology of ow reects atten- level of challenge to be reached (Moneta &
tional processes. Intense concentration, perhaps Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). A ow activity not
the dening quality of ow, is just another way only provides a set of challenges or opportuni-
of saying that attention is wholly invested in ties for action but it typically also provides a
the present exchange. Action and awareness system of graded challenges, able to accommo-
merge in the absence of spare attention that date a persons continued and deepening enjoy-
might allow objects beyond the immediate in- ment as skills grow.
teraction to enter awareness. One such object is The teleonomy of the self is a source of new
the self; the loss of self-consciousness in ow goals and interests, as well as new capacities for
marks the fading of Meads me from aware- action in relation to existing interests (Csik-
ness, as attention is taken up entirely by the szentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1999). That is, pre-
challenges being engaged. The passage of time, viously we observed that possessing skills and
a basic parameter of experience, becomes dis- interest in an activity is one precondition for
torted because attention is so fully focused else- nding ow in it. Descending a staircase is an
where. almost unnoticed means to an end for the
Staying in ow requires that attention be person on foot, but it might be a beckoning op-
held by this limited stimulus eld. Apathy, portunity for ow to the person on a skate-
boredom, and anxiety, like ow, are largely board. The phenomenon of emergent motiva-
functions of how attention is being structured tion means we can come to experience a new or
at a given time. In boredom, and even more so previously unengaging activity as intrinsically
in apathy, the low level of challenge relative to motivating if we once nd ow in it. The mo-
skills allows attention to drift. In anxiety, per- tivation to persist in or return to the activity
ceived challenges exceed capacities. Particularly arises out of the experience itself. The ow ex-
in contexts of extrinsic motivation, attention perience is thus a force for expansion in relation
shifts to the self and its shortcomings, creating to the individuals goal and interest structure,
a self-consciousness that impedes engagement as well as for growth of skills in relation to an
of the challenges. existing interest.
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 93

scientic inquiry throughout many of the years

The Autotelic Personality
since the decline of introspectionist psychology.
As noted previously, ow theory and research Attention to subjective experience has grown
have focused on phenomenology rather than recently (Richardson, 1999), however, increas-
personality. The goal has been to understand ing interest in the methods used in ow re-
the dynamics of momentary experience and the search. Several self-report tools have been fash-
conditions under which it is optimal. The ca- ioned in order to study this inherently unstable,
pacity to experience ow appears to be nearly un-self-conscious, subjective phenomenon, in-
universal. Nevertheless, people vary widely in cluding interviews, paper-and-pencil measures,
the frequency of reported ow. People also dif- and the Experience Sampling Method.
fer in the quality of their experience, and in
their desire to be doing what they are doing,
Interview
when their capacities and their opportunities for
action are simultaneously high. This suggests As described, the ow concept emerged out of
that the latter balance represents an important qualitative interviews about the nature of the
but not a sufcient condition for ow. experience when a particular activity is going
From the beginning, Csikszentmihalyi (1975/ well (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975/2000). The semi-
2000) recognized the possibility of an autotelic structured interview provides a holistic, emic
personality, a person who tends to enjoy life or account of the ow experience in real-life con-
generally does things for their own sake, text. It was a critical tool in initially identifying
rather than in order to achieve some later ex- and delineating dimensions and dynamics of the
ternal goal (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997, p. 117). ow experience. It continues to be the approach
This kind of personality is distinguished by sev- of choice in studies directed toward rich, inte-
eral metaskills or competencies that enable the grated description. For example, Jackson (1995)
individual to enter ow and stay in it. These has asked elite athletes to describe a ow ex-
metaskills include a general curiosity and perience, distinguishing the characteristics of
interest in life, persistence, and low self- the state, factors that help and hinder entry
centeredness, which result in the ability to be into the state, factors that disrupt it, and degree
motivated by intrinsic rewards. Despite the im- of control over it. Perry (1999) has focused
portance of the topic, little theory or research writers on the most recent occasion when they
was devoted to autotelic personality prior to lost track of time while writing, asking them to
1990. Later in this chapter, we will discuss re- describe what led up to the experience and how
search in this area conducted during the past they deal with blocks that keep them out of
decade. ow.

Questionnaire
Measuring Flow and
One-time paper-and-pencil measures have been
Autotelic Personality
used when the goal is not to identify but instead
to measure dimensions of the ow experience
Researchers have developed means of measur-
and/or differences in its occurrence across con-
ing intraindividual (e.g., cross-context) and in-
texts or individuals. The Flow Questionnaire
terindividual differences in the frequency of
presents respondents with several passages de-
ow. More recently, increased attention has
scribing the ow state and asks (a) whether they
been paid to measuring individual differences in
have had the experience, (b) how often, and (c)
autotelic personality, the disposition to experi-
in what activity contexts (Csikszentmihalyi &
ence ow. Next, we briey summarize the mea-
Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). The quotations used
sures used in ow research.
were drawn from the original interviews about
ow activities (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975/2000),
one each from a dancer, a rock climber, and a
Measuring Flow
composer. Allison and Duncan (1988) presented
Psychology has devoted limited attention to de- a sample of working women with an additional
veloping methods for the systematic investiga- composite description of anti-ow experience
tion of subjective experience. The phenomenon encompassing the aversive states of anxiety,
has been viewed as falling outside the sphere of boredom, and apathy.
94 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

The Flow Scale (Mayers, 1978) elicits an es- exist, based on the balance of challenges (or op-
timate of the frequency with which a person portunities for action) and skills (abilities to deal
experiences each of ten dimensions of the ow with the situation) and/or (b) the ow state is
experience (e.g., I get involved, I get direct reported. The latter usually is measured by
clues as to how well I am doing). The instru- summing the self-reported levels of concentra-
ment has been used as a repeated measure to tion, involvement, and enjoyment, which are
assess differences across activity contexts in the typically measured on 10-point scales. These
extent to which the ow dimensions are expe- three dimensions provide a good proxy for what
rienced. Delle Fave and Massimini (1988) uti- is in reality a much more complex state of con-
lized the Flow Questionnaire and Flow Scale in sciousness.
tandem to identify a persons ow activities and The rst mapping of the phenomenological
then compare the persons rating of the ow landscape in terms of perceived challenges and
dimensions for primary ow activities with skills identied three regions of experience
those for a standardized set of everyday activi- (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975/2000): a ow channel
ties (e.g., work, TV viewing). More recently, along which challenges and skills matched; a re-
paper-and-pencil scales have been developed to gion of boredom, as opportunities for action rela-
measure the ow state in specic contexts, in- tive to skills dropped off; and a region of anxiety,
cluding sport (Jackson & Marsh, 1996) and psy- as challenges increasingly exceeded capacities for
chotherapeutic practice (Parks, 1996). action. This mapping was based on the original ac-
counts of deep ow (see Figure 7.1a).
Initial analyses of ESM data were not consis-
The Experience Sampling Method
tent with this mapping, however. Simply bal-
Interview and questionnaire approaches are lim- ancing challenges and skills did not optimize the
ited by (a) their reliance on retrospective recon- quality of experience. As Massimini and his col-
struction of past experience and (b) the require- leagues claried, inherent in the ow concept is
ment that respondents rst average across many the notion of skill stretching. Activities provid-
discrete experiences to compose a picture of the ing minimal opportunities for action do not lead
typical subjective experience when things are to ow, regardless of whether the actor expe-
going well, and then estimate the frequency riences a balance between perceived challenge
and/or intensity of this experience. The study and skill. Much of TV viewing exemplies the
of ow has progressed in large part because re- less than optimal experience when low skills
searchers in the late 1970s developed a tool match low challenges (Kubey & Csikszentmi-
uniquely suited to the study of situated expe- halyi, 1990). Operationally, the Milan group re-
rience, including optimal experience. Full de-
scriptions of the Experience Sampling Method
(ESM) can be found elsewhere (e.g., Csikszent-
mihalyi & Larson, 1987). Subjects are equipped
with paging devices (pagers, programmable
watches, or handheld computers); these signal
them, at preprogrammed times, to complete a
questionnaire describing the moment at which
they were paged. The method takes samples
from the stream of actual everyday experience.
Unlike diaries and time budgets, use of the ESM
from the beginning focused on sampling not
only activities but also cognitive, emotional, and
motivational states, providing a tool for build-
ing a systematic phenomenology. Contents of
the questionnaire vary depending on the re-
search goals, as do paging schedules and study
duration. A quasi-random schedule with data Figure 7.1a The original model of the ow state.
collected for one week has been widely used to Flow is experienced when perceived opportunities
provide a representative picture of daily life. for action are in balance with the actors perceived
ESM studies of ow have focused on the sam- skills. Adapted from Csikszentmihalyi (1975/
pled moments when (a) the conditions for ow 2000).
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 95

dened ow as the balance of challenges and halyi, 1996; Moneta & Csikszentmihalyi, 1996),
skills when both are above average levels for retaining the essential insight that perceived
the individual. That is, ow is expected to occur challenges and skills must be relative to a per-
when individuals perceive greater opportunities sons own average levels.
for action than they encounter on average in
their daily lives, and have skills adequate to en-
Measuring the Autotelic Personality
gage them. This shift led to an important re-
mapping of the phenomenological terrain, re- As interest in the autotelic personality has
vealing a fourth state, apathy, associated with grown, researchers have sought a way to mea-
low challenges and correspondingly low skills. sure it with the naturalistic data provided by the
Experientially, it is a sphere of stagnation and ESM. Time spent in ow has been the most
attentional diffusion, the inverse of the ow widely used measure of the general propensity
state. toward ow (Adlai-Gail, 1994; Hektner, 1996).
The Milan group subsequently showed that However, time in ow also reects the range of
the resolution of this phenomenological map action opportunities that happen to be available
can be made ner by differentiating the chal- in the individuals environment during the sam-
lenge/skill terrain into eight experiential chan- pling period. Other researchers therefore have
nels rather than four quadrants (see Figure operationalized the disposition as intrinsic mo-
7.1b). The quality of experience intensies tivation in high-challenge, high-skill situations,
within a channel or quadrant as challenges and reected in low mean scores on the item I wish
skills move away from a persons average levels. to be doing something else when subjective
Operationally, they divided the challenge/skill challenges and skills are both above average
space into a series of concentric rings, associated (Abuhamdeh, 2000; Csikszentmihalyi & Le-
with increasing intensity of experience. A re- Fevre, 1989).
searcher might decide to focus only on the outer A more traditional paper-and-pencil measure
rings of the ow channel, theoretically the re- was utilized by Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde,
gion of the deep ow experiences described in and Whalen (1993). They dened autotelic per-
the early interviews. Subsequent researchers sonality as the conjunction of receptive and ac-
have experimented with different challenge/ tive qualities, one measured by the Jackson PRF
skill formulas (e.g., Hektner & Csikszentmi- factors of Sentience and Understanding and the
other by Achievement and Endurance (Jackson,
1984). They theorized that jointly these quali-
ties would account for autotelic individuals
openness to new challenges and readiness to en-
gage and persist in high-challenge activities, key
aspects of the metaskills that contribute to get-
ting into ow and staying there (Csikszentmi-
halyi & Nakamura, 1989; Csikszentmihalyi et
al., 1993; Inghilleri, 1999).

Recent Directions in Flow Research

The past decade has seen developments on sev-

eral fronts in the understanding of ow. In large
part this has been due to longitudinal ESM
studies of adolescent and adult samples being
Figure 7.1b The current model of the ow state. conducted at the University of Chicago.
Flow is experienced when perceived challenges and
skills are above the actors average levels; when Consequences of Flow
they are below, apathy is experienced. Intensity of
experience increases with distance from the actors According to the ow model, experiencing ow
average levels of challenge and skill, as shown by encourages a person to persist at and return to
the concentric rings. Adapted from Csikszentmi- an activity because of the experiential rewards
halyi (1997). it promises, and thereby fosters the growth of
96 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

skills over time. In several studies, ow was as- doubtedly accounts for a portion of the interest
sociated with commitment and achievement dur- paid to ow in recent years. However, this in-
ing the high school years (Carli, Delle Fave, & terest, in a sense, misses the point. From the
Massimini, 1988; Mayers, 1978; Nakamura, perspective of the individual, the ow state is a
1988). More recently, a longitudinal ESM study self-justifying experience; it is, by denition, an
of talented high school students provided evi- end in itself. We continue to be reminded of this
dence of a relationship between quality of expe- by studies of ow in particular activity contexts.
rience and persistence in an activity. Students That is, a distinct strand of ow research can
still committed to their talent area at age 17 were be traced forward through the 1980s and 1990s
compared with peers who already had disen- from the original study of ow activities. In this
gaged. Four years earlier, those currently still line of research, qualitative interviews have
committed had experienced more ow and less yielded domain-specic descriptions of deep
anxiety than their peers when engaged in school- ow in diverse activities: elite and nonelite sport
related activities; they also were more likely to (Jackson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999; Kimiecik &
have identied their talent area as a source of Harris, 1996); literary writing (Perry, 1999) and
ow (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993). In a longi- artistic and scientic creativity more generally
tudinal study of students talented in mathemat- (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996); social activism (Colby
ics (Heine, 1996), those who experienced ow in & Damon, 1992); and aesthetic experience
the rst part of a course performed better in the (Csikszentmihalyi & Robinson, 1990). As noted
second half, controlling for their initial abilities earlier, these studies conrm the basic contours
and grade point average. Because the self grows of the ow state, demonstrating how universal
through ow experiences, we also might expect they are across activity contexts. Research also
time spent in ow to predict self-esteem. Corre- is yielding a differentiated picture of the sources
lational studies with ESM data support this ex- of ow within particular contexts. For example,
pectation (Adlai-Gail, 1994; Wells, 1988). Trevino and Trevino (1992), Webster and Mar-
In addition to enhancing positive outcomes, tocchio (1993), and others have explored how
longitudinal research suggests that mastering ow can be facilitated in software design and
challenges in daily life may protect against neg- computer-mediated communication. Shernoff,
ative outcomes (Schmidt, 2000). For American Knauth, and Makris (2000) examined levels of
adolescents who had experienced high adversity ow across academic and nonacademic classes
at home and/or at school, the availability of and across different types of classroom activity,
challenging activities, involvement in these ac- in an ESM study of adolescents using a national
tivities, and sense of success when engaged in sample. Paralleling well-documented differences
them were all associated with diminished delin- in quality of experience between active and pas-
quency two years later. sive leisure pursuits (e.g., sports vs. TV view-
Teenagers quality of experience in everyday ing), levels of ow were higher in active
life, understood in terms of the subjective chal- classwork (taking tests, participating in groups,
lenge/skill landscape, also may have conse- working individually) than in passive class-
quences for physical health (Patton, 1999). In work (listening to lectures, watching videos or
the same representative national sample of ad- television).
olescents, time spent in relaxation (low- As new ESM studies are conducted, we con-
challenge, high-skill) situations was associated tinue to clarify the general features of the ex-
with greater freedom from physical pain 2 and periential landscape dened by the interaction
4 years later as well as concurrently. Apparent of challenges and skills. Selected data from a re-
risk factors with respect to quality of experience cent large-scale ESM study of adolescents illus-
differed by gender. The amount of physical pain trate the current picture (see Figure 7.2). For
reported 2 and 5 years later (and concurrently) each challenge/skill combination, Figure 7.2
was correlated with time spent in anxiety (high- shows the mean ratings for several key experi-
challenge, low-skill) situations for girls, but ential variables: concentration, enjoyment, wish
with time spent in apathy (low-challenge, low- to be doing the activity, self-esteem, and per-
skill) situations for boys. ceived importance to the future. Schoolwork is
prevalent in the high-challenge, low-skill (anx-
iety) quadrant; structured leisure, schoolwork,
The Nature and Dynamics of Flow
and work in the high-challenge, high-skill
The accumulating evidence for positive corre- (ow) quadrant; socializing and eating in the
lates and outcomes of the ow experience un- low-challenge, high-skill (relaxation) quadrant;
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 97

Figure 7.2 Quality of experience in each ow quadrant for a national sample of American adolescents (n
824). Adapted from Hektner and Asakawa (2000).

and passive leisure and chores in the low- expansive, were selected over time as important
challenge, low-skill (apathy/boredom) quadrant. components of the human behavioral repertoire,
The anxiety quadrant is characterized, as ex- even though they motivate differentin some
pected, by high stakes but low enjoyment and sense, oppositebehaviors. The two distinctly
low motivation. Only in the ow quadrant are aversive situations, which organisms are pre-
all of the selected variables simultaneously sumably programmed to avoid, are those in
above the personal mean. In contrast, all are be- which one feels overwhelmed by environmental
low average in the apathy/boredom quadrant. demands (anxiety) or left with nothing to do
Concentration, self-esteem, and importance to (apathy).
future goals peak in the ow quadrant, whereas
enjoyment and wish to be doing the activity are
Obstacles and Facilitators to Flow
actually somewhat higher in the relaxation
quadrant. The quality of experience in the re- Studies conducted in the late 1980s and 1990s,
laxation quadrant is thus partially positive even including longitudinal ESM studies, have en-
though the stakes are not high and attention is abled advances in knowledge about the condi-
unfocused. Marking a shift in the model, the tions of ow. We look rst at obstacles to op-
current mapping of the experiential landscape timal experience; we then turn to research on
labels the low-challenge, high-skill quadrant as facilitators and causes of ow. We focus on two
relaxation to capture the mixed nature of the impediments to ow that concern the subjective
subjective state, which is less aversive than orig- construction of experience.
inally thought.
We speculate that two kinds of experiences
Preference for Relaxation Versus Flow
might be intrinsically rewarding: one involving
conservation of energy (relaxation), the other As noted previously, the quality of experience
involving the use of skills to seize ever-greater appears to be more positive than originally ex-
opportunities (ow). It is consistent with cur- pected in the low-challenge, high-skill space ad-
rent understandings of evolution to suppose jacent to the ow channel or quadrant. One pos-
that both of these strategies for coping with the sible cause is that, at least for American
environment, one conservative and the other adolescents, it is not uncommon in the context
98 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

of schoolwork to feel overchallenged when do) versus leisure (viewed as what one freely
stakes are high. The situation induces self- chooses).
consciousness (cf. ego orientation), challenge An ESM study of students in grades 6
becomes a stress rather than an opportunity for through 12 revealed that these attitudes toward
action, and reducing the level of challenge be- work and play are already in place by sixth
comes an attractive option. This interpretation grade and intensify across the adolescent years
appeared to be borne out in comparisons of nor- (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Motivation in experi-
mal American adolescents, Italian adolescents at ences characterized as work (academic classes
an elite school, and talented high school stu- and, later, paid jobs) was lower than in experi-
dents in the United States. For the sample of ences characterized as play (e.g., passive activ-
normal American adolescents, motivation ities like TV viewing), even though the worklike
(Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1989) and hap- experiences were associated with higher concen-
piness (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 1993) tration, importance to the future, and self-
were greater in low-challenge, high-skill situa- esteem. On a positive note, 10% of the time
tions than when challenges and skills were si- sampled, students reported engaging in extra-
multaneously high. curricular activities and pursuing art, games, and
hobbies outside of formal settings. They labeled
these activities as simultaneously worklike and
Attitudes Toward Work and Play
playlike and experienced them as both important
The work-play distinction as it relates to sub- and enjoyable. In addition, both play and
jective experience has been an important thread work were more positive than experiences that
running through ow research. The original were labeled neither worklike nor playlike (e.g.,
ow study showed that work, as well as play, maintenance activities like chores).
can occasion deep ow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975/ We turn next to facilitators of ow. Our in-
2000; see also Delle Fave & Massimini, 1988). terest here is in extrasituational factors; we fo-
Haworths (1997) ESM research on unemployed cus on autotelic personality and autotelic fami-
youth in the United Kingdom underlined this lies.
similarity between work and play. Whereas un-
employment provides few opportunities for
Autotelic Personality
ow because the perceived challenges are low in
everyday life, both work and play can provide Individuals vary in the time spent in ow. Over
a structured source of challenges in ones life. one third of those surveyed in U.S. and German
Beginning with LeFevre (1988), however, re- polls (responding to slightly different questions)
search revealed a paradox about work that per- estimated that they rarely or never experienced
haps could be detected only with ESM data. In involvement so intense that they lose track of
a heterogeneous sample of adult workers, mul- time (42% of Americans, 35% of Germans),
tiple dimensions of subjective experience (e.g., whereas about one fth (16% of Americans,
concentrating, feeling happy, strong, creative, 23% of Germans) reported having such expe-
and satised) were signicantly more positive in riences daily (Gallup Poll, 1998; Noelle-
high-challenge, high-skill situations than else- Neumann, 1995). Adopting a different metric,
where, and this was true both at work and at LeFevre (1988) found that a sample of adult
leisure. Furthermore, signicantly more time workers included about 40% who were most
was spent in high-challenge, high-skill situa- motivated in high-challenge, high-skill situa-
tions at work than at leisure, whereas the op- tions and about 40% who were most motivated
posite was true of time spent in low-challenge, in low-challenge, low-skill situations; the for-
low-skill situations. Work life was dominated mer might be called autotelic individuals. Mea-
by efcacy experiences and leisure time by mo- suring autotelic personality similarly with
ments of apathy. Despite this experiential pat- young adults, Hektner (1996) conrmed that
tern, workers wished to be doing something else autotelics were least happy and motivated in
when they were working and wished to be do- apathy (low-challenge, low-skill) situations,
ing just what they were doing when at leisure whereas nonautotelics (those least motivated in
(LeFevre, 1988). Motivation seemed insensitive high-challenge, high-skill situations) did not
to the actual data of the workers own experi- nd the apathy condition aversive. Individual
ence, being driven instead by their cultural prej- differences thus clearly exist. What correlates
udices about work (viewed as what one has to and consequences do they have?
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 99

Studying a national sample of American cupational therapy (Emerson, 1998; Rebeiro &
teenagers, Adlai-Gail (1994) showed that auto- Polgar, 1998).
telic personality, measured by time in ow, has Flow principles have been translated into
positive correlates. Autotelic students had more practice in a variety of contexts. Two types of
well-dened future goals and reported more intervention can be distinguished: (a) those
positive cognitive and affective states. For a seeking to shape activity structures and envi-
sample of American adults, Abuhamdeh (2000) ronments so that they foster ow or obstruct it
compared autotelics and nonautotelics, dened less and (b) those attempting to assist individ-
by preference for high-action-opportunity, uals in nding ow. The former include inter-
high-skill situations. His research begins to sug- ventions to make work a greater source of ow,
gest how high-action-opportunity, high-skill such as efforts by the Swedish police to identify
situations are distinctively experienced by au- obstacles to ow in the organization of police
totelics, showing that autotelics experience less work and then to restructure it along lines more
stress and strain in the ow quadrant than out- conducive to ow on the beat. Likewise, factory
side of it, whereas the reverse is true for non- work has been evaluated and reorganized to en-
autotelics. hance ow at a Volvo automotive plant. Several
art museums, including the Getty Museum in
Los Angeles, have incorporated ow principles
Autotelic Families
during their design of exhibits and buildings.
The question thus becomes how autotelic per- Flow principles have informed product design at
sonality is shaped. Rathunde (1988, 1996) dem- Nissan USA, with the goal of making the use
onstrated with data from an ESM study of tal- of the product more enjoyable.
ented adolescents that autotelic personality is Educational settings present an opportunity
fostered in what he has called a complex fam- to apply the results of ow research most di-
ily environment, one that simultaneously pro- rectly. One experiment deserving mention is
vides support and challenge. Students from the 13-year-old Key School in Indianapolis,
complex families spent signicantly more time where the goal is to foster ow by inuencing
in high-challenge, high-skill situations and less both environment and individual (Whalen,
time in low-challenge, low-skill situations than 1999). This public elementary and middle
did the students from other types of families school seeks to (a) create a learning environ-
(e.g., ones that provided support or challenge ment that fosters ow experiences and (b) help
alone). They also felt more in control of their students form interests and develop the capacity
actions and better about themselves generally, and propensity to experience ow. In the Flow
and they reported more positive experience in Activities Center, students have regular oppor-
productive activities (e.g., studying). tunities to actively choose and engage in activ-
We might speculate that early schooling ex- ities related to their own interests and then pur-
periences are another critical contributor to the sue these activities without imposed demands or
development of autotelic personality. The Key pacing. The teacher supports childrens selection
School described in the next section represents and enjoyment of activities that challenge and
one educational program deliberately designed stretch them and helps the students to identify
to foster skills and propensity for ow, as well new challenges as their capacities grow. Based
as identication of interests. on observations of the Flow Activities Center
and conversations with teachers, Whalen con-
cluded that the center is effectively fostering
Interventions and Programs to serious play (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993)
Foster Flow and that it has introduced values of ow and
intrinsic motivation into the life of the school
Flow researchers have discussed how their nd- more generally.
ings might be applied by practitioners and peo- The most direct efforts to assist individuals in
ple in general (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, nding ow lie in the sphere of psychotherapy.
1996; Csikszentmihalyi & Robinson, 1990; The Milan group built on its extensive program
Jackson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999; Perry, 1999). of basic research to develop therapeutic inter-
The relevance of the ow concept is increasingly ventions aimed at transforming the structure of
noted in applied settings, such as the Montes- daily life toward more positive experience. Psy-
sori schools (Kahn, 2000) and the eld of oc- chiatric interventions informed by ow theory
100 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

have been successful in diverse cultural settings, assumption that once this is worked through,
including Nicaragua and northern Somalia happiness will take care of itself. The therapeu-
(Inghilleri, 1999). In Italy, the ESM, guided by tic approach described here reverses gure and
ow theory, has provided a tool for identifying ground. Use of ow principles allows therapy to
patterns in everyday experience and ways in be reoriented toward building on interests and
which these might be transformed (Inghilleri, strengths, taking advantage of the growth of
1999; Massimini, Csikszentmihalyi, & Carli, skill and condence (cf. Wells, 1988) that at-
1987). Additionally, it provides a means for tends ow experience, and enabling the individ-
monitoring ones success in transforming these ual to reduce dysphoric experience as a by-
patternsa form of feedback about the extent product of this growth.
of change. ESM data reveal to patient and ther- The ESM also may provide the nonclinical
apist the disjunctions between attitudes and ac- population with a tool for personalized inter-
tual experience (as in the paradox of work de- vention directed toward prevention by optimiz-
scribed earlier, wherein work is disliked despite ing (vs. rehabilitating) patterns of everyday
being absorbing), and between professed and experience (cf. Snyder, Feldman, Taylor,
enacted preferences (i.e., strength of professed Schroeder, & Adams, 2000). The case example
commitment vs. actual time allocation). Like- just described raises the possibility of structur-
wise, by identifying activities that are intrinsi- ing the evaluation and transformation of ones
cally motivating, it pinpoints areas where opti- daily life more like a ow activity, making the
mal experience can be increased. change process itself more enjoyable by endow-
Delle Fave and Massimini (1992) reported a ing it with clear goals, clear and rapid feedback,
case study involving the 1-year psychotherapy and manageable challenges. As a tool for in-
of a young woman struggling with agoraphobia. sight, there should be many important appli-
She feared being alone in public and experi- cations of individual ESM use informed by ow
enced anxiety symptoms in crowds. Despite principles.
drug therapy, the womans life structure had A common theme of the educational and the
become narrowly circumscribed around work, therapeutic application of ow principles bears
accompanied travel, and home, containing her underlining. Their goal is not to foster the state
agoraphobia but at the expense of enjoyment of ow directly but rather to help individuals
and growth. At the outset, the Flow Question- identify activities that they enjoy and learn how
naire was administered in order to identify ac- to invest their attention in these activities.
tivities that had ever been sources of ow in the
womans daily life. Therapy focused on sup-
porting redirection of her time and attention Directions for Future Research
into these activities. During the year, nine
weeklong ESM samples were collected. The The interventions just described represent
ESM data constituted an integral part of treat- promising directions for future applied efforts.
ment: Experiential patterns (time use and as- In this section, we touch upon directions for fu-
sociated quality of experience) were discussed ture research.
with the client, along with strategies for trans-
forming her life structure. The young womans
Autotelic Personality: Attentional
symptoms disappeared over the course of treat-
Processes and Meaningful Goals
ment, as registered in the reallocation of time
away from TV viewing (i.e., homebound passive Much remains to be learned about the nature
leisure) and toward activities in public places of the autotelic personality and what qualities,
(e.g., volunteer work and socializing). Time metaskills, and dispositions characterize individ-
spent alone also increased because of reduced uals inclined and able to nd ow in daily life.
need for accompanied travel. Improvement in Beyond Rathundes (1988) work on the family
quality of experience was marked, with de- environment, research is needed on the critical
creased time in the low-challenge, low-skill con- contributors and obstacles to the development
ditions conducive to apathy and increased time of autotelic personality.
in the high-challenge, high-skill conditions con- For both basic knowledge and intervention,
ducive to ow. Drug treatment was discontin- fundamental and urgent questions concern the
ued after 10 months. nature of the attentional processes that foster
Many therapies focus on conict, under the ow and the way in which optimal attentional
 CHAPTER 7. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW 101

practices are formed (Hamilton, 1983). Being would observational studies in ow-promoting
able to control ones attention is what makes early settings.
unied action and experience possible. The ca-
pacity to direct and regulate ones own attention
Measurement of Flow
is always critical; whatever occupies attention
shapes experience and, through it, conscious- ESM researchers have developed multiple ways
ness, the self, and the culture. Under contem- of operationalizing the ow experience or den-
porary social conditions, the importance of the ing when an individual is in ow. As de-
self-regulation of attention is amplied. Individ- scribed, these include various state measures
uals encounter exponentially growing amounts (usually composite variables, including cogni-
of information from an ever-rising number of tive, affective, and motivational components)
sources, and they must decide how to invest and situational measures (indices of relative
their attention among these many possible challenge and skill). We may be nearing the
claimants. Because attention is recognized as a point when it will be advantageous to assess the
precious commodity, others compete aggres- pros and cons of different operationalizations
sively to attract, control, and direct it. and move toward a consensual ESM measure to
Elsewhere, we have reected on the amorality facilitate the accumulation of knowledge.
of ow, acknowledging that it is possible for A larger issue is the division of labor that has
people to seek ow in activities that are neutral grown up within ow research between (a) ESM
or destructive to the self and/or the culture studies of daily experience, in which deep ow
(e.g., Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1978; Csik- is represented only occasionally, and (b) inter-
szentmihalyi & Rathunde, 1993). As the ow view studies of deep ow, in which the dynam-
concept is taken up in applied settings, it be- ics of experience are accessible only through
comes increasingly clear that ow experiences retrospection. The reasons for the division of
also can be used to beguile others attention. labor are clearinterrupting deep ow, as the
Creating settings and objects that foster ow be- ESM would do, destroys the phenomenonbut
comes a means of controlling scarce attentional we should recognize the attendant limitations
resources. For each individual, the best defense on what we can learn and generalize from ESM
against the manipulation of ones limited atten- data. We may want to explore existing and con-
tion by others is to determine for oneself how ceivable alternatives. Some ESM research in fact
one wants to invest it and then attempt to do has been undertaken with strategically selected
so efciently and wisely. samples engaged in ow activities, such as in
A related issue is the question of how chil- the mountaineers studied by Delle Fave (per-
dren and adolescents learn what goals deserve sonal communication, 2000) and colleagues dur-
attention. Individual differences in preference ing a Himalayan expedition. A hands-free ver-
for ow, as well as ruptures within the unity of sion of the ESM might be helpful. Secondary
absorption and motivation (the paradox of analysis of existing ESM data sets, isolating all
work), emerge by early adolescence. We need instances of opportunistically sampled deep
to extend ow research downward into child- ow, is also possible. Beyond this, alternative
hood in order to identify the endowments and methods merit consideration, such as analysis of
experiences that differentiate those who reach videotaped sequences of individuals in ow.
adolescence with a propensity for ow from This might encompass tracking a set of observ-
peers who prefer states of control, relaxation, able markers of ow, collecting self-reports
and even apathy to the risk and rigors of chal- about the associated course of subjective expe-
lenging activities. Autotelic persons are at- rience, and/or combining the two data sources.
tracted to goals that require effort to achieve; For example, working within the ow paradigm,
those who prefer relaxation are not. How does Rathunde (1997) asked families to comment on
such a difference become habitual? The data audio playbacks of conversations immediately
suggest that the two strategies may be equally after they ended.
positive in the short term but that children who
learn to enjoy investing effort in meaningful
Forms of Flow
goals can count on more positive outcomes in
the long run, compared with children who learn Research has focused most intensively on the
to enjoy less demanding goals. Longitudinal re- individuals experience of ow in sports, games,
search would be especially helpful here, as and other kinds of structured leisure; in edu-
102 PART III. EMOTION-FOCUSED APPROACHES

cational pursuits; and in artistic and other types to dimensions, dynamics, conditions, or func-
of work. Other important areas remain rela- tions and effects.
tively unexplored, and their investigation might
contribute to further development of the ow
model. For example, no research has addressed Conclusions
the category of microow activities (Csikszent-
mihalyi, 1975/2000): activities like doodling Research on ow contributes knowledge to sev-
that are short in duration, interstitial and sub- eral topics that are of central importance to pos-
ordinated within the stream of action, and often itive psychology. In the rst place, it illuminates
so routinized as to occur almost outside aware- the phenomenology of optimal experience, an-
ness. The early ow research suggested that swering the question, What is it like to live
they might play an important role in optimizing fully, to be completely involved in the moment?
attentional regulation, and we suspect that fur- Second, this perspective leads to questions about
ther research into their dynamics and function the long-term consequences of optimal experi-
would prove fruitful. ence: Does the sum of ow over time add up to
Relatively little research has addressed the a good and happy life? Or only under certain
experience of ow when attention is trained on conditions, that is, if the person develops an au-
internal sources of information (e.g., in psycho- totelic personality and learns to enjoy high
therapy, life-planning, life-review, and other challenges? Furthermore, this line of research
forms of existential reection; fantasy; spiritual tries to unravel the conditions that act as obsta-
experience). For many people, the inner life is cles or facilitators to optimal experience, focus-
vulnerable to chaos. ESM research shows that ing especially on the most prominent institu-
solitude is strenuous; the train of thought tions such as the family, schools, and the
breaks down or becomes ruminative. Intrapsy- workplace. Although it seems clear that ow
chic activities may foster development of a ca- serves as a buffer against adversity and prevents
pacity for attentional self-regulation, however; pathology, its major contribution to the quality
research in this area is therefore important. of life consists in endowing momentary expe-
These activities span a continuum from cultur- rience with value.
ally dened domains (e.g., prayer), which may
be understandable in terms of existing ow the-
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