WHAT IS FLOW?
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The classic work on how to achieve happiness (London: Random House, 2002).
The mental state experienced during ‘an autotelic activity’ during which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus marked by loss of sense of time and space.
Generally, flow occurs when there is a balance between skills and challenges in the individual’s functioning.
In relation to wellbeing, some studies have shown that the state of flow alone cannot sufficiently explain all the constructs associated with happiness and wellbeing.
Csikszentmihalyi himself accepts that people in flow may not acknowledge subjective wellbeing.
NINE CHARACTERISTICS OF FLOW (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1996)
Clear goals
Balance of challenge and skill
Immediate feedback
No fear of failure
Distractions excluded from consciousness
Merging of action and awareness (concentration)
Not self-conscious of the activity
Transcendence of time & space
Autotelic – intrinsic motivation (see Deci & Ryan)
ARE WE HARDWIRED FOR NEGATIVITY?
Evidence from neuroscience suggests that human memory is better facilitated, marked by increased […]