MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI SAMI ABUHAMDEH JEANNE NAKAMURA

A GENERAL CONTEXT why one should not commit suicide is funda- FOR A CONCEPT mental to the understanding of human life. OF MASTERY MOTIVATION In fact, most attempts at a general psy- chology also start with the assumption that What makes people want to go on with the ef- human beings have a "need" or a "drive" fort required from life? Every epistemology of for self-preservation, and that all other moti- behavior must sooner or later cope with this vations, if not reducible to, are then at least basic question. The question is not so mysteri- based on such a need. For example ous for nonhuman organisms, which presum- Maslow's hierarchy assumes that survival ably have built-in genetic programs instruct- takes precedence over all other consider- ing them to live as long as their physical ations, and no other need becomes active machinery is able to function. But our species until survival is reasonably assured. has a choice: With the development of con- But where is this will to live located? Is it sciousness, we have the ability to second- nothing but a variation of the survival in- guess and occasionally override the instruc- stincts all living organisms share, chemically tions coded in our chromosomes. This evolu- etched into our genes? The last try for a tionary development has added a great deal of comprehensive human , that of flexibility to the human repertoire of behav- Sigmund Freud, posited Eros as the source iors. But the freedom gained has its down- of all behavior—a force akin to the elan vital side—too many possibilities can have a para- of the French philosopher Henri Bergson lyzing effect on action (Schwartz, 2000). (1931/1944) and to similar concepts of life Among the options we are able to entertain is energy proposed by a long list of thinkers that of ending our lives; thus, as the existen- going back to the beginnings of speculative tial philosophers remarked, the question of thought.

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Eros, which originally referred to the need raising buildings, writing songs, etc.) and of the organism to fulfill its physical poten- thus leaving a cultural legacy, as well as leav- tial, was soon reduced in Freud's writings, ing our genes to our progeny. The two are and even more so in those of his followers, not reducible to each other, but are equally to the libidinal pleasure that through natural important motives that have become in- selection has become attached to the sexual grained in our natures. reproductive act and to the organs impli- The idea that the ability to operate effec- cated in it. Thus, "erotic" eventually became tively in the environment fulfills a primary synonymous with "sexual." need is not new in psychology. In Germany, This reduction of the concept of vitality to Karl Groos (1901) and Karl Buhler (1930) the reproductive function rested on a rea- elaborated the concept of Funktionlust, or sonably sound logic. The Darwinian revolu- "activity pleasure," which Jean Piaget tion highlighted the role of sexual selection (1952) included in the earliest stages of in evolution; thus, it made sense to see sexu- sensorimotor development as the "pleasure ality as the master-need from which all other of being a cause" that drove infants to ex- interests and motives derive. A species sur- periment. In more recent psychological vives as long as its members reproduce. If thought, Hebb (1955) and Berlyne (1960) the drive to reproduce became well en- focused on the nervous system's need for op- trenched in a species, its survival would be timal levels of stimulation to explain explor- enhanced. Following Ockham's principle of atory behavior and the seeking of novelty, parsimony, one might expect that as long as while White (1959) and deCharms (1968) sexual drives are well established, other mo- focused on people's need to feel in control, tives become secondary. Whatever men and to be the causal agents of their actions. Later women do, from making songs to mapping Deci and Ryan (Deci, 1971; Deci & Ryan, the heavens, is just a disguised expression of 1985) elaborated on this line of argument by Eros, a manifestation of the reproductive suggesting that both competence and auton- drive. omy were innate psychological needs that On closer examination, however, this sin- must be satisfied for psychological growth gle causality seems much less convincing. A and well-being. species needs to take care of many other pri- Theories that provide explanations for orities besides reproduction in order to sur- why people are motivated to master and vive. At the human stage of evolution, where control tend to be distal. In other words, adaptation and survival depend increasingly they provide sensible explanations, typically on flexible responses mediated by conscious based on an evolutionary framework, for thought, members of the species had to learn why such behaviors should have become es- how to master and control a hostile and tablished over many generations, in order to changing environment. It makes sense to as- support the reproductive success of the indi- sume that natural selection favored those in- vidual. However, for an activity pattern to dividuals, and their descendants, who en- become established in a species' repertoire, it joyed acts of mastery and control—just as has to be experienced as enjoyable by the in- survival was enhanced when other acts nec- dividual. To explain how this happens, a essary for survival, such as eating and sex, proximal theory of motivation is needed. became experienced as pleasurable. Such a theory must rely on at least four The various behaviors associated with complementary lines of explanation. In the control and mastery—such as curiosity, in- first place, it is likely that mastery-related terest, exploration; the pursuit of skills, the behavior has become personally rewarding relishing of challenges—need not be seen as because it has evolved, through literally mil- derivatives of thwarted libidinal sexuality. lions of years of trial and error, as an effec- They are just as much a part of human na- tive strategy to achieve other goals, such as ture, just as necessary for our survival, as the mates and material resources. Overcoming drive to reproduce. The ancients understood challenges and excelling is therefore adap- this when they coined the aphorism Libri tive and increases chances for reproductive aut Hberi: "Books or sons." As humans, we success. have the option of leaving a trace of our ex- Second, one may adopt a more Freudian istence by writing books (or shaping tools, line and see mastery-related behavior as an 600 VI. SELF-REGULATORY PROCESSES internalized drive that could serve either the difficult, and often dangerous activities for purposes of the id (in the case of tyrants or which they receive no discernible extrinsic robber barons) or of the superego (in the rewards? This was the question that origi- case of creative, prosocial individuals). In nally prompted one of us into a program of this, as in the previous case, the behavior research that involved extensive interviews does not serve an independent function but with hundreds of rock climbers, chess play- is a disguised manifestation of other forces ers, athletes, and artists (Csikszentmihalyi, seeking their own aims. 1975; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, Third, the person may seek out such be- 2002). The basic conclusion was that, in all haviors because of innate or learned psycho- the various groups studied, the respondents logical needs, such as competence and au- reported a very similar subjective experience tonomy. According to this explanation, the that they enjoyed so much that they were enjoyment one experiences during intrinsi- willing to go to great lengths to experience it cally motivated behavior is largely a result of again. This we eventually called the "flow the satisfaction of these basic psychological experience," because in describing how it needs. felt when the activity was going well, several This chapter deals with a fourth kind of respondents used the metaphor of a current explanation, which we call the "phenome- that carried them along effortlessly. nological account." It tries to look very Flow is a subjective state that people re- closely at what people actually experience port when they are completely involved in when they are involved in activities that in- something to the point of forgetting time, fa- volve mastery, control, and autonomous tigue, and everything else but the activity it- behavior, without prejudging the reasons for self. It is what we feel when we read a well- why such experiences exist. This line of ex- crafted novel or play a good game of squash, planation assumes that the human organism or take part in a stimulating conversation. is a system in its own right, not reducible to The defining feature of flow is intense expe- lower levels of complexity, such as stimulus- riential involvement in moment-to-moment response pathways, unconscious processes, activity. Attention is fully invested in the or neurological structures. task at hand, and the person functions at his These four kinds of explanations are not or her fullest capacity. Mark Strand, former incompatible with each other. In fact, they Poet Laureate of the United States, in one of are likely to be all implicated in the genesis our interviews, described this state while and maintenance of mastery behavior at the writing as follows: individual level. Quite often, they support each other, driving the organism in the same You're right in the work, you lose your sense direction. But it is also often the case that of time, you're completely enraptured, you're the genetically programmed instructions completely caught up in what you are doing. may come into conflict with the learned . . . When you are working on something and ones, or that the unconscious forces press in you are working well, you have the feeling that there's no other way of saying what you're say- a direction contrary to what the phenome- ing, (in Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 121) nological reality suggests. The intense experiential involvement of THE NATURE OF FLOW flow is responsible for three additional sub- jective characteristics commonly reported: The fourth of these lines of explanation, fo- the merging of action and awareness, a sense cused on events occurring in the conscious- of control, and an altered sense of time. ness of the individual, is the one here identi- fied with the study of the flow experience. The Merging of Action and Awareness This experience emerged over a quarter-cen- tury ago as a result of a series of studies of The default option of consciousness is a cha- what were initially called autotelic activities; otic review of things that one fears or de- that is, things people seem to do for the ac- sires, resulting in a phenomenological state tivity's own sake. we have elsewhere labeled "psychic en- Why do people perform time-consuming, tropy" (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 32. Flow 601

1988). During flow, however, attentional re- Altered Sense of Time sources are fully invested in the task at hand, so that objects beyond the immediate inter- William James (1890, Ch. 15, Sec. 4) noted action generally fail to enter awareness. that seems to increase when "we One such object is the self. Respondents grow attentive to the passage of time itself." frequently describe a loss of self-conscious- During flow, attention is so fully invested in ness during flow. Without the required moment-to-moment activity that there is lit- attentional resources, the self-reflective pro- tle left over to devote toward the mental cesses that often intrude into awareness and processes that contribute to the experience cause attention to be diverted from what of duration (Friedman, 1990). As a result, needs to be done are silenced, and the usual persons deeply immersed in an activity typi- dualism between actor and action disap- cally report time passing quickly (Conti, pears. In the terms that George Herbert 2001). Mead introduced (1934/1970), the "me" Exceptions occur in certain sports or jobs disappears during flow, and the "I" takes that require precise knowledge of time, but over. A rock climber in an early study of these are exceptions that prove the rule: Bas- flow put it this way: ketball players must learn not to dribble the ball in their own side of the court for more You're so involved in what you're doing you than 10 seconds; football players must learn aren't thinking about yourself as separate from to "manage the clock" in a close game. the immediate activity. You're no longer a par- Awareness of time in these situations is not ticipant observer, only a participant. You're extraneous information signifying boredom, moving in harmony with something else you're but a challenge that the person has to over- part of. (in Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, p. 86) come in order to perform well.

A Sense of Control THE CONDITIONS OF FLOW During flow, we typically experience a sense of control—or, more precisely, a lack of anx- Flow experiences are relatively rare in every- iety about losing control that is typical of day life, but almost everything—work, study many situations in normal life. This sense of or religious ritual—is able to produce them, control is also reported in activities that in- provided certain conditions are met. Past re- volve serious risks, such as hang gliding, search suggests three conditions of key im- rock climbing, and race car driving—activi- portance. First, flow tends to occur when the ties that to an outsider would seem to be activity one engages in contains a clear set of much more potentially dangerous than the goals. These goals serve to add direction and affairs of everyday life. Yet these activities purpose to behavior. Their value lies in their are structured to provide the participant capacity to structure experience by channel- with the means to reduce the margin of error ing attention rather than being ends in them- to as close to zero as possible. Rock climb- selves. ers, for example, insist that their hair-raising A second precondition for flow is a bal- exploits are safer than crossing a busy street ance between perceived challenges and per- in Chicago, because, on the rock face, they ceived skills. This condition is reminiscent of can foresee every eventuality, whereas when the concept of "optimal " (Berlyne, crossing the street, they are at the mercy of 1960; Hunt, 1965), but differs from it in fate. The sense of control respondents de- highlighting the fact that what counts at the scribe thus reflects the possibility, rather phenomenological level is the perception of than the actuality, of control. the demands and abilities, not necessarily Worrying about whether we can succeed their objective presence. at what we are doing—on the job, in rela- When perceived challenges and skills are tionships, even in crossing a busy street—is well matched, as in a close game of tennis or one of the major sources of psychic entropy a satisfying musical performance, attention in everyday life, and its reduction during is completely absorbed. This balance, how- flow is one of the reasons such an experience ever, is intrinsically fragile. If challenges be- becomes enjoyable and thus rewarding. gin to exceed skills, one typically becomes 602 VI. SELF-REGULATORY PROCESSES anxious; if skills begin to exceed challenges, triotism"), with greater congruence leading one relaxes and then becomes bored. These to greater involvement (Harackiewicz & subjective states provide feedback about the Elliot, 1998; Rathunde, 1989; Sansone, shifting relationship to the environment and Sachau, & Weir, 1989). Furthermore, the press the individual to adjust behavior in or- personal implications an individual attri- der to escape the more aversive subjective butes to success or failure at an activity can state and reenter flow. affect his or her interpretation of perfor- Finally, flow is dependent on the presence mance feedback, which in turn has conse- of clear and immediate feedback. The indi- quences for task involvement (Mueller & vidual needs to negotiate the continually Dweck, 1998). With respect to individual changing environmental demands that are differences, Wong (2000) found that auton- part of all experientially involving activity omy orientation (Deci & Ryan, 1985) was (Reser & Scherl, 1988). Immediate feedback positively related to involvement in school- serves this purpose: It informs the individual related activities; absorption (Tellegen & how well he or she is progressing in the ac- Atkinson, 1974), a trait construct used to tivity, and dictates whether to adjust or measure hypnotic susceptibility, and concep- maintain the present course of action. It tually related to openness to experience, has leaves the individual with little doubt about been shown to be positively associated with what to do next. experiential involvement (Glisky, Tataryn, Because flow takes place at a high level of Tobias, Kihlstrom, & McConkey, 1991; challenge, the feedback one receives during Levin & Fireman, 2001; Wild, Kuiken, & the course of an activity will inevitably Schopflocher, 1995). include "negative" performance feedback. From a phenomenological viewpoint, this negative feedback will not necessarily be FLOW AND MOTIVATION detrimental to task involvement. Provided the individual perceives that he or she pos- Theories of motivation generally neglect the sesses the skills to take on the challenges of phenomenology of the person to whom mo- the activity, the valence of the feedback is of tivation is being attributed. They explain the less consequence for activity enjoyment than reason for action in functional terms, that is, the usefulness of the feedback in suggesting by considering outcomes rather than pro- appropriate corrective measures. Indeed, it is cesses (Sansone & Harackiewicz, 1996). not difficult to think of situations in which How the person feels while acting tends to we intentionally elicit negative feedback in be ignored. Yet individuals constantly evalu- order to direct attention and behavior (e.g., ate their quality of experience and often will a pianist practicing with a metronome). decide to continue or terminate a given To summarize, clear goals, optimal chal- behavioral sequence based on their evalua- lenges, and clear, immediate feedback are all tions. Our research suggests that the phe- necessary features of activities that promote nomenological experience of flow is a pow- the intrinsically rewarding experiential in- erful motivating force. When individuals are volvement that characterizes flow. Of fully involved in an activity, they tend to find course, this is not to say that these are the the activity enjoyable and intrinsically re- only factors that affect the degree to which warding. Whatever the original motivation one becomes involved in an activity. Re- for playing chess or playing the stock mar- search on task involvement suggests that the ket, or going out with a friend, such activi- importance an individual places on doing ties will not continue unless they are enjoy- well in an activity (i.e., "competence valua- able—or unless people are motivated by tion") predicts the individual's involve- extrinsic rewards. ment in that activity (Greenwald, 1982; Harackiewicz & Elliot, 1998; Harackiewicz Flow and Competence Motivation & Manderlink, 1984), as does the congru- ence between task-specific, behaviorally Perceived competence has traditionally based goals (e.g., "I want to attach a flag to played a central part in theories of motiva- my car's antenna") and higher level, more tion (Bandura, 1982; Deci, 1975; Harter, abstract goals (e.g., "I want to show my pa- 1978; White, 1959). These theories gener- 32. Flow 603 ally argue that intrinsic motivation is pro- interaction. It is commonly reported, for in- moted by feelings of competence and effi- stance, that a person is at first indifferent or cacy. In support of this, several researchers bored by a certain activity, such as listening have found that positive competence feed- to classical music or using a computer. Then, back is positively related to subsequent when the opportunities for action become motivation to perform an activity (Deci, clearer or the individual's skills improve, the 1971; Elliot et al., 2000; Fisher, 1978; activity begins to be interesting and, finally, Harackiewicz, 1979; Ryan, 1982; Vallerand enjoyable. It is in this sense that the rewards & Reid, 1984). of these types of intrinsically motivating ac- These findings are consistent with past re- tivities are "emergent" or a priori unpredict- search on flow. Our studies have found that able. actors who perceive that they lack the skills The phenomenon of emergent motivation to take on effectively the challenges pre- means that we can come to experience a new sented by the activity in which they are par- or previously unengaging activity as intrinsi- ticipating experience or boredom, cally rewarding, if we find flow in it. The depending on how much they value doing motivation to persist in or return to the ac- well in the activity (Csikszentmihalyi & tivity arises out of the experience itself. LeFevre, 1989; Csikszentmihalyi & Naka- What happens next is responsive to what mura, 1989; Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & happened immediately before, within the Whalen, 1993). Simply put, if an actor feels interaction, rather than being dictated by a incompetent in a given situation, he or she preexisting intentional structure located will tend not be motivated. However, our re- within either the person (e.g., a goal or search also suggests that although perceived drive) or the environment (e.g., a tradition, competence seems to be an important pre- script, or set of rules). The flow experience is condition for intrinsic motivation, it is often thus a force for expansion in relation to the not a predominating characteristic of individual's goal and interest structure, as the phenomenological experience associated well as for the growth of skills in relation to with intrinsically motivated behavior. More an existing interest (Csikszentmihalyi & specifically, much of the reward of intrinsi- Nakamura, 1999). cally motivated behavior is derived from the Certain technologies become successful at experience of absorption and interest, the least in part because they provide flow, thus epitome of which is flow. motivating people to use them. A good ex- Consider the following example: A person ample is the Internet, developed with funds picks up a novel to read. As she begins read- made available by the U.S. Department of ing it, she senses that her abilities are not up Defense for purposes of national security. to the task, that the material is too complex This technology has been adapted to all for her to appreciate fully. Feeling unable to sorts of unexpected uses and has made pos- take on the challenges of the book because sible an enormous variety of unpredicted ex- her skills are lacking, she will experience periences. It partly accounts, for instance, anxiety or boredom, and will probably opt for the spectacular success of the Linux open for a less demanding novel or activity. How- system software, where tens of thousands of ever, if she feels that the complexities of the amateur and professional programmers book are within her capacities and is able to work hard to come up with new software digest the material, her decision either to for the sheer delight of solving a problem, continue reading the novel or to put it down and for being appreciated by respected will be based primarily on her quality of ex- peers. In the process, Linux has been making perience while reading the book, namely, the headway against much more formidable extent to which she finds the book involving competitors, such as Microsoft, who have to and interesting. pay their programmers to write software—a clear example of emergent intrinsic rewards actually trumping extrinsic rewards. Emergent Motivation In summary, quality of experience is the The phenomenology of flow further suggests proximal cause of intrinsically motivated that we may enjoy a particular activity be- behavior. When an individual begins, contin- cause of something discovered through the ues, or ends an activity that is not motivated 604 VI. SELF-REGULATORY PROCESSES by extrinsic rewards, such decisions are model. As individuals master challenges in based primarily on the current or antici- an activity, they develop greater levels of pated enjoyment accompanying the activity. skill, and the activity ceases to be as in- In this context, both motivation and goals volving as before. To continue experiencing are emergent, in the sense that they are de- flow, they must identify increasingly greater termined by the actor's moment-to-moment challenges. Thus, over time, the balance be- experience. tween challenges and skills enhances com- Is deep experiential involvement a prereq- petence. Experiential goals thus introduce a uisite for intrinsically motivated behavior? principle of selection into psychological Clearly, it is not. As past research on the functioning that fosters growth and structure of affect has demonstrated, posi- stretches a person's existing capacities (cf. tive affect can be in the form of both high- Vygotsky, 1978). and low-activation positive affect (Tellegen, This positive relationship between flow Watson, & Clark, 1999). Whereas flow rep- and skill development has been demon- resents a state of high-activation positive af- strated in a number of studies that have used fect, it contrasts sharply with low-activation the experience sampling method (Csikszent- positive affect, which is associated with mihalyi & Larson, 1984) to examine the states such as relaxation and contentment. It phenomenological experience of students is consistent with current understandings of within school settings. In longitudinal re- evolution to suppose that both of these strat- search with talented adolescents, students egies for coping with the environment, one still committed to pursuing their talent area conservative and the other expansive, were at age 17 were compared to peers who had selected over time as important components already disengaged. Four years earlier, those of the human behavioral repertoire, even who were still committed had experienced though they motivate different—in some more flow and less anxiety than their peers sense, opposite—behaviors. Yet because it is while engaged in school-related activities; only during states of high activation that we they were also more likely to have identified are pushed to expand our existing capaci- their talent area as a source of flow ties, flow is particularly important to under- (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993). In a longitu- stand given the implications it has for per- dinal study of students talented in mathe- sonal growth. matics, Heine (1996) showed that those who experienced flow in the first part of the course performed better in the second half, FLOW AND controlling for their initial abilities and COMPETENCE-RELEVANT OUTCOMES grade point average (GPA). Also controlling for initial abilities, Wong and Csikszentmihalyi High levels of both mental and physical per- (1991) found that immediate, experience- formance usually depend on goal-directed based motivation was a better predictor of attention produced by specific challenges the difficulty level of classes that students and clear feedback (Locke, Shaw, Saari, & subsequently chose than their motivation to Latham, 1981). It is therefore not surprising achieve long-term academic goals. that a host of studies have found a strong Longitudinal research on resilience sug- positive relationship between flow and per- gests that, in addition to enhancing positive formance. For example, flow is positively as- outcomes, a subjectively optimal matching sociated with artistic and scientific of challenge and skill in daily life may pro- (e.g., Perry, 1999; Sawyer, 1992), effective tect against negative outcomes (Schmidt, teaching (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996), learning 1999). In a national sample of American ad- (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993), and peak olescents, teenagers who had experienced performance in sports (Jackson, Thomas, high adversity at home and/or at school but Marsh, & Smethurst, 2002; Stein, Kimiecik, had access to extracurricular and other chal- Daniels, & Jackson, 1995). lenging activities, and who were involved in Perhaps more compelling than situation- these activities and felt successful when en- ally based positive outcomes, however, are gaged in them, were much less likely to have the developmental implications of the flow problems years later. 32. Flow 605

FLOW AND SPECIES-LEVEL earlier, in the family environment of the DEVELOPMENT young child. But unless we learn to enjoy us- ing the mind freely, yet in an orderly fashion, Flow and the Evolution of Consciousness the evolution of consciousness is going to be Consciousness is the complex system that hampered. has evolved in humans for selecting, process- ing, and storing the profusion of informa- Flow and the Evolution of Culture tion provided by the senses. Consciousness gives us a measure of control, freeing us Flow is not only an important mechanism in from complete subservience to the dictates the development of the person, but it also of genes and culture, by representing alter- plays an important role in the development native courses of action in awareness, of culture. As we mentioned earlier in dis- thereby introducing the alternative of reject- cussing the successful spread of the Linux ing rather than enacting them. It thus serves open software system, new technologies, be- as a clutch between programmed instruc- liefs, lifestyles—and even political systems— tions and adaptive behaviors (Csikszentmihalyi are often adopted or rejected on the basis of & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). Alongside the whether they enhance or diminish the prob- genetic and cultural guides to action, it es- ability of producing flow. tablishes a teleonomy of the self, a set of Professor Fausto Massimini of the Univer- goals that have been freely chosen by the in- sity of Milan was the first scholar to realize dividual (cf. Brandstadter, 1998; Csikszent- the potential of flow to explain the selection mihalyi & Massimini, 1985; Deci & Ryan, of new cultural artifacts, or "memes" 1985). It might, of course, prove dangerous (Csikszentmihalyi & Massimini, 1985; to disengage our behavior from direct con- Inghilleri, 1999; Massimini, Csikszentmihalyi, trol by the genetic and cultural instructions & Delle Fave, 1988). Essentially, the likeli- that have evolved over millennia of adapting hood that a new idea, product, or process to the environment. On the other hand, do- will survive over time is a function of the at- ing so may increase the chances for adaptive tention it attracts. A song, a scientific theory, fit with the present environment, particu- or a religious system will be remembered larly under conditions of radical or rapid and transmitted to the next generation only change. if some people pay attention to it. And peo- In order for consciousness to be used for ple will pay attention in large part because such positive ends, however, a person must the new meme provides an enjoyable chal- learn to enjoy being conscious. People value lenge. in principle but seldom resort to free choice, This is clearly the case in the advancement reflection, and the weighing of alternatives. of science. Thomas Kuhn (1970) describes As Dostoevsky eloquently described in his how by focusing attention upon a small tale of the Grand Inquisitor, it is much easier range of relatively esoteric problems, scien- to act in terms of habit and convention, rely- tists are able to delve in greater depth and ing on genetic and cultural programs, than detail into their investigations, and thereby to decide in terms of one's own experience. advance their field. Yet such focused atten- This is in part due to the fact that the skills tion cannot be sustained unless there are in- for being conscious need to be cultivated, or teresting problems that challenge the scien- the task will seem too daunting and thus tist. If there are none, the paradigm becomes produce anxiety. boring, and the field disappears for lack of Our schools are geared to teach cognitive young recruits who are attracted to a differ- skills, but these do not necessarily develop ent field by more interesting problems. the skill for being conscious. A young per- The same holds true for art, according to son needs to exercise freedom in the alloca- Collingwood (1938) and Martindale (1990). tion of attention, the pursuit of interests, More generally, any field of creative accom- and the mastering of challenges; only then plishment requires concentrated attention, will he or she begin to enjoy being con- to the exclusion of all other stimuli, which scious. This opportunity is rarely present in temporarily become irrelevant (Csikszent- the normal school environment—or even mihalyi, 1975; Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi, 606 VI. SELF-REGULATORY PROCESSES

1976; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2001). this guarantees that the children will get Yet one does not need to look at great ac- what they need to learn in order to enjoy complishments to realize this basic function life. In fact, a growing number of studies of attention. More mundane work is just as suggests that excessive concern for safety, dependent on it. In describing the workers comfort, and material well-being is detri- that made industrialization possible at the mental to optimal development (Csikszent- dawn of capitalism, Max Weber (1930, p. mihalyi & Hunter, 2003; Kasser & Ryan, 71) commented on the relationship between 1993; Schmuck & Sheldon, 2001). The ster- puritanical religious beliefs and training on ile surroundings of our living arrangements, the one hand, and productivity on the other: the absence of working parents and other "The ability of mental concentration ... is adults who could initiate young people into here most often combined with ... a cool the joys of living, the addictive nature of self-control and frugality which enormously passive entertainment and the reliance on increase performance. This creates the most material rewards, and the excessive concern favorable foundation for the conception of of schools with testing and with disembod- labor as an end in itself." ied knowledge all militate against learning The late Roman Empire, the last decades to enjoy mastering the challenges that life in- of Byzantium, and the French court in the evitably presents. second half of the 18th century are only a Thus, understanding how flow works is few of the most notorious examples of what essential for social scientists interested in im- can happen when large segments of society proving the quality of life at either the sub- fail to find enjoyment in productive life. To jective or objective level. Transforming this provide such experiences, the rulers of soci- knowledge into effective action is not easy. ety had to resort to increasingly elaborate But the challenges this presents promise al- and expensive means of control and repres- most infinite opportunities for enjoyment to sion, or else artificial stimulations — circuses, those who are willing to develop the skills chariot races, balls, and hunts — that drain necessary to master them. the attention of a passive population with- out leaving any useful residue. Whenever a REFERENCES society is unable to provide flow experiences in productive activities, its members will Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human find flow in activities that are either wasteful agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122-147. or actually disruptive. Bergson, H. (1944). Creative evolution. New York: The Modern Library. (Original published in 1931) Berlyne, D. (1960). Conflict, arousal, and curiosity. CONCLUSIONS New York: McGraw-Hill. Brandstadter, J. (1998). Action perspectives in human The ability to enjoy challenges and then development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of master them is a fundamental metaskill that child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 807-863). New York: is essential to individual development and to Wiley. Biihler, C. (1930). Die geistige Entwicklung des Kindes cultural evolution. Yet many obstacles pre- [The mental development of children]. Jena, Ger- vent individuals from experiencing flow. many: G. Fischer. These range from inherited genetic malfunc- Collingwood, R. G. (1938). The principles of art. Ox- tions to forms of social oppression that re- ford, UK: Oxford University Press. duce personal freedom and prevent the ac- Conti, R. (2001). Time flies: Investigating the connec- quisition of skills. tion between intrinsic motivation and the experience But even in the most benign situations, of time. Journal of Personality, 69(1), 1-26. flow may be difficult to attain. For instance, Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and in our society at present, most parents are anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. determined to provide the best conditions Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: for their children's future . They HarperCollins. work hard, so that they can buy a nice home Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. (Eds.). in the suburbs, get all the consumer goods (1988). Optimal experience: Psychological studies of they can afford, and send the children to the flow in consciousness. New York: Cambridge Uni- best schools possible. Unfortunately, none of versity Press. 32. Flow 607

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