FLOW AND ENGAGEMENT WITH LIFE
SAN DIEGO, 2014 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD Quality of Life Research Center Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA
COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You can live life as a pawn moved around by outside forces, or you can take your life in your hands
You can be a vic m of circumstances, or you can master them
You can hate the job you have, or you can learn to enjoy it
What makes the difference is whether you are Experiencing FLOW . . . WHAT IS FLOW?
• IT is what we feel when we are fully alive, • Involved with what we do, and in harmony with the environment around us. • It is something that happens most easily when we sing, dance, do sports – but it can happen when we work, read a good book, or have a good conversa on. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE IN FLOW?
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field.
– There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“Concentra on is like breathing: you never think of it. The roof could fall in and, if it missed you, you would be unaware of it.”
Chess player (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“You’re so involved in what you’re doing, you aren’t thinking about yourself as separate from the immediate ac vity. You’re no longer a par cipant observer, only a par cipant. You’re moving in harmony with something else you’re part of.”
Rock climber (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge.
– There is freedom from worry about failure.
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“You feel like…there’s nothing that will be able to stop you or get in your way. And you’re ready to tackle anything, and you don’t fear any possibility happening, and it’s just exhilara ng.”
Cyclist (Jackson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999) DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge.
– There is freedom from worry about failure.
– Self-consciousness disappears.
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“You are not aware of the body except your hands….not aware of self or personal problems….If involved, you are not aware of aching feet, not aware of self.”
Surgeon (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge.
– There is freedom from worry about failure.
– Self-consciousness disappears. – The sense of me becomes distorted.
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“Two things happen…. A er it’s passed, [ me] seems to have passed really fast. I see that it’s one o’clock in the morning and I say, ‘Ah-ha, just a few minutes ago it was eight o’clock.’ But then while I’m dancing…it seems like it’s been much longer than it really was.” Social dancer (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge.
– There is freedom from worry about failure.
– Self-consciousness disappears.
– The sense of me becomes distorted. – The experience become its own reward - auto-telic.
DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
“Do it for the sa sfac on it gives….This is what I tell my students. Don’t expect to make money, don’t expect fame or a pat on the back, don’t expect a damn thing. Do it because you love it.”
Composer (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975)
TO SUMMARIZE: DIMENSIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
– A en on is focused on a limited s mulus field. There is full concentra on, complete involvement.
– Ac on and awareness merge.
– There is freedom from worry about failure.
– Self-consciousness disappears.
– The sense of me becomes distorted.
– The experience become its own reward - auto-telic.
…WHAT CONDITIONS FOSTER FLOW? CONDITIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
1. There are clear goals every step of the way.
“It’s self-catalyzing…the moves create each other. The move you’re planning to do is also the genesis of the move you’re going to do a er you’ve done that one…”
Rock climber (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975)
CONDITIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
1. There are clear goals every step of the way.
2. There is immediate feedback to one's action.
“My reward is hearing what I’ve done, and unlike most composers, I can hear it immediately. That’s why I keep these expensive gentlemen with me.” Duke Ellington CONDITIONS OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
1. There are clear goals every step of the way.
2. There is immediate feedback to one's action.
3. There is a balance between challenges and skills.
HIGH ANXIETY
FLOW
Challenges
BOREDOM
HIGH Skills High HIGH ANXIETY D E FLOW
C Challenges
A B BOREDOM
L o w Skills H I g h high
Arousal Anxiety Flow
Worry
Control
CHALLENGES
Apathy
Relaxation Boredom
low SKILLS high
HIGH Challenges Challenges
,
LOW Skills HIGH DESCRIPTION OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE WHEN WRITING POETRY
“You're right in the work, you lose your sense of me, you're completely enraptured, you're completely caught up in what you're doing…. there's no future or past, it's just an extended present in which you're making meaning…”
Poet Mark Strand, 1991 DESCRIPTION OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE WHEN DOING RESEARCH
“To go into a dark room and look through the microscope and see these glowing objects which may be moving around or may be sta onary, and in different colors – it's a video game, if you will. It's just beau ful…I can sit in front of a microscope for three or four hours at a Cell biologist me, just looking at the material and Joseph G. Gall (1991) analyzing it….I can be very disconcer ng to other people in the degree to which I can concentrate on something and not pay too much a en on to what's going
on around me.”
Brain: Striatum
D2 receptor availability predicts flow proneness Örjan de Manzanoa, Simon Cervenkab, Aurelija Jucaiteb, Oscar Hellenäsb, Lars Fardeb, and Fredrik Ulléna
Some Physiological Correlates of Flow While playing the Piano
• Zygoma c Major Muscle ac vity (Smiling) • Respiratory Depth • Heart Period (nega ve) • Blood Pressure (nega ve)
From: De Marzano, Theorell, Harmat, & Ullen (In Press) The Psychophysiology of Flow, Emo on. Op mal experience and apathy during work and study 1.5 College
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-1.5 Opt.exp. (N=19) Apathy (N=15)
Concentration Control Happiness Involvement Wish doing the activity Goals
From A. Delle Fave, & F. Massimini. European Psychologist 2005 Op mal experience and apathy during work and study 1.2 High School Italy 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1 Opt.exp. (N=25) Apathy (N=20) Concentration Control Happiness Involvement Wish doing the activity Goals
From A. Delle Fave, & F. Massimini. European Psychologist 2005 Op mal experience and apathy during work and study 0.6 High School Nepal
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-0.8 Opt.exp. (N=28) Apathy (N=23) Concentration Control Happiness Involvement Wish doing the activity Goals
From A. Delle Fave, & F. Massimini. European Psychologist 2005 Op mal experience and apathy during work and study 1 Disablement
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From A. Delle Fave, & F. Massimini. European Psychologist 2005