Conditions A flow state can be entered while performing any activity, although it is most likely to occur when one is wholeheartedly performing a task or activity  for intrinsic purposes. Passive activities like taking a bath or even watching TV usually do not elicit  flow experiences as individuals have to actively do something to enter a flow state.Csikszentmihályi, M., Larson, R., & Prescott, S. (1977). The ecology of adolescent activity and experience. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 6, 281-294.Delle Fave, A., & Bassi, M. (2000). The quality of experience in adolescents' daily lives: Developmental perspectives. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126, 347-367. While the activities that induce flow may vary and be multifaceted, Csikszentmihályi asserts that the experience of flow is similar despite the activity.Csikszentmihayli, M. (2000). Happiness, flow, and economic equality. "American Psychologist, 55" 1163-1164. Flow theory postulates three conditions that have to be met to achieve a flowstate: One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. This adds direction and structure to the task . The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and allows them to adjust their performance to maintain the flow state. One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and their own perceived skills. One must have confidence in one's ability to complete the task at hand . However, it was argued that the antecedent factors of flow are interrelated, as a perceived balance between challenges and skills requires that one knows what they have to do (clear goals ) and how successful they are in doing it (immediate feedback ) . Thus, a perceived fit of skills and task demands can be identified as the central precondition of flow experiences .Keller, J., & Landhäußer, A. (2012). The flow model revisited. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 51-64). New York: Springer. In 1987, Massimini, Csíkszentmihályi and Carli published the eight-channel model of flow shown above .Massimini, F., Csikszentmihályi, M., & Carli, M. (1987). The monitoring of optimal experience: A tool for psychiatric rehabilitation. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(9), 545-549. doi:10.1097/00005053-198709000-00006 Antonella Delle Fave, who worked with Fausto Massimini at the University of Milan, now calls this graph the Experience Fluctuation Model.Delle Fave, A., Massimini, F., & Bassi, M. (2011). Psychological selection and optimal experience across cultures: Social empowerment through personal growth (Vol. 2). Springer Science & Business Media. The Experience Fluctuation Model depicts the channels of experience that result from different levels of perceived challenges and perceived skills. This graph illustrates one further aspect of flow: it is more likely to occur when the activity at hand is a higher-than-average challenge (above the center point) and the individual has above-average skills (to the right of the center point). The center of this graph ( where the sectors meet ) represents one's average levels of challenge and skill across all activities an individual performs during their daily life . The further from the center an experience is, the greater the intensity of that state of being ( whether it is flow or anxiety or boredom or relaxation ) . Several problems of this model have been discussed in literature.Moneta, G. B. (2012). On the measurement and conceptualization of flow. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 23-50). New York: Springer. One is that it does not ensure a perceived balance between challenges and skills which is supposed to be the central precondition of flow experiences . Individuals with a low average level of skills and a high average level of challenges (or the other way round ) do not necessarily experience a fit between skills and challenges when both are above their individual average.Ellis, G. D., Voelkl, J. E., & Morris, C. (1994). Measurement and analysis issues with explanation of variance in daily experience using the flow model. Journal of Leisure Research, 26, 337. In addition, one study found that low challenge situations which were surpassed by skill were associated with enjoyment, relaxation, and happiness, which, they claim, is contrary to flow theory. Schaffer also published a measure, the flow condition questionnaire (FCQ), to measure each of these seven flow conditions for any given task or activity. Challenges to staying in flow Some of the challenges to staying in flow include states of apathy, boredom, and anxiety. Being in a state of apathy is characterized when challenges are low and one's skill level is low producing a general lack of interest in the task at hand . Boredom is a slightly different state in that it occurs when challenges are low , but one's skill level exceeds those challenges causing one to seek higher challenges. A state of anxiety occurs when challenges are so high that they exceed one's perceived skill level causing one great distress and uneasiness. These states in general differ from being in a state of flow, in that flow occurs when challenges match one's skill level. Consequently, Csíkszentmihályi has said, "If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them. If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills." The autotelic personality Csíkszentmihályi hypothesized that people with several very specific personality traits may be better able to achieve flow more often than the average person. These personality traits include curiosity, persistence, low self-centeredness , and a high rate of performing activities for intrinsic reasons only . People with most of these personality traits are said to have an autotelic personality. The term “autotelic” is acquired from two Greek words, auto, meaning self, and telos meaning goal. Being Autotelic means having a self-contained activity, one that is done not with the expectation of some future benefit, but simply to experience it as the main goal . At this point, there is not much research on the autotelic personality, but results of the few studies that have been conducted suggest that indeed some people are more prone to experience flow than others. One researcher (Abuhamdeh, 2000) found that people with an autotelic personality have a greater preference for "high-action-opportunity, high-skills situations that stimulate them and encourage growth" compared to those without an autotelic personality. It is in such high-challenge, high-skills situations that people are most likely to enter the flowstate . Experimental evidence shows that a balance between skills of the individual and demands of the task (compared to boredom and overload) only elicits flow experiences in individuals characterized by an internal locus of controlKeller, J., & Blomann, F. (2008). Locus of control and the flow experience. An experimental analyses. European Journal of Personality, 22, 589-607. or a habitual action orientation.Keller, J., & Bless, H. (2008). Flow and regulatory compatibility: An experimental approach to flow model of intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 196-209. Several correlational studies found need for achievement to be a personal characteristic that fosters flow experiences.Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. Motivation and Emotion, 32, 158-172.Schüler, J. (2007). Arousal of flow experience in a learning setting and its effects on exam performance and affect. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 21, 217-227.Eisenberger, R., Jones, J. R., Stinglhamber, F., Shanock, L., & Randall, A. T. (2005). Flow experiences at work: for high need achievers alone? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 755-775.
Characteristics The flow state can be entered while performing any activity, although it is more likely to occur when the task or activity is wholeheartedly engaged for intrinsic purposes. Passive activities like taking a bath or even watching TV usually do not elicit a flow experience because active engagement is prerequisite to entering the flow state.Csikszentmihályi, M., Larson, R., & Prescott, S. (1977). The ecology of adolescent activity and experience. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 6, 281-294.Delle Fave, A., & Bassi, M. (2000). The quality of experience in adolescents' daily lives: Developmental perspectives. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126, 347-367. While the activities that induce flow vary and may be multifaceted, Csikszentmihályi asserts that the experience of flow is similar whatever the activity.Csikszentmihayli, M. (2000). Happiness, flow, and economic equality. "American Psychologist, 55" 1163-1164. Flow theory postulates that three conditions must be met to achieve flow: The activity must have clear goals and progress. This establishes structure and direction . The task must provide clear and immediate feedback. This helps to negotiate any changing demands and allows adjusting performance to maintain the flow state. Good balance is required between the perceived challenges of the task and one's perceived skills. Confidence in the ability to complete the task is required . It has been argued that the antecedent factors of flow are interrelated, as a perceived balance between challenges and skills requires that the goals are clear and feedback is effective . Thus, the coordination of perceived demands and task skills can be identified as the central precondition of flow experience .Keller, J., & Landhäußer, A. (2012). The flow model revisited. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 51-64). New York: Springer. In 1987, Massimini, Csíkszentmihályi and Carli published the eight-channel model of flow .Massimini, F., Csikszentmihályi, M., & Carli, M. (1987). The monitoring of optimal experience: A tool for psychiatric rehabilitation. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(9), 545-549. doi:10.1097/00005053-198709000-00006 Antonella Delle Fave, who worked with Fausto Massimini at the University of Milan, calls this graph the Experience Fluctuation Model.Delle Fave, A., Massimini, F., & Bassi, M. (2011). Psychological selection and optimal experience across cultures: Social empowerment through personal growth (Vol. 2). Springer Science & Business Media. The model depicts the channels of experience that result from different levels of perceived challenges and perceived skills. The graph illustrates another aspect of flow: it is more likely to occur when the activity is a higher-than-average challenge (above the center point) and the individual has above-average skills (to the right of the center point). The center of the graph where the sectors meet represents the average level of challenge and skill across all individual daily activities . The further from the center an experience is, the greater the intensity of that state of being , whether it is flow or anxiety or boredom or relaxation . Several problems of the model have been discussed in literature.Moneta, G. B. (2012). On the measurement and conceptualization of flow. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 23-50). New York: Springer. One is that it does not ensure the perceived balance between challenges and skills which is said to be the central precondition of flow experience . Individuals with a low average level of skills and a high average level of challenges (or the converse ) do not necessarily experience a match between skills and challenges when both are above their individual average.Ellis, G. D., Voelkl, J. E., & Morris, C. (1994). Measurement and analysis issues with explanation of variance in daily experience using the flow model. Journal of Leisure Research, 26, 337. Another study found that low challenge situations which were surpassed by skill were associated with enjoyment, relaxation, and happiness, which, they claim, is contrary to flow theory. Schaffer published a flow condition questionnaire (FCQ), to measure each of these seven flow conditions for any given task or activity. Challenges to maintaining flow Some of the challenges to staying in flow include states of apathy, boredom, and anxiety. The state of apathy is characterized by easy challenges and low skill level requirements, resulting in a general lack of interest in the activity . Boredom is a slightly different state that occurs when challenges are few , but one's skill level exceeds those challenges causing one to seek higher challenges. A state of anxiety occurs when challenges are high enough to exceed perceived skill level , causing distress and uneasiness. These states in general prevent achieving the balance necessary for flow. Csíkszentmihályi has said, "If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them. If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills." The autotelic personality Csíkszentmihályi hypothesized that people with certain personality traits may be better able to achieve flow than the average person. These traits include curiosity, persistence, low egotism , and a high propensity to perform activities for intrinsic reasons . People with most of these personality traits are said to have an autotelic personality. The term “autotelic” derives from two Greek words, auto, meaning self, and telos meaning goal. Being autotelic means having a self-contained activity, without the expectation of future benefit, but simply to be experienced . There is scant research on the autotelic personality, but results of the few studies that have been conducted suggest that indeed some people are more likely to experience flow than others. One researcher (Abuhamdeh, 2000) found that people with an autotelic personality have a greater preference for "high-action-opportunity, high-skills situations that stimulate them and encourage growth" compared to those without an autotelic personality. It is in such high-challenge, high-skills situations that people are most likely to experience flow . Experimental evidence shows that a balance between individual skills, and demands of the task (compared to boredom and overload) only elicits the flow experience in individuals having an internal locus of controlKeller, J., & Blomann, F. (2008). Locus of control and the flow experience. An experimental analyses. European Journal of Personality, 22, 589-607. or a habitual action orientation.Keller, J., & Bless, H. (2008). Flow and regulatory compatibility: An experimental approach to flow model of intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 196-209. Several correlational studies found need for achievement to be a personal characteristic that fosters flow experiences.Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. Motivation and Emotion, 32, 158-172.Schüler, J. (2007). Arousal of flow experience in a learning setting and its effects on exam performance and affect. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 21, 217-227.Eisenberger, R., Jones, J. R., Stinglhamber, F., Shanock, L., & Randall, A. T. (2005). Flow experiences at work: for high need achievers alone? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 755-775.
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