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New page: Image:lighterstill.jpgright|frame '''Flow''' is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing...
[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:FlowCsíkszentmihályi.jpg|right|frame]]
'''Flow''' is the mental state of operation in which the [[person]] is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a [[feeling]] of energized [[focus]], full involvement, and success in the [[process]] of the activity. Proposed by positive psychology [[Mihály Csíkszentmihályi]], the [[concept]] has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&cites=12334528761431366038 Citations of Csíkszentmihályi's 1990 book about flow on Google Scholar]
Colloquial terms for this or similar mental states include: to be ''on the ball'', ''in the zone'', or ''in the groove''.
== Components of flow ==
Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow:
1. ''Clear goals'' (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities).
2. ''Concentrating and [[focus]]ing'', a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A ''loss of the [[feeling]] of self-consciousness'', the merging of action and awareness.
4. ''Distorted sense of [[time]]'', one's subjective [[experience]] of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate ''feedback'' (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that [[behavior]] can be adjusted as needed).
6. ''[[Balance]] between ability level and challenge'' (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal ''control'' over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is ''intrinsically rewarding'', so there is an effortlessness of action.
9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, ''action awareness merging''.
Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.
==Etymology==
Flow is so named because during Csíkszentmihályi's 1975 interviews several people described their 'flow' experiences using the [[metaphor]] of a water current carrying them along. The psychological [[concept]] of ''flow'' as becoming absorbed in an activity is thus unrelated to the older phrase "[[wikt:go with the flow|go with the flow]]".
== Group flow ==
Csíkszentmihályi suggests several ways in which a [[group]] could work together so that each [[individual]] member could achieve flow. The characteristics of such a group include:
* Creative spatial arrangements: Chairs, pin walls, charts, but no tables; thus work primarily standing and moving.
* Playground design: Charts for information inputs, flow graphs, project summary, craziness (here also craziness has a place), safe place (here all may say what is otherwise only [[thought]]), result wall, open topics
* Parallel, organized working
* Target group [[focus]]
* Advancement of existing one (prototyping)
* Increase in efficiency through [[vision|visualization]]
* Existence of differences among participants represents an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.
== Applications ==
=== Applications suggested by Csíkszentmihályi versus other practitioners ===
Only Csíkszentmihályi seems to have published suggestions for [[extrinsic]] applications of the Flow concept, such as [[design]] methods for playgrounds to elicit the Flow [[experience]]. Other practitioners of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept focus on [[intrinsic]] applications, such as [[spirituality]], performance improvement or self-help. Reinterpretations of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow process exist to improve performance in areas as diverse as business, piano [[aleatoric|improvisation]], sport psychology, and standup comedy.
=== Education ===
In [[education]], there is the concept of overlearning which seems to be an important factor in this technique, in that Csíkszentmihályi states that overlearning enables the mind to concentrate on visualizing the desired performance as a singular, integrated action instead of a set of actions.
=== Music ===
Musicians, especially improvisational soloists may experience a similar state of [[mind]] while playing their instrument. [http://books.google.com/books?id=NCySp2NzAm8C&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=improvisation+flow+Cs%C3%ADkszentmih%C3%A1lyi&source=bl&ots=5pu60NeSsB&sig=KvOLA8xLhIcAbG8rmsQ3MMS1AM8&hl=en&ei=OPGNScDdJ5-stgewlbm8Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result ''The Science & Psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Book'', Oxford University Press US, p. 119.]
=== Sports ===
The concept of "being in the zone" during an athletic performance fits within Csíkszentmihályi's description of the Flow experience, and theories and applications of "being in the zone" and its relationship with athletic competitive advantage are topics studied in the field osport psychology.[http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm]
Timothy Gallwey's influential works on the ''inner game'' of sports such as golf and tennis described the mental coaching and attitudes which were required to get into the zone and so fully internalise mastery of the sport.
Roy Palmer suggests that "being in the zone" may also influence [[motion|movement]] [[pattern]]s as better integration of the conscious and [[subconscious]] reflex functions improves coordination. Many athletes describe the effortless [[nature]] of their performance whilst achieving personal bests.
The Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, who during qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix explained: "I was already on pole, [...] and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel."
When challenges and skills are simultaneously above average, a broadly positive experience emerges. Also vital to the flow state is a sense of control, which nevertheless seems simultaneously effortless and masterful. Control and concentration manifest with a [[transcendence]] of normal awareness; one aspect of this transcendence is the loss of self-consciousness.
=== Religion and spirituality ===
Csíkszentmihályi may have been the first to describe this concept in Western [[psychology]], but as he himself readily acknowledges, he was most certainly not the first to quantify the concept of Flow or develop applications based on the concept.
For millennia, practitioners of Eastern religions such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddha|Buddhism]] and [[Taoism]] have honed the [[discipline]] of overcoming the duality of self and object as a central feature of [[spiritual]] development. Eastern spiritual practitioners have developed a very thorough and holistic set of theories around overcoming duality of self and object, tested and refined through spiritual practice instead of the systematic rigor and controls of modern [[science]].
The phrase "being at one with [[things]]" is a metaphor of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept.Practitioners of the varied schools of [[Zen Buddhism]] apply concepts similar to Flow to aid their mastery of [[art]] forms, including, in the case of Japanese Zen Buddhism, [[Aikido]], [[Kendo]] and [[Ikebana]]. In [[Yoga|yogic]] [[tradition]]s such as [[Raja Yoga]] reference is made to a state of "flow" in the practice of [[Samyama]], a psychological absorption in the object of meditation.[http://books.google.com/books?id=aUZBqTKTAfIC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=samyama+japan+koan&source=bl&ots=9NmvXYZlK0&sig=Q3UMX0nQDHLWs68I5FG0EaFBQb0#PPA26,M1]
=== Gaming ===
Game designers, particularly video and computer games, benefit from integration of Flow principles into gameplay design. [http://www.jenovachen.com/flowingames/introduction.htm Flow in Games]
=== Professions and work ===
Developers of computer software reference getting into a flow state, sometimes referred to as the "Zone" or "Hackmode" [http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hack-mode.html "Hackmode"], , when developing in an undistracted state. Stock market operators often use the term "in the pipe" to describe the psychological state of flow when trading during high volume days and market corrections.
== See also ==
* [[Creativity]]
* [[Hyperfocus]]
* [[Imagination]]
* [[Improvisation]]
* [[Spirituality]]
* [[Trance]]
==References==
===Footnotes===
# Citations of Csíkszentmihályi's 1990 book about flow on Google Scholar
# Csikszentmihalyi, M. & K. Rathunde. (1993). The measurement of flow in everyday life: Towards a theory of emergent motivation. In J. E. Jacobs (Ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation, Vol. 40: Developmental perspectives on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 60. ISBN 0803292104
# Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1975). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0875892612.
# Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row. ISBN 0-06-092043-2.
# Parncutt, Richard & McPherson, Gary E. (2002) The Science & Psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Book, Oxford University Press US, p. 119. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
# Janet A Young, Michelle D Pain. "The Zone: Evidence of a Universal Phenomenon for Athletes Across Sports". http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
# Timothy Galwey (1976). Inner Tennis - Playing the Game.
# Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1988) Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. 323.
# Hunter, Jeremy, and Csikszentmihalyi (2000)”The Phenomenology of Body-Mind: The Contrasting Cases of Flow in Sports and Contemplation. Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 11 No. 3-4 p. 15.
# Yoga Sutras 3.9-3.16: Witnessing Subtle Transitions with Samyama -- http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-30916.htm
# Sansonese, J. Nigro (1994). The Body of Myth: Mythology, Shamanic Trance, and the Sacred Geography of the Body. Inner Traditions. ISBN 9780892814091. Source: [1] (accessed: Friday March 6, 2009), p.26.
# Chen, J. (2008) Flow in Games Retrieved on 2008/05/16.
# http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hack-mode.html "Hackmode", Jargon File
===Notations===
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996). ''Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention''. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-092820-4
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1998). ''Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life''. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02411-4 (a popular exposition emphasizing technique)
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (2003). ''Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning''. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-200409-X
==External links==
* [http://www.butler-bowdon.com/flow.html ''Flow''] - A commentary on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's classic work by Tom Butler-Bowdon.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXIeFJCqsPs&feature=related Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow] YouTube video of presentation at the TED conference.
* [http://www.jenovachen.com/flowingames/abstract.htm flOw] A flash based implementation of flow theory and immersion in a game format.
* [http://www.archetypewriting.com/articles/articles_ck/muse_block_ckFlowArticle.htm Archetype Writing] The Right-Brain/Left-Brain Myth and Flow looks at the neurology behind flow.
* [http://www.meaningandhappiness.com/zone-enjoyment-creativity-elements-flow/26/ "In the zone": enjoyment, creativity, and the nine elements of "flow"]
* [http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com/News/030404.htm Finding Flow in Writing] by Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
* [http://www.flowtheory.com/ FlowTheory.com] An MSc dissertation exploring the importance of website usability from a business perspective; contains a section on flow.
[[Category: Psychology]]
'''Flow''' is the mental state of operation in which the [[person]] is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a [[feeling]] of energized [[focus]], full involvement, and success in the [[process]] of the activity. Proposed by positive psychology [[Mihály Csíkszentmihályi]], the [[concept]] has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&cites=12334528761431366038 Citations of Csíkszentmihályi's 1990 book about flow on Google Scholar]
Colloquial terms for this or similar mental states include: to be ''on the ball'', ''in the zone'', or ''in the groove''.
== Components of flow ==
Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow:
1. ''Clear goals'' (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities).
2. ''Concentrating and [[focus]]ing'', a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A ''loss of the [[feeling]] of self-consciousness'', the merging of action and awareness.
4. ''Distorted sense of [[time]]'', one's subjective [[experience]] of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate ''feedback'' (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that [[behavior]] can be adjusted as needed).
6. ''[[Balance]] between ability level and challenge'' (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal ''control'' over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is ''intrinsically rewarding'', so there is an effortlessness of action.
9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, ''action awareness merging''.
Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.
==Etymology==
Flow is so named because during Csíkszentmihályi's 1975 interviews several people described their 'flow' experiences using the [[metaphor]] of a water current carrying them along. The psychological [[concept]] of ''flow'' as becoming absorbed in an activity is thus unrelated to the older phrase "[[wikt:go with the flow|go with the flow]]".
== Group flow ==
Csíkszentmihályi suggests several ways in which a [[group]] could work together so that each [[individual]] member could achieve flow. The characteristics of such a group include:
* Creative spatial arrangements: Chairs, pin walls, charts, but no tables; thus work primarily standing and moving.
* Playground design: Charts for information inputs, flow graphs, project summary, craziness (here also craziness has a place), safe place (here all may say what is otherwise only [[thought]]), result wall, open topics
* Parallel, organized working
* Target group [[focus]]
* Advancement of existing one (prototyping)
* Increase in efficiency through [[vision|visualization]]
* Existence of differences among participants represents an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.
== Applications ==
=== Applications suggested by Csíkszentmihályi versus other practitioners ===
Only Csíkszentmihályi seems to have published suggestions for [[extrinsic]] applications of the Flow concept, such as [[design]] methods for playgrounds to elicit the Flow [[experience]]. Other practitioners of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept focus on [[intrinsic]] applications, such as [[spirituality]], performance improvement or self-help. Reinterpretations of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow process exist to improve performance in areas as diverse as business, piano [[aleatoric|improvisation]], sport psychology, and standup comedy.
=== Education ===
In [[education]], there is the concept of overlearning which seems to be an important factor in this technique, in that Csíkszentmihályi states that overlearning enables the mind to concentrate on visualizing the desired performance as a singular, integrated action instead of a set of actions.
=== Music ===
Musicians, especially improvisational soloists may experience a similar state of [[mind]] while playing their instrument. [http://books.google.com/books?id=NCySp2NzAm8C&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=improvisation+flow+Cs%C3%ADkszentmih%C3%A1lyi&source=bl&ots=5pu60NeSsB&sig=KvOLA8xLhIcAbG8rmsQ3MMS1AM8&hl=en&ei=OPGNScDdJ5-stgewlbm8Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result ''The Science & Psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Book'', Oxford University Press US, p. 119.]
=== Sports ===
The concept of "being in the zone" during an athletic performance fits within Csíkszentmihályi's description of the Flow experience, and theories and applications of "being in the zone" and its relationship with athletic competitive advantage are topics studied in the field osport psychology.[http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm]
Timothy Gallwey's influential works on the ''inner game'' of sports such as golf and tennis described the mental coaching and attitudes which were required to get into the zone and so fully internalise mastery of the sport.
Roy Palmer suggests that "being in the zone" may also influence [[motion|movement]] [[pattern]]s as better integration of the conscious and [[subconscious]] reflex functions improves coordination. Many athletes describe the effortless [[nature]] of their performance whilst achieving personal bests.
The Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, who during qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix explained: "I was already on pole, [...] and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel."
When challenges and skills are simultaneously above average, a broadly positive experience emerges. Also vital to the flow state is a sense of control, which nevertheless seems simultaneously effortless and masterful. Control and concentration manifest with a [[transcendence]] of normal awareness; one aspect of this transcendence is the loss of self-consciousness.
=== Religion and spirituality ===
Csíkszentmihályi may have been the first to describe this concept in Western [[psychology]], but as he himself readily acknowledges, he was most certainly not the first to quantify the concept of Flow or develop applications based on the concept.
For millennia, practitioners of Eastern religions such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddha|Buddhism]] and [[Taoism]] have honed the [[discipline]] of overcoming the duality of self and object as a central feature of [[spiritual]] development. Eastern spiritual practitioners have developed a very thorough and holistic set of theories around overcoming duality of self and object, tested and refined through spiritual practice instead of the systematic rigor and controls of modern [[science]].
The phrase "being at one with [[things]]" is a metaphor of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept.Practitioners of the varied schools of [[Zen Buddhism]] apply concepts similar to Flow to aid their mastery of [[art]] forms, including, in the case of Japanese Zen Buddhism, [[Aikido]], [[Kendo]] and [[Ikebana]]. In [[Yoga|yogic]] [[tradition]]s such as [[Raja Yoga]] reference is made to a state of "flow" in the practice of [[Samyama]], a psychological absorption in the object of meditation.[http://books.google.com/books?id=aUZBqTKTAfIC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=samyama+japan+koan&source=bl&ots=9NmvXYZlK0&sig=Q3UMX0nQDHLWs68I5FG0EaFBQb0#PPA26,M1]
=== Gaming ===
Game designers, particularly video and computer games, benefit from integration of Flow principles into gameplay design. [http://www.jenovachen.com/flowingames/introduction.htm Flow in Games]
=== Professions and work ===
Developers of computer software reference getting into a flow state, sometimes referred to as the "Zone" or "Hackmode" [http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hack-mode.html "Hackmode"], , when developing in an undistracted state. Stock market operators often use the term "in the pipe" to describe the psychological state of flow when trading during high volume days and market corrections.
== See also ==
* [[Creativity]]
* [[Hyperfocus]]
* [[Imagination]]
* [[Improvisation]]
* [[Spirituality]]
* [[Trance]]
==References==
===Footnotes===
# Citations of Csíkszentmihályi's 1990 book about flow on Google Scholar
# Csikszentmihalyi, M. & K. Rathunde. (1993). The measurement of flow in everyday life: Towards a theory of emergent motivation. In J. E. Jacobs (Ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation, Vol. 40: Developmental perspectives on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 60. ISBN 0803292104
# Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1975). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0875892612.
# Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row. ISBN 0-06-092043-2.
# Parncutt, Richard & McPherson, Gary E. (2002) The Science & Psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Book, Oxford University Press US, p. 119. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
# Janet A Young, Michelle D Pain. "The Zone: Evidence of a Universal Phenomenon for Athletes Across Sports". http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
# Timothy Galwey (1976). Inner Tennis - Playing the Game.
# Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1988) Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. 323.
# Hunter, Jeremy, and Csikszentmihalyi (2000)”The Phenomenology of Body-Mind: The Contrasting Cases of Flow in Sports and Contemplation. Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 11 No. 3-4 p. 15.
# Yoga Sutras 3.9-3.16: Witnessing Subtle Transitions with Samyama -- http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-30916.htm
# Sansonese, J. Nigro (1994). The Body of Myth: Mythology, Shamanic Trance, and the Sacred Geography of the Body. Inner Traditions. ISBN 9780892814091. Source: [1] (accessed: Friday March 6, 2009), p.26.
# Chen, J. (2008) Flow in Games Retrieved on 2008/05/16.
# http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hack-mode.html "Hackmode", Jargon File
===Notations===
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996). ''Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention''. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-092820-4
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1998). ''Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life''. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02411-4 (a popular exposition emphasizing technique)
* Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (2003). ''Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning''. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-200409-X
==External links==
* [http://www.butler-bowdon.com/flow.html ''Flow''] - A commentary on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's classic work by Tom Butler-Bowdon.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXIeFJCqsPs&feature=related Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow] YouTube video of presentation at the TED conference.
* [http://www.jenovachen.com/flowingames/abstract.htm flOw] A flash based implementation of flow theory and immersion in a game format.
* [http://www.archetypewriting.com/articles/articles_ck/muse_block_ckFlowArticle.htm Archetype Writing] The Right-Brain/Left-Brain Myth and Flow looks at the neurology behind flow.
* [http://www.meaningandhappiness.com/zone-enjoyment-creativity-elements-flow/26/ "In the zone": enjoyment, creativity, and the nine elements of "flow"]
* [http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com/News/030404.htm Finding Flow in Writing] by Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
* [http://www.flowtheory.com/ FlowTheory.com] An MSc dissertation exploring the importance of website usability from a business perspective; contains a section on flow.
[[Category: Psychology]]