Do you remember that moment when creativity and productivity sprung from your mind smoothly? According to positive psychology practitioner Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this state is called flow, and it is an important contributor to creativity and well-being.
The experience of flow is universal and it has been reported to occur across different classes, genders, ages, cultures and it can be experienced in many types of activities (Nakamura et al., 2009). In recent years, the concept of flow has been studied by researchers and they have found very interesting results.
Characteristics of flow
Csikszentmihalyi describes 8 characteristics of flow:
- Complete concentration on the task
- Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback
- Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down of time)
- The experience is intrinsically rewarding, has an end itself
- Effortlessness and ease
- There is a balance between challenge and skills
- Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination
- There is a feeling of control over the task
Who experiences flow?
Interestingly, a capacity to experience flow can differ according to personality. Studies suggest that those with ‘’autotelic personality’’ tends to experience flow more than those who aren’t.
‘’Autotelic personality’’ is an individual who tends to do things for their own sake rather that achieving some distant external goal (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). This personality is distinguished by certain meta-skills such as high interest in life, persistence, as well as low self-centeredness.
Moreover, in a recent study investigating associations between flow and the 5-personality types, they found a negative correlation with neuroticism and a positive correlation between conscientiousness with the state of flow (Ullen et al., 2012).
It can be speculated that neurotic individuals are more prone to anxiety and self-criticism, which are conditions that can disrupt this state. In contrast, conscientious individuals are more likely to spend time on mastering challenging tasks, which are characteristics important for flow experience.
What happens in the brain?
The state of flow has been rarely investigated from a neuropsychological perspective but is a growing interest. According to Dietrich (2004), it has been associated with decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is an area responsible for higher cognitive functions such as self-reflective consciousness, memory, temporal integration, and working memory (Dietrich et al., 2003). It’s an area that’s responsible for our conscious and explicit mind state.
However, in a state of flow, this area is believed to temporarily down-regulate; a process called transient hypofrontality. This temporary inactivation of the prefrontal area may trigger the feeling of distortion of time, loss of self-consciousness, and loss of inner-critic.
Moreover, the inhibition of the prefrontal lobe may enable the implicit mind to take over, resulting in more brain areas to communicate freely and engage in a creative process. In other research, it’s also hypothesized that the flow state is related to the brain’s dopamine reward circuitry since curiosity is highly amplified (Gruber et al., 2014).
How to achieve this state?
It’s important to note that one can’t experience flow if other distractions disrupt the experience (Nakamura et al., 2009). Thus, to experience this state, one has to keep away from the attention-robbers in our modern fast-paced life.
Also, the balance of perceived challenges and skills are important factors (Nakamura et al., 2009). On one hand, when challenges exceed the skills, one becomes anxious and stressed. On the other hand, when skills exceed the challenges, one becomes bored and distracted. Since the experience of this state is just in the middle, the balance is essential.
The experience of flow in everyday life is an important component of creativity and well-being. Indeed, it can be prescribed as a key aspect of ‘’eudaemonia’’ or self-actualization in an individual, a contradictory term to ’’ hedonia’’ or pleasure. Since it is also intrinsically rewarding, the more you practice it, the more you seek to replicate these experiences, which help lead to a fully engaged and happy life.
References
Dietrich, A. (2003). Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: the transient hypofrontality hypothesis. Consciousness and cognition, 12(2), 231-256.
Dietrich, A. (2004). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow. Consciousness and Cognition, 13(4), 746-761.
Gruber, M. J., Gelman, B. D., & Ranganath, C. (2014). States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the dopaminergic circuit.Neuron, 84(2), 486-496.
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow theory and research.Handbook of positive psychology, 195-206.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Ullén, F., de Manzano, Ö., Almeida, R., Magnusson, P. K., Pedersen, N. L., Nakamura, J., … & Madison, G. (2012). Proneness for psychological flow in everyday life: Associations with personality and intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(2), 167-172.
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