Flow, in positive psychology, is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment in the process of the activity, popularly described as being in the zone. It is characterized by complete absorption in what one is doing and a resulting shift in one's sense of time, described as the melting together of action and consciousness and a balance found between a skill and how challenging the task is, requiring a high level of concentration. First presented by the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 1975 book Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, flow grew out of the sport-psychology idea of an individual zone of optimal functioning, and a person is most likely to experience it at moderate levels of psychological arousal, neither overwhelmed nor understimulated to the point of boredom.
Facts
Core ClaimFlow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in the zone or focused, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. 1 FAQs
Why is the state called flow?
Interviewees in 1975 described the state as being carried along by a water current.
The name comes from how people described the experience. In the interviews Mihály Csíkszentmihályi conducted in 1975, several people described their flow experiences using the metaphor of a water current carrying them along.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Flow (psychology)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia, Flow (psychology), lead paragraph, definition sentence
Flow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in the zone or focused, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
Wikipedia, Flow (psychology), lead paragraph, origin sentence
First presented in the 1975 book Beyond Boredom and Anxiety by the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the concept has been widely referred to across a variety of fields.
In Group: Emotion, Anxiety and Wellbeing in Learning, Lead
Flow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in the zone or focused, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
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