University of Twente Student Theses
The Experience of Flow Among Flourishing Individuals : a qualitative exploration
Esche, K. (2021) The Experience of Flow Among Flourishing Individuals : a qualitative exploration.
|
PDF
592kB |
| Abstract: | Within research on the optimal human experience in positive psychology, flow is said to be a facilitating factor for flourishing mental health, but research on the experience of flow and its perceived contribution to mental health among flourishing individuals is limited. Within this study, the questions of which kinds of activities flourishers report as facilitators of flow and which perceived effects the state of flow has on flourisher's mental health, if any, were answered. A qualitative study design was used to examine open question responses by fifty-two flourishers. A codebook was developed to capture all reported activities and accounts of the effect of flow. The findings show that the kinds of flow activities that flourishers reported range from leisure activities to goal- and productivity-oriented pursuits and social interactions across fifteen different activity types. Flourishers also predominantly stated that flow contributed to their flourishing mental health and that most flow experiences were of positive perceived impact. Nonetheless, some accounts of negative effects on flourishing mental health, explained by overindulgence in flow states, were also found. The findings of this study offer more detailed insights into what experiencing flow is like among flourishers. Nevertheless, given the relatively novel nature of flow theory and research, further research is needed to understand how the experiences of flow and flourishing are linked and whether flow states have a facilitating impact on flourishing mental health. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/86817 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page