Life in the Here and Now: Enjoyment Versus Happiness A Review of Advances in Flow Research by Stefan Engeser (Ed.

) New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4614-2358-4. doi: 10.1037/a0031193 Reviewed by David Manier

Csikszentmihalyi (1975, p. 9) said that the goal of his research was to understand enjoyment, here and nownot as compensation for past desires, not as preparation for future needs, but as an ongoing process which provides rewarding experiences in the present. He labeled this type of experience as flow, which he said involves intense concentration, deep immersion in an activity, loss of self-consciousness, a sense of internal control, clear goals and feedback about achieving them, and a type of intrinsic motivation that he described as autotelic (1975, pp. 4047). Over the following decades, he and his colleagues have published a wealth of research about flow (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 2002; Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006). Apart from those who have collaborated directly with him, Csikszentmihalyi has inspired many researchers around the world to do research on flow.

Advances in Flow Research comprises 10 chapters that present some of the most recent research on flow. The collection covers a wide range of topics, including measurement issues, flow in nonachievement contexts, the dark side of flow, personality factors, and psychophysiological correlates. Rather than attempting a summary of all this, I will highlight some salient controversial issues.

Must Flow Be Autotelic?

An activity is autotelic if it is intrinsically enjoyable, without the need for any external rewards, and Csikszentmihalyi (1975, p. 36) said that one of the main traits of flow experiences is that they usually are, to a lesser or greater extent, autotelic. Yet, in the next sentence, he granted that one may experience flow in any activity, even in some activities that seem least designed to give enjoymenton the battlefront, on a factory assembly line, or in a concentration camp. This raises the following question: To what extent must flow experiences be autotelic? Advances in Flow Research presents one perspective on this issue in a chapter titled The Flow Model Revisited, where Keller and Landhaeusser (p. 58) maintain that flow intensity is a function of two factors (1) perceived level of fit between skills and task demands and (2) subjective value assigned to the activitythe latter (subjective value) refers to the activitys autotelic quality. It might naturally be assumed that this implies that the autotelic quality causes the flow to be more intense. But in another chapter, titled Flow and Its Affective, Cognitive, and Performance-Related Consequences, Landhaeusser and Keller note: Regardless of whether intrinsic motivation is understood as a component, a consequence, or even an antecedent . . . of flow experiences, both should be closely related [,] as reflected in the fact that descriptions of flow in most cases capture the autotelic quality of the experience. (p. 69)

Csikszentmihalyi (1975, p. 50) suggested that there may be such a thing as an autotelic personality, which would involve a tendency to value activities for their own sake and in turn make it more likely for the person to experience flow. In subsequent decades, researchers have pursued this concept further (see Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993).

In a chapter titled Autotelic Personality, which summarizes this past research, as well as presenting new material, Baumann (p. 170) describes the autotelic personality as being high in the achievement flow motive, or nAchFlow, which is a stable motive disposition behind frequent and intense flow experiences in achievement contexts (cf. also Baumann & Scheffer, 2011). To put it in a single phrase, Baumanns perspective on nAchFlow emphasizes that it involves traits and behaviors that are oriented toward (first) recognizing or perceiving challenges in life and

(second) wanting to master those challenges. The argument here (which is compatible with that of the other researchers included in this collection) is that, although those with an autotelic personality, who are high innAchFlow, are not the only ones who experience flow, they are more likely than others to do so.

In the volumes final chapter, Theoretical Integration and Future Lines of Flow Research, Engeser observes that it may be possible to trigger the flow experience by initially using extrinsic rewards, which could subsequently seem less important as the intrinsic value of the experience becomes apparent. That is, flow need not be (at least initially) autotelic. However, Engeser (p. 195) rightly goes on to emphasize the danger of using flow induced with external rewards to make persons become attracted or addicted to video games or for marketing purposes, and that it would be well to use this power for influencing individuals with considerable caution.

The Role of Challenges That Balance Skills With Demands

Csikszentmihalyi (1975, p. 39) said that flow seems to occur only when tasks are within ones ability to perform. Following this suggestion, researchers have often presumed that a good match between the demands of a task and the skills of the person doing it is a precondition for an individual experiencing flow. Landhaeusser and Keller (pp. 8182) summarize some experiments that involve manipulating task difficulty in order to try to induce the flow experience, but they report that these experiments show little success at inducing flow in this way (e.g., manipulating the difficulty of a video game).

Elsewhere (p. 75), Landhaeusser and Keller suggest a reason why this might be the case: Challenging activities are not always gratifying for everyone. For example, Csikszentmihalyi et al. (1993) found that when adolescents were doing homework or preparing for an exam, they were more likely to experience flow (and report satisfaction) when their skills exceeded the demands of the task (i.e., when they found the task easy).

The chapter by Schiepe-Tiska and Engeser, Flow in Nonachievement Situations, casts further doubt on whether it is necessary to have an appropriate balance between skills and demands in order to have the flow experience. These authors note (p. 89) that it is possible to experience flow in activities that are not challenging, such as watching TV or socializing with friends; rather than presenting interesting challenges, activities like these may simply be considered as providing opportunities for action.

Some of the characteristics associated with having demands and skills in balance may be present in these activities (e.g., structure and feedback). But even so, it is not very clear how these activities can be understood in light of the claim made by Keller and Landhaeusser (p. 58; vide supra) that flow intensity is a function of . . . perceived level of fit between skills and task demands. Flow and Happiness

Although Csikszentmihalyi (1975) initially focused simply on intrinsically enjoyable experiences, subsequently he made explicit links between flow and happiness (cf. Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). However, most of the contributors to the current volume decouple flow from happiness. Landhaeusser and Keller (p. 74) express it this way: Activity-specific enjoyment . . . is not the same thing as the global state of happiness. They also cite (p. 75) the finding reported by Csikszentmihalyi et al. (1993) that, out of 20 types of activities reported by adolescents (using the experience-sampling method), only seven revealed a congruence between flow and self-reported happiness.

However, the starkest dissociation between flow and happiness can be found in the chapter by Julia Schueler titled The Dark Side of the Moon. Schueler (pp. 123127) discusses a wide variety of experiences that might involve the flow experience and yet have a negative side, which might detract from happiness. Many of these are activities that might have an addictive aspect, such as excessive exercising, game playing, and use of the Internet.

Some are activities that can be risky, and potentially even life threatening, such as surfing in hazardous conditions, motorcycle riding at excessive speeds, free solo rock climbing, and whitewater kayaking without appropriate safety gear. Shueler (p. 127) cites research by Hausenblas and Symons Downs (2002) describing a variety of ways that the experience of flow can be similar to addiction, such as tolerance (increase the speed of surfing to achieve the positive feeling of flow), withdrawal symptoms (depression, feeling depleted when not able to surf), conflicts with social life (surfing conflicts with the interests of the life partner), and continuation despite injuries.

Conclusion

Advances in Flow Research presents a collection of chapters by impressively talented researchers in the area of flow theory. It merits close reading by all those interested in research on flow, happiness, and other related topics in the field of positive psychology. The majority of the chapters are written by professors at German universities, but the overall perspective is international and encompasses an awareness of the research on this topic that has been done in the United States and elsewhere around the globe. The collection is not flawed in terms of its scope to the contrary, it covers a range of details about research that may be intimidating to most readers. Undergraduates will find it daunting; advanced researchers will find it meaty, if now and then a bit gristly.

At times, the larger picture seems to be obscured by the details. Must flow be autotelic? Not always. Does it require a balance between demands and skills? Sometimes not. Does it tend to lead to happiness? Not necessarily. Moreover, the approach is sometimes reductionistic. In the final chapter of the book, Engeser (pp. 193194) observes that the need for clear goals and feedback on progress may be subsumed under the concept of a balance between demands and skills, and that time distortion (which many researchers have considered to be an aspect of flow) may be subsumed under loss of self-consciousness.

We are left with the study of experiences that involve concentration/immersion and loss of selfconsciousness, even if this arises from activities that are inherently evil: Schueler (pp. 131132) points out that combat and other kinds of killing can involve flow (cf. Harari, 2008). If the phenomenal state being researched has no positive value inherent in it and may even be evil, then what is the rationale for studying it?

Given the negative aspects of flow, as Falko Rheinberg says in the Foreword (p. xi), The question becomes important of where, with a view to its consequences, the flow state is desired and where it should be avoided if possible. This seems correctbut then, Schuelers message about the dark side of the moon increases in importance. Flow is usually approached as something positive that can promote happiness: Csikszentmihalyi (2002) often discussed flow in this way.

This not only neglects the dark side of flow but also equates happiness with transitory mental states or subjective experienceswhich arguably sells happiness short or, at least, ignores broader conceptions of happiness such as flourishing or eudaimonia (cf. Manier, 2011). In addition to the above, it must be noted that this book would have benefited from more careful editing by a native speaker of English.

But despite some flaws, Advances in Flow Research is a major contribution to the research literature on flow theory. It surveys and rigorously describes an imposing quantity of psychological research and deserves a wide readership.

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PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved. Life in the here and now: Enjoyment versus happiness. By Manier, David PsycCRITIQUES, Vol 58(5), 2013, No Pagination Specified.