Search Results (13)

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into educational environments is fundamentally transforming the learning process, raising new questions regarding student engagement and motivation. This empirical study investigates the relationship between AI-based learning support and the experience of flow, defined as the optimal state of deep attention and intrinsic motivation, among university students. Building on Csíkszentmihályi’s flow theory and current models of technology-enhanced learning, we applied a validated, purposefully developed AI questionnaire (AIFLQ) to 142 students from two Hungarian universities: the Ludovika University of Public Service and Eszterházy Károly Catholic University. The participants used generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT 4, SUNO) during their academic tasks. Based on the results of the Mann–Whitney U test, significant differences were found between students from the two universities in the immersion and balance factors, as well as in the overall flow score, while the AI-related factor showed no statistically significant differences. The sustainability of the flow experience appears to be linked more to pedagogical methodological factors than to institutional ones, highlighting the importance of instructional support in fostering optimal learning experiences. Demographic variables also influenced the flow experience. In gender comparisons, female students showed significantly higher values for the immersion factor. According to the Kruskal–Wallis test, educational attainment also affected the flow experience, with students holding higher education degrees achieving higher flow scores. Our findings suggest that through the conscious design of AI tools and learning environments, taking into account instructional support and learner characteristics, it is possible to promote the development of optimal learning states. This research provides empirical evidence at the intersection of AI and motivational psychology, contributing to both domestic and international discourse in educational psychology and digital pedagogy. Full article

Background: Optimal health requires self-direction for exercise regime consistency. Boredom may cause abandoning regular exercise. Experiencing psychological flow—a concept psychologist Csikszentmihalyi originated—may avert boredom. Method: A search of post-2020 peer-reviewed publications following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines for scoping reviews investigates the range of research on this topic. The databases searched are OVID, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The keywords are “Csikszentmihalyi AND flow AND exercise AND boredom”. Included returns contain all the keywords. Those excluded are reviews, books, reports missing any keywords, non-English reports, reports not based on research studies, and research published before 2020. Results: Two databases returned the included results: OVID (n = 3) and Google Scholar (n = 8). Conclusions: (1) Boredom is not evident when experiencing exercise-programme psychological flow. (2) Psychological flow evolves with self-directed changes in an exercise programme. (3) Successful exercise programme modifications during COVID-19 considered the imposed limitations. (4) Exercise regimes that are neither excessive nor extreme promote optimal health. And (5) optimal health accounts for exercise skill level and gender. Additionally, cognitive bias is avertable with a research team. Studies should include the research date and location and how flow reduces boredom, permitting accurate comparisons. Full article

Background: Burnout represented a significant employee problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiencing the psychological flow investigated by Csikszentmihalyi might avoid it. Yet, COVID-19 may have contributed to the unattainability of psychological flow for burnout-prone employees. The objective of this study is to determine the COVID-19 achievability of employee flow and, if attained, whether flow resulted in burnout avoidance during the pandemic. Method: This scoping review includes searches of six primary databases (CINAHL, OVID, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science), two searches of one supplementary database (Google Scholar), and one register (Cochrane COVID-19 register) of the keywords “burnout, COVID-19, employees, healthcare providers, psychological flow, Csikszentmihalyi”. Included are peer-reviewed, COVID-19-related, 2020–2025 journal publications. Excluded are duplicates, non-COVID-19-related publications, reports lacking a research study, keywords, or relevant information. Results: In identifying 754 records, five records met the inclusion criteria. Mental healthcare practitioners, nurses, gig workers, corporate professionals, and working parents were the focus of the studies. Quantitative studies showed statistical significance. Qualitative studies showed promise for psychological flow mitigating burnout. Conclusions: Psychological flow was possible during COVID-19 for various employee types, and attaining it permitted burnout avoidance, suggesting a focus on achieving flow in the workplace during pandemics would diminish the incidence of employee burnout. Full article

Background: Self-directed learning (SDL) most appropriately is learning that is personally selected based on individual values. SDL potentially achieves psychological flow. Flow is an outcome identified and investigated by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Among those whose flow he studied were individuals who engaged in self-directed careers—athletes, musicians, and researchers. Method: Based on their career self-direction, this investigation compares the reports of athletes, musicians, and researchers of Csikszentmihalyi through a qualitative narrative analysis of his relevant forty-seven-year publication record. The included reports have Csikszentmihalyi as an author, are an analysis of athletes, musicians, or researchers, and mention flow. The lack of an empirical study is the reason for exclusion. Results: The results reveal a significant difference between those who experience flow from a performance of their achieved skills and those who experience flow while learning. This examination of Csikszentmihalyi’s studies regarding athletes and musicians identifies that they are most likely to experience flow during performances of their mastered skills, unlike researchers, whose flow occurs during SDL—a distinction unmentioned by Csikszentmihalyi. Conclusions: Although athletes and musicians may self-direct their careers, only the flow of researchers corresponds with SDL. This result meaningfully extends the literature on SDL and flow, offering direction for future empirical studies and educational opportunities. Full article

Warhammer 40,000 (40k) is the world’s most popular miniature wargame. The game is played with miniatures (small-scale figures made of hard plastic or other materials), which have usually been painted by each individual player. These player–painters typically spend hours in deep concentration painting the models. Drawing on interviews and journal entries from a six-month participant study of 14 painters, this paper explores whether miniature painters achieve a flow state, whether this creates a greater feeling of mindfulness, and how painting impacts their overall mental health. Results from this study indicate that miniature painting is meditative, meaningful, and positive for the participants’ mental health. Using the definition of flow outlined in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (1988), flow is a state of pleasure had when an individual concentrates on a specific task. Csikszentmihalyi, from his research on flow, notes that this state of mind involves both immersion and a sense of transcendence, where the individual temporarily loses a sense of self. This sense of loss of self was explored with an increased attention to the feeling of the body, and situated cognition has been further explored to understand how this connects to painting. While flow is regularly applied to videogame studies, less work has been carried out on this flow state during activities like miniature painting. Full article

In 2000, Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi published the highly influential “Positive Psychology: An Introduction” in American Psychologist, and with it, they advocated for a strengths-based approach for helping people live a “good life”. Building on that work, positive psychology was further conceptualized as consisting of meta-psychological and practical aspects. The meta-psychological constitutes the aims or “grand vision” of what positive psychology stands for, whereas the practical constitutes the “nuts-and-bolts” elements that should be focused on in developing interventions. In the present commentary, we build on this previous work to propose a “positive psychology pragmatic framework” to develop strengths-based interventions (SBIs) for use with special student populations; in this case, students with special needs and P-3 and gifted students. Relatedly, we review the empirical and theoretical/conceptual literature relevant to the use of SBIs within each subpopulation as well as discuss some characteristics that make each subpopulation unique. Consequently, to the highest degree possible, we advocate for integrating intrapersonal, interpersonal, contextual/environmental, systemic, and developmental factors in developing SBIs and we make specific recommendations for future research through the lens of this proposed framework. Full article

Originated during the 1970s by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the theory of work-related flow has the following features: (1) the goals pursued are clear; (2) each action taken results in instantaneous feedback; (3) the skills required are equal to the challenges presented; (4) awareness and action for how to proceed are integrated; (5) consciousness is focused while distractions are ignored; (6) failure is not considered an option; (7) self-consciousness is non-existent; (8) time awareness is distorted; and (9) the engaged activity is the end in itself. According to research findings, it is the optimal work-related experience to sustain careers. Full article

In promoting career sustainability, psychological theories historically have informed human resource management (HRM) development—three assessment directions are among them: work-related flow, happiness promotion, and appraising PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) factors. Csikszentmihalyi’s work-related flow represents an optimally challenging work-related process. Happiness promotion strives to maintain a pleased satisfaction with the current experience. PERMA represents measurable positive psychological factors constituting well-being. Reliable and validated, the experience of flow has been found to determine career sustainability in contrast to the more often investigated happiness ascertainment or identifying PERMA factors. Career sustainability research to inform HRM development is in its infancy. Therefore, publishers’ commitment to sustainability provides integrity. Given MDPI’s uniquely founding sustainability concern, its journal articles were searched with the keywords “flow, Csikszentmihalyi, work”, excluding those pertaining to education, health, leisure, marketing, non-workers, and spirituality, to determine the utilization of work-related flow to achieve career sustainability. Of the 628 returns, 28 reports were included for potential assessment. Current studies on Csikszentmihalyi’s work-related flow ultimately represented three results. These provide insight into successful, positive methods to develop career sustainability. Consequently, HRM is advised to investigate practices for assessing and encouraging employees’ engagement with work-related flow with the aim of ensuring career sustainability. Full article

The aim of this article was to present an important perspective on reading skill development. The perspective ‘READ’ builds on the phonics approach which has been found to be most important in relation to reading achievement i.e., to teach children to break the reading code. In addition, READ builds on theories within learning and skill development. The Ericsson concept of ‘deliberate practice’ refer to baseline measurements that provide a basis for follow-up and deliberate practice. The concept of ‘flow’ is also of great importance where challenges are always in relation to the skills. It means that each child will be able to experience ‘flow’ where mastery is the key word, feeling I CAN! When mastery is experienced, the dopamine hormone gives the feeling of reward. Stimuli, experience, and repetition is also a key word in the ‘training hour’ where children get the possibility to strengthen the neural network that is used for specific skills which are trained. In this respect, the letter-sound knowledge is trained until the child has broken the reading code. The results from the first year in the school in Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland indicates that all the children were able to break the reading code or read simple words. In addition, 96% of the children were able to read sentences, and 88% where able to read text. These promising results are discussed in relation to Ericsson’s and Csikszentmihalyi’s important theories. Full article

Toddlers come into contact with smartphones by the time they are 10 months old, and smartphones eventually become a part of the daily lives of toddlers because they are used as parenting tools and are also attractive toys. Routine exposure to these electronic devices may lead to excessive immersion, which can cause smartphone dependence when toddlers grow up. Based on Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow, we aimed to develop a new scale to measure the flow phenomenon in toddlers who are exposed to smartphones. We attempted to identify the constituent factors of a toddler’s flow in smartphones through a literature review, observations, and interviews. Initially, 32 questions were screened from the field verification stage and interviews; the final 20 questions were selected by combining technical statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and expert feasibility. We also found five eligible constituent factors, namely, a playfulness-oriented experience, reaction limited by concentration, and intentional pursuit to achieve the goal, assimilate into the virtual world, and acquire desire-fulfilling skills. We then performed a confirmatory factor analysis on our parent-reported toddlers’ smartphone flow state scale. To secure the criterion-related validity, the correlation between our scale and the preexisting smartphone dependence measurement tool for toddlers was evaluated. Cronbach’s α value of the toddlers’ smartphone flow state scale was 0.95 (each factor was verified as 0.79–0.92 and the explanatory power was 72.21%). The test–retest reliability was found to be stable with the intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficient value of 0.78 (p < 0.001). Our research findings suggest that this novel smartphone flow state scale for toddlers could be a valid and reliable tool for measuring how toddlers feel the flow phenomenon while using smartphones. Furthermore, our results could contribute to the development and evaluation of the interventions that prevent side effects from smartphone overflow in toddlers. Full article

For many families, young children’s engagement with screen-based technology is an ongoing concern in terms of physical, social and cognitive development. They are uneasy with the difficulty children have disengaging from screens and concerned that this behavior is obsessive or a sign of addiction. However, technology is recognized as having a “rightful role” in early childhood contexts. This scoping paper reports on a review of literature relating to digital play for children aged birth to five years, with the aim of further understanding digital wellbeing. Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory serves as a theoretical framework for understanding why many young children enjoy digital play and become deeply engaged, with a disconnect between how young children and adults perceive digital play. Concerns about children’s deep immersion with digital play are interrogated to understand the connections with perceived addictive traits. The review highlights the critical importance of supporting children’s agency and digital citizenship skills from a young age, including the ability to critique content, balance screen-time with non-screen time and to develop self-control and self-regulation as a means to promote long-term positive outcomes for children in their digital lifeworlds and beyond. Full article

Positive psychology aims to improve the quality of life and prevent the occurrence of mental disorders and pathologies. Focus of interest is prevention and thus avoid traditional and exclusive concern for repairing the negative aspects of life. It looks for the construction of positive qualities (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), in base of the positive psychological features we all have. The objective of this study is to improve the psychological strengths in early childhood education trought the use of activities. Sample is composed by 52 preschool students at 2nd cycle of Pre-primary Education in Caravaca de la Cruz, north west of Murcia (Spain). Strengths and psychological virtues were evaluated though the use of the Family Drawing Test (Corman, 1967), to assess if there were differences or improvements after the intervention. Full article

This study examines the relationship between subjective happiness levels and teacher self-efficacy in a sample of 454 teachers at all educational levels (from kindergarten to University) of Dominican Republic and Spain. To do this, we used the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), which assesses the general happiness, and Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk, 2001), which measures three dimensions: Efficacy in Student Engagement, Efficacy in Instructional Practices, and Efficacy in Classroom Management. The results show significant and positive correlations between subjective happiness scores and the three dimensions of teacher efficacy. Also, the Dominican population obtains higher scores than the Spanish population in all constructs analyzed. Depending on the results found, which corroborate previous research in the field of positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), we propose the incorporation of emotional education training plans for teachers, since subjective happiness as part of individual emotions, is a factor with high positive implications for successfully carrying out professional challenges posed by the task of education. Full article