Social Psychological Concept Of Flow, Mihalyi

The concept of Flow or being in the zone as it’s often called, is a positive social psychological concept used to describe a specific mental state where, in essence, a person reaches an optimum state of concentration and absorption. “Being in the zone describes the epitomic, optimal fusion of the productive mind and the labouring body; an exceptional temporality where ordinary human capacities are transcended to produce excellence beyond convention.” (Banks 2014) In layman's terms, Flow is a state of mindset where nothing else seems to matter except for the activity or task at hand. The creator of the concept of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a highly regarded professor of psychology, author and psychological thinker. Csikszentmihalyi mainly

Similarly a person might happen upon it without wishing or trying to. Flow is very much a positive psychological state and this can be shown on a scientific level. When someone is experiencing flow, their brain releases endorphins and chemicals into the bloodstream. These include Large amounts of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. All of the mentioned chemicals are linked to inducing pleasure and enhancing performance and are thought to have considerable impacts on creativity. Norepinephrine and dopamine are key to helping boost focus as they help the brain gather more information.(Flow states and creativity)

The theory of Flow is a particularly interesting one as it has the ability to be applied to a number of different areas, including happiness and contentment. Being in the zone or Flow can be applied to many things such as producing art, music, literature, fashion design or sports and activities. Being in the zone or Flow is seen as something to strive for. It is seen as something that only the best workers can achieve and is thought to be the centre of one’s creativity and a cherished zone of productivity (Banks 2014) The experience of flow in both professional and leisure activities results in increased performance

If an individual is actively involved in trying to attain a goal that is challenging but at the same time well suited to their skills and not overly challenging, they may experience the state of flow. According to many people including psychologist and creative thinker behind the theory, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is strongly linked to happiness. Apart from the scientific evidence that links flow to happiness mentioned earlier, the fact that it involves a complete state of awareness, A loss of self-consciousness and a sense of control over whatever the situation at hand is, is enough to see how flow could go hand in hand with happiness. There are however barriers to achieving a state of flow. If there is no clear set of goals, structure and balance between the challenges of the task at hand and your own skills then flow can not take place. Another barrier to entering a state of flow that Csikszentmihalyi identified is that it can not occur unless the activity a person is taking part in is a higher than average challenge and requires higher than average skills(Csikszentmihalyi).To ensure one can maintain a state of flow, one must seek out increasingly harder and greater challenges to take part in. Attempting these new, demanding challenges increases one's skills and in turn their ability to enter the flow