text:
Enabling Positive
Flow and Complexity
in Daily Experience
Preface By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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List of contributing authors
Phenomenology of Positive Change: Social Growth
Cultural Evolution and Individual Psychological Selection
The Artifacts and Their Relationship with the Subjective Experience
The Flow of Consciousness
The Influence on Culture and Society
Some Connections with Others Theories
Giuseppe Riva
Jeanne Nakamura
Barbara Diana
Chapter 1
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Luca Argenton
Giuseppe Riva
Chapter 9
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Marisa Muzio
Chapter 4
Chapter 9
Eleonora Riva
Franco Cesaro
Chapter 5
Chapter 10
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Jeanne Nakamura
Chapter 11
Andrea Gaggioli
Chapter 3
Wendy Fischman
Chapter 4
Chapter 12
Luca Milani
Lynn Barendsen
Chapter 4
Chapter 12
Elvis Mazzoni
Chapter 4
Nicola Rainisio
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Marco Boffi
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Rob Cavanagh
Chapter 8
David Sharnoff
Chapter 8
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
It is with great pleasure tinted with a touch of pride that I am sitting down to write
an introduction to this collection. I can safely say that of the many books written
on positive psychology in the 15 years since its inception, this one provides the best
evidence that the perspective has matured into a coherent and fruitful conceptual
domain, offering fresh directions for theory and research, and the promise of becoming a major sub-field of psychology.
I became involved in positive psychology because of an increasing unease with
the image of man that has emerged in the last century. Following the lead of the other
sciences, psychology in the 20th century tried to break the reality it was studying
into the smallest possible units of analysis. The great success of physics had been the
discovery of sub-atomic processes; biology became a serious science after it evolved
into microbiology; even philosophy tried to reach wisdom by the analysis of protocol
sentences. Not surprisingly, psychologists followed the trend even while it was
becoming increasingly clear that analytic precision in the other sciences was coming
at the price of a loss of synthetic understanding. So from Wundts labs in Leipzig to
Skinners mazes at Harvard, behavior was broken down into its smallest units, and
then put back together as the scientific representation of what mice and men were
like. So psychology provided us with a picture not unlike what is given to a customer
who wanders into a hall of mirrors at an amusement park: here he looks like a skeleton, next he looks like a hippopotamus . . . all the pictures are sharp, they are real. But
we know they are not true representations of ourselves: it is the way that the mirrors
were built that creates these phantoms. Unfortunately, this realization has not yet
dawned on many who read the accounts of who we are, based on some of the research
psychology has spawned. They do not realize that just as the mirror in the amusement park distorts our true image, the conditions in the laboratory experiments often
distort what our thoughts, values, and behaviors are truly like. This is why reading a
volume like the present one, which tries as much as possible to describe and interpret
human behavior in its real complexity, and in realistic contexts, is so invigorating.
This volume also makes a unique contribution in clarifying what Seligman has
called the third pillar of positive psychology: namely, positive institutions. Thus
far, institutions have been studied mainly in terms of what they contribute to the first
two pillars to positive experiences or to character strengths.The editors made a
wise decision in focusing the volume onpositive change.By so doing, they have foregrounded an aspect of positive psychology that rarely appears in the literature. Currently institutions family, schools, workplaces are seen as providing experiences
that produce either positive or negative affect in people. The research questions are of
the type: why do children dislike schools? Why do lawyers hate their jobs? Of course,
these are important questions, but if pursued exclusively they narrow the scope of our
understanding until we risk validating the caricature of our critics, and turn positive
psychology into happiology a search for hedonic well-being, with a short and
shallow future.
In their magisterial introduction, the editors outline a much broader view of the
relationship between the three pillars. The relationship is not all one-way, they
point out. How we feel about them determines the future of institutions just as much
as we are being affected by them by the technology, economy, and social arrangements into which we are born. This perspective, first articulated by Professor Fausto
Massimini at the University of Milan, and built upon by Paolo Inghilleri in his powerful book translated into English asFrom Subjective Experience to Cultural Change,is
clearly articulated in the Introduction of this volume, and serves as the theoretical
foundation for most of what follows.
The two chapters following the Introduction also make an indispensable contribution to the emerging domain of positive psychology. Those who write in this new
field (myself included) spend a great deal of effort reassuring their readers that positive psychology is not developing as an antithesis to the existing field, but rather
builds on and tries to enrich previous knowledge. Yet we rarely bother to show how
the synthesis between general and positive psychology could be accomplished. Chapters 2 and 3 in this volume are exemplary first steps in that redressing this unfortunate
state of affairs.
Each if the remaining ten chapters opens up a new window showing different
vistas of how an understanding of flow and optimal experience interacts with some
fundamental aspect of the human condition, ranging from technology to the environment, from politics to psychotherapy, from sports to business, from everyday experiences to the intergenerational transmission of values and skills. Each of these vistas
promises an exciting intellectual adventure for the interested scholar to embark on.
I wish I could go on and on, exploringthe ideas that these chapters present. But my
role in this venture is similar to that of a curator introducing an exhibition of contemporary art to a visiting audience. The visitors have not come to hear the curator, but to
experience the art directly. To do so all you have to do is turn the page.
and Kohuts empathy, Bions negative capability, Sterns present moment and Siegels
mindfulness. In the second chapter Giuseppe Riva focuses on the concept of personal
change, considered as a complex process depending on the person, the issues and
the situation. The author centers his attention on the capacity of Flow to allow the
individual to consider the long-term personal goals from a different point of view,
facilitating generativity and behavioral flexibility. This is related to the sense of Presence, considered as an experience of self-engagement that brings the individual to
put their intention in action and provide the self with a feedback about the status
of the activity. Riva proposes an analysis of cognitive change in which Presence and
Flow collaborate in order to find creative solutions to emerging problems: Presence
allows the individual to perceive the experiential conflicts, and pushes the cognitive
system to resolve them, while the way to find a solution to the perceived conflicts is
often shown by past experiences of Flow.
The following three chapters are dedicated to new approaches and research
models that use emergent communicational and relational instruments to promote
the Flow experience and consolidate positive change and psychological well-being.
In the third chapter Riva G. & Gaggioli address the issue of cyber technologies as a
means for promoting optimal experience and well-being. They present an overview
of researches in which cyberpsychologists, while studying the different processes of
change related to the use of new technologies, show that digital instruments of communication and other related technologies can be used to improve personal development and well-being. In this order of ideas, the authors introduce the concept of
Positive Technology, detailing three different uses of technological instruments to
perform personal changes: Hedonic, that qualifies daily life introducing positive and
pleasant experiences; Eudaimonic, that supports the individual in reaching engaging
and self-actualizing experiences; Social/Interpersonal, that supports and improves
social integration and connectedness with other individuals. Gaggioli & colleagues,
in the fourth chapter, deepen the opportunities provided by new technologies for
the development of well-being experiences. They propose the concept of Networked
Flow, in which they hypothesize that participation in social networks promote creativity as a product of the group, intended as a virtual and intellectual community.
In Networked Flow group creativity materializes in the production of artifacts that
are immediately shared and used in or applied to the networks group itself, increasing its complexity and its faculty to develop further occasions of shared Flow and
creativity. In chapter five, Riva E. & colleagues propose a new model to use Flow in
clinical settings, to promote positive change, well-being and the development of a
more complex and flexible Self. While cognitive-behavioral therapies have developed various instruments derived from Positive Psychology models and theories, the
contamination with psychodynamic psychotherapies has remained minimal. The
authors consider the Flow Experience as a psychodynamic construct, and propose to
insert the analysis and promotion of Flow in psychodynamic medium and long term
psychotherapies. Three ways to approach Flow in a clinical setting are described in
commercial substrate, family relationships and job roles merge and mingle, creating potentially explosive situations but also rich in terms of investment of emotional
and psychic energy. In chapter ten the authors present the impact of training on the
relationships and good management based on Flow Theory and its applications on
family enterprises.
The last two chapters of the book regard persons or situations that can promote
the subjective ability to detect and foster Flow experiences. In chapter eleven Nakamura develops a model of mentoring which relies on the environment built through
relational dimensions. Her analysis shows how a true mentor transmits knowledge
and skills together with values supporting a sense of professional responsibility. In
this perspective we can observe, from an individual point of view, the development of
an autotelic personality, and from a cultural point of view, the transmission of excellence. In the chapters second half the author deepens the model proposed through
the presentation of a case study taken from the martial art of aikido, in which the relation among individual involvement, mentors features and environmental characteristics clearly emerges, allowing for the promotion of subjective complexity and multiple
experiences of mentoring and cultural transmission. In chapter twelve, through the
exposition of research data, Fishman & Barendsen describe the impact of quality
of everyday time and of the subjective perception of time well spent in the development of a style of life that may foster the encounter with subjective optimal experience. The authors investigated how people use time, what they consider to be a waste
of time, and demonstrated, through the interaction of the Flow Model with other constructs, how time well spent with family and friends is paramount in terms of what
they think about quality and the prioritization of quality in their lives.
The wide array of disciplines and applications described in the different chapters strengthens the idea of the importance of positive change in the experience of
individuals or groups. As the field continues to grow, we eagerly expect extensive
on-the-field trials as well as comparative results with existing methods of practice,
supporting the continuous growth of new applications.
In the end, we hope that the contents of this book will stimulate more research
on the social, cognitive and human factors connected to the experience of positive
change and on how to make the best of it in the different fields discussed in the
chapters. We thank all the authors for their great work in making this book what we
believe it to be a significant contribution to understanding the roles and importance
of positive change in a range of personal and interactive situations. In particular, the
book aimed to underline the role played by Flow in promoting change not only to the
individual but also in relational situations and social contexts.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975/2000). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
Csikszentmihalyi M. & Csikszentmihalyi I. (2006), A life worth living: Contributions to positive
psychology (pp. 165181). New York: Oxford University Press.
Paolo Inghilleri
1.1 Introduction
A mother, in the United States of America, is playing with her daughter in the living
room; a Chinese father is on his way to enroll his child in school; an Italian worker
is walking into the factory; an Iranian young man is planning an evening with his
friends; a Filipino girl is dancing with her friends at a disco; a Brazilian elderly man is
praying in a church. Our daily life, all over the world, flows, characterized by thoughts
and emotions, in various contexts of our culture, in the places we go to, among the
groups that surround us and to which we belong. Psychological sciences have long
since been studying the mechanisms of this complex interaction between the inner
and the social world. The so-called Cultural Psychology (Cole, 1996; Inghilleri, 2009;
Shweder, 1991) and the so-called Positive Psychology (Kahneman, Diener & Shwarz,
1999; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) have, in recent years, developed and highlighted a direction of research not altogether new in the behavioral sciences, namely
the need to study humans in their real-life contexts (rather than in laboratory) and to
develop interpretative models starting from the study not of pathological situations
but of virtuous situations and situations of development.
At the basis of this theoretical approach, which finds its roots in the early pioneering work of William James (1890), is a vision according to which the individual
actively builds their own identity and does so in a harmonious way with the context,
starting from their own biological basis and through their interaction with the
culture. The inner Self is achieved by way of cognitions, motivations, and affections
occurring in the course of everyday life, as well as through specific experiences. The
Copyright 2014 Paolo Inghilleri
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License
quality of subjective experience is central for the construction of the personal Self
and of personal behavior. The way we feel is related to a variety of causes: to our
past; to the immediate experience; to the ability to connect the immediate experience
with our intentions, our profound purposes, our own individual projects. It is therefore important that the relationship between the past, present and future be orderly
and complex. The focus of our knowledge and of our affections thus depends on the
possibility that a specific mind/culture relationship provides an experience that the
subject perceives as making sense and being organized insofar as it is connected to
the existing situation, to the core of personal identity (which derives from past experience), to futurepurposes.
In this sense, the concept of subjective experience appears central. It may be
defined as the sum of the information, originating either from the outer world or the
inner world, which enters in the psychic system at a given point in time and its comprehensive interpretation by the consciousness. More precisely experience is meant
as the focusing of the process of attention on the interrelationships of the data in the
consciousness or, in other words, the set of cognitive, motivational and emotional
information capable of producing discriminable changes (and therefore selectable by
the attention) in our subjective state. For Csikszentmihalyi (1982, 1988), the focus on
the interrelationship of the data in the consciousness produces experience. This is an
orderly process that requires energy. The consciousness becomes disordered when
the information entered is either too simple or too complex. This may be due to either
external factors (environment contains too many or too few stimuli) or to the malfunction of the processes of attention that allow excessive or insufficient information to
reach consciousness. This conceptualization is important because it highlights how
psychological processes (consciousness, attention, emotions) and cultural processes
(social environment, the others) are part of a single system which the inner state of the
individual and its development depend on. In other words it is not possible to understand the psychological functions without considering the external culture aswell.
This internalization is associated with elaboration processes, construction of meanings, and affective experience (Delle Fave, Massimini & Bassi, 2011). We could say that
the different theories of individual psychology have historically sought to define the
mechanisms of the psychological selection. Of utmost importance, though not always
considered by the various psychological theories, is that cultural evolution and psychological selection are in a continuous relationship of reciprocal causality, in the
sense that one influences the other. Culture, as it is realized, in a certain context and
at a particular historical period, co-determines (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) the construction of the individual Self (think for example of all the educational and socialization activities): but it is the actions of individuals, their decision-making processes,
the focus of attention and of behavior on certain purposes, the experiences and the
emotions that make the different areas of our lives attractive or unpleasant, that cause
certain elements of culture, and not others, to be transmitted in time.
sperm: it represents the project that will be manifested in the structure of the whole
adult organism and will be realized through its operations.
The second characteristic is the autonomous morphogenesis, the living organism
is a machine that builds itself, does not depend on forces applied from the outside,
but has an autonomous determinism implying a virtually total freedom with respect
to outside agents or conditions, which are capable of impeding this development, as
well as guiding it (Monod, 1971).
The third characteristic is the so-called reproductive invariance which is the
ability to reproduce and transmit unchanged the information corresponding to the
structure (the genetic heritage). The genes are in fact a highly complex organization
that manages to be preserved in its entirety from one generation to the other.
To continue our reasoning about the properties of artifacts it is necessary, at this
point, to introduce another concept, namely the distinction between entropy and negative entropy or negentropy. The physical, inorganic world, the so-called non-living
nature (i.e. the material of which many artifacts of our everyday lives are made of,
such as objects of domestic use or a building) follows the second law of thermodynamics, in other words tends to entropy. This principle states that each energetically
isolated system evolves in a single direction, that of the degradation of the order that
characterizes it. It follows a specific relationship between entropy and information:
the more a system is entropic, the less information is present (Monod, 1971). In concrete terms, the second law of thermodynamics can be exemplified by the following
case: if we leave an artifact in the open air under the influence of atmospheric agents,
after a certain time it will disintegrate and turn into rust, dust, inert matter: that artifact, abandoned, without maintenance, undergoes a process of entropy, losing order
and information.
On the other hand, historical theorists of complexity, such as Miller (1970) and
Prigogine (1976), have long since shown that living systems tend, instead, to negative
entropy (or negentropy), namely to heterogeneity, to the progressive complexity of
structures, to the continuous differentiation of functions.
The artifacts, as non-living entities, are therefore per se devoid of autonomous
morphogenesis and self-organization; they are subject to the second law of thermodynamics and therefore tend to disorder, to homogenization, to the loss of information,
to entropy: if an object is not kept with care, in time this artifact will be ruined, and
gradually disintegrate.
There is one further point in this reasoning. The artifacts are the result of the
application, to the materials that constitute them, of outside forces originated by
the author, that is, from the living world, from human beings: men and women who
decide to create artifacts, to give them a meaning, to transmit or modify them. Artifacts therefore are a reflex of and can accept the trend towards complexity, organization, order and information typical of the living world itself, that is to say, proper to
the people who choose them, use them and give them meaning. Hence they can also
tend to negentropy. We can therefore observe the possibility of increased complexity
of artifacts: from the first arms of obsidian to modern war machines; from the earliest
computers to the latest laptop models and so on.
The artifacts, however, include not only material objects but also intangible entities: ideas, worldviews, rituals, social practices, norms, values, and institutions such
as a family or a political party. The tendency to entropy or negentropy applies to these
institutions as well: a family (considered from a social point of view and not from a
biological one) can develop and grow, or dismantle (consider divorce); a family type
(such as our nuclear family) may disappear (entropy) or spread throughout the planet
(negentropy); a political party or a religion may arise and spread rapidly or exist for
decades and disappear in a few years.
We are thus faced with the dual nature of artifacts, which depends substantially
on the application or not of individual psychological processes upon them. An artifact is
maintained over time, we could say survives and spreads, if it manages to draw upon
itself the psychic energy, the cognitive, affective, motivational processes and subsequent actions of individuals: otherwise it tends to disappear from the cultural system.
What matters, in other words, is the relationship between individual psychological selection and cultural evolution, as handled at the beginning of the chapter: the
concepts of artifact and the dual nature of artifacts bring forward the fundamental
importance of human subjectivity and mental processes in the reproduction and
changes of culture, and, conversely, the latters action in the construction of subjective experience and subjectivity.
The dual nature also applies to complex and intangible artifacts, such as a family,
a community, an institution, an ideology, a political system, a legal code, a movement or an artistic style. If I dont take care about an institution or a group to which
I belong and I dont participate actively in its activities, if I dont keep my attention
and my support to an idea alive, if I dont practice a religion genuinely, if I dont apply
or conform to the laws day after day, and if the others too will do the same, all these
artifacts will tend to lose meaning and internal information. That group, that idea,
that religion, that State with its laws, could possibly disappear, following a direction
which we have defined above as entropic. If, on the contrary, we invest our attention, our motivation, our behavior towards those artifacts, then they will remain and
will tend to grow, to develop and be transmitted in time, even to future generations:
what happens then, is an increase in the complexity of the artifact with a negentropic
process. In general terms, this is the basic mechanism for the maintenance of cultures, of their change or, on the contrary, of their eventual disappearance. Culture is
transmitted if there is an investment of psychic energy by the people on the artifacts
of society and if these can produce positive subjective experience (Csikszentmihalyi,
1990; Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, Damon, 2001). Artifacts are not produced and maintained by themselves. They are originated from the application of psychic processes
of individuals: we actively seek and use an object to achieve personal goals if the relationship with that object allows a good quality of the experience, both from a cognitive
and an emotional point of view. An element of culture draws our psychic energy (and
so it will be adopted and kept) if it gives a good experience. The possibility of having
positive states of experience is therefore the basis of the process of cross-generational
transmission of human cultures. In this sense, the Flow of consciousness theory has
long since taken on a specific significance within the explanatory models of subjective experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Massimini & Csikszentmihalyi, 1985; Inghilleri, 1999 Massimini & Inghilleri, 1993).
Merging between action and awareness: there is a sense of orderly and reversible
conscious fusion between the Self and the environment.
Sense of automatic control: perception of being in full control of the ongoing situation; the control is called automatic because it happens without cognitive effort
and without self-observation.
An altered sense of time: time seems to pass more slowly or faster than normal.
Intrinsic motivation: the experience becomes the reason of the behavior itself;
the individual remains in the situation which is fully rewarding in itself: there is
a deep sense of motivation and self-determination.
Balance between challenges and skills: the opportunities for action and the
demands of the outer world are perceived as being balanced with the inner capacity available to face them. It should be emphasized that studies subsequent to
this original data have shown that the optimal experience arises especially when
the balance between challenge and skill is above the subjective mean (Massimini
& Carli, 1988). In other words, the optimal state occurs when the balance is at a
higher level than is normally the case for a person in everyday life.
Absence of boredom: the situation is exciting, allowing the full involvement of
ones own potential and of ones Self.
Absence of anxiety: the situation does not cause stress, conflict or fear; one has
the perception of being able to face the outer world with skills and awareness.
Positive affective state: the person feels good, involved, sociable, with a sense of
integration and wholeness.
life, home, school, and work. Society tends to organize itself in order to provide this
type of complex and positive experience to the younger generations in the crucial
moments of socialization, such as the family and school (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993b;
Shernoff, 2013; Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider & Shernoff, 2003 see also
chapters 8 & 11).
However, it is necessary to emphasize a key point in order to understand the role
of the Flow in the processes of individual and social change. This experiential state
represents an ordered, complex and integrated organization of psychic functions. The
cognitive processes are active at a high level, the affective state is positive with feelings of well-being and participation, motivation is of an internal type, in the sense of
intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). In this case there is no
conflict between the various parts of the psychic apparatus; the inner world responds
adequately to the demands of the environment, all the available psychic energy is
invested on the action or on the present situation; the subject experiences a sense of
self-determination and competence. It is this integrated system of interactions that
makes the experience optimal; the phenomenology of the experience itself allows
the onset and prolongation of the latter. Therefore, it does not derive mechanically
from the experiences and past dynamics, even though it relates to them: it depends,
instead, on the original configuration of the psychic organization through which the
inner and external needs are combined, creating the possibility of a new behavioral
In the relationship between the mind and the social context, the Flow of Consciousness arises as a proximal cause of behavior: the experience occurs not only
because it meets pre-existing needs (such as the resolution of a conflict or the need to
follow social rules passively or in a coercive way), but because its phenomenology is
in itself psychologically satisfactory. The Flow is in fact also defined (Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1989) as autotelic experience, an ancient Greek word, which derives
from auto (self) and telos (goal), and defines an experience or a situation as valid in
itself, inasmuch as it is rewarding in itself. The Flow of Consciousness is namely a
state that is phenomenologically positive and the situation associated with it is experienced in an optimal way not because it has previously been programmed into our
central nervous system or imposed by social rules, but because a specific interaction
with the environment allows such an orderly and complex organization of consciousness. It is therefore a psychological state that can be defined as emerging as it is not
originated from the genes (biological instructions) or patterns of learned behavior
(internalized cultural instructions).
This is an essential theoretical point: on the one hand, the Flow of Consciousness
does not arise on an occasional basis. It depends, as we have seen, on past experiences, on the development of adequate skills arising from the continuous relationship with the environment that surrounds us: the environmental challenges are tied
to specific cultural contexts and the values, norms, and customs of the society in
which we live. The Flow, therefore, depends on culture and society.
On the other hand being the proximal cause of behavior, it allows freedom of
individual thought and creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). In the interaction between
the individual and culture, its symbols, its rules, the individual not only internalizes
the behavioral instructions, but also processes, transforms and adapts them to their
inner needs. Every person produces more or less significant changes within the symbolic systems and the rules of their culture by directing part of their psychic energy
towards symbols or original social purposes; in other words, they can re-interpret
values, styles, scientific, religious, moral and political ideas that are presented in a
new way and behave accordingly. If these personal re-combinations spread in the
cultural system and become part of the latters structure, they will amount to elements of culture that can be learned and internalized by the following generations.
The Flow is therefore a psychological state that is at the heart of the relationship of
continuous interaction between the process of psychological selection and that of
cultural evolution.
Figure 1.1: Theoretical precursors of Csikszentmihalyi s Flow theory (from Engeser & Tiska, 2012)
Mentioned below are several other authors who have developed concepts close to
the theory of Flow, although starting from a relational and psychosocial perspective.
A first broad thread is represented by the studies on Empathy ranging from the
pioneer reflections of James (1884/2007) to more recent studies in neurosciences
(Reiss, 2010). Kohuts idea of empathy as a psychotherapists skills (1959/1978)
will be mentioned here, which will also be useful for Eleonora Rivas reflection
in this volume in Chapter 5. Kohut described empathy as vicarious introspection
that includes both affective and cognitive capacity to respond empathically to
anothers emotional and cognitive state. This approach anticipates the one proposed by Gardner (2010) who distinguishes four types of empathy: emotional
empathy (mirroring others feelings), cognitive empathy (alignment of thought),
moral empathy (being inspired by moral deeds of others), and physical empathy
(when, perhaps via mirror neurons, people mirror others movements and facial
expressions). The state of empathy described by the different authors is accomplished through an experience that can be superimposed on that of Flow: there
are indeed challenges/skills balance, intrinsic motivation, attentional focusing,
and merging into the situation.
Another concept is Negative Capability (Bion, 1970). According to Bion, this experiential state is characterized by the ability to tolerate anxiety and fear, to stay
in the place of uncertainty in order to allow for the emergence of new thoughts
or perceptions. In this sense it is close to the experience of Flow through which
the self-confidence of ones own inner capabilities enables the capability to meet
the environmental challenges and the creation of new points of view and new
Another type of experience related to Flow is Present Moment highlighted by Stern
(2004). Present moment is defined as the intersubjective opportunity for emergent
experiences and new understandings in daily life and in the psychotherapy. The
experience of the present moment is to a considerable extent involved in selecting and rewriting past memories, foreshadowing the future. The present moments
in psychotherapy that bring about change are not conscious (but rather unconscious) and their characteristics are very similar to Flow of Consciousness (Stern,
2004 see also chapter 5).
Finally, the concept of Mindfulness (Siegel, 2007). Mindfulness is a flexible state
of mind, an openness to novelty, a process of actively planning new perspectives, not reacting to inner experience, acting with awareness, concentration,
non-judging of experience. The mindful state is sensitive to context and perspective; the person is situated in the present. When we are mindless, we are trapped
in rigid mind-sets, oblivious to context or perspective. When we are mindless,
our behavior is governed by rule and routine. In contrast, when we are mindful,
our behavior may be guided rather than governed by rules and routines (Langer,
The last definition, which introduces the theme of the relationship with the social
rules, leads us again to emphasize a key point: the positive experiential states,
endowed with meaning and optimal for the Self, inevitably open the way to change.
Change affects not only the individual, their growth and their development; the experiential states also allow the emergence of new ways of thinking, acting, dealing with
the social norms and values of the culture. The experience of Flow thus becomes the
bridge between individual psychological selection and cultural change. Feeling good
inside and feeling psychologically integrated goes hand in hand with our action in
the social reality that allows us to transmit the culture to which we belong in a responsible way, but also to innovate it and produce change within.
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Table 2.1: The TransTheoretical Model of behavior change (adapted from Prochaska & DiClemente,
1982, 1983; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992).
Subjective Experience
In this view control is a process of reducing the distance between what we want and
what we are (error). Interestingly, the source of errors is both within and between individuals (Gianakis & Carey, 2011; Higginson et al., 2011). Specifically, PCT suggests that
a possible source of error is internal: the coherence between goals and subgoals of the
individual (conflict).
To eliminate a conflict, the individual must direct his or her awareness to the
experience that is creating the conflict. Then, a reorganization is required: a trial and
error process which modifies the characteristics or the conflicting goals (Higginson
& Mansell, 2008). A summary of the key concepts expressed by PCT is reported in
Table 2.2: The Perceptual Control Theory (adapted from Higginson, Mansell, & Wood, 2011; Vancouver & Putka, 2000).
The difference between what we want and what we are currently experiencing.
What we want. Goals are set inside the individuals and are organized in a
range of subgoals.
A trial-and-error learning process that alters the way that we perceive our
environment and set our goals until we manage to achieve them in the long
The ability to perceive, or to be conscious of personal goals. For reorganization to be effective in the long term, awareness must be directed and
sustained at personal higher level goals.
Table 2.3: Differences between the Rational and the Intuitive systems.
Rational System
Experiential/Intuitive System
Main Features
How it works
our cognitive system is naturally shaped to identify and counter experiential conflicts;
this is achieved through a specific cognitive process presence whose goal is the
control of the activity of the individual: I am present in a real or virtual space if I
manage to put my intentions into action (enacting them);
there is a link between presence and the effectiveness of an action: the greater
level of presence a subject experiences in an activity, the greater the individuals
involvement in the activity will be, and this increases the probability of the activity ending well (the transformation of the intention into action);
there are optimal experiences in which both the individual experiences the
maximum feeling of presence, and he/she is able to change/produce creative work
more easily.
In the following paragraphs we will endeavor to justify these claims. In order to do
so, we will begin with the analysis of the transformations which are characterizing
cognitive sciences.
A Definition of Presence
interaction which various objects may offer (in the case of the handle of a coffee cup,
the possibility of being taken hold of if the subject wants to drink).
For this reason, when an effect is intended, the movement that produces this
effect as perceptual input is automatically activated, because actions and their effects
are stored in a common representational domain: the sight of a red apple is believed
to activate a simulation of the motor functions necessary to pick it up.
In simpler words, the brain has its own virtual reality system that is used in both
action planning and action understanding. But how can the subject know whether
his or her intention has really been transformed into an effective action? We shall
try to answer this question in the following paragraph by introducing the concept of
both the affordance for action (the possibility of acting) and its enaction (the ability
of successfully acting).
To sum up, we can define presence as the pre-reflexive sensation of being in
an environment, real or virtual, which results from the capacity to carry out intuitively ones intentions within that environment (for a broader introduction to presence, check the open access book Interacting with Presence by Riva, Waterworth
& Murray, 2014).
Figure 2.1: The intentional chain (from Riva and Mantovani, 2012a).
Any intentional level has its own role: the rational (D-intentions), situational
(P-Intention) and motor (M-Intention) guidance and control of action. They form an
intentional cascade (Pacherie, 2006, 2008) in which higher intentions generate lower
Even if presence is a unitary feeling, the hypothesis formulated by Riva and
Waterworth (Riva & Waterworth, 2003; Riva, Waterworth, & Waterworth, 2004) suggests that, on the process side, it can be divided into three phylogenetically different
Evolutive Role
Proto Presence
Core Presence
To allow its own evolution through the identification of optimal experiences (Flow) and the incorporation of the artifacts physical and social
linked to it.
it, as predicted by the Perceptual Control Theory (Higginson et al., 2011; Vancouver &
Putka, 2000).
It is interesting to consider why we experience these breakdowns. Our hypothesis
is that breakdowns are a sophisticated evolutionary tool used to control the quality of
experience that ultimately enhances our chances of survival, by promoting personal
change (Riva et al., 2004; Riva et al., 2011). Specifically, the subject tries to overcome
any breakdown in its activity and searches for engaging and rewarding activities
(optimal experiences).
During breakdowns we experience a lower level of presence. This reduces the
quality of experience, and leads us to confront environmental difficulties through an
attentive shift. As suggested by the Perceptual Control Theory, breakdowns push the
individual to reorganize his/her goals (Higginson et al., 2011): It is a trial-and-error
learning process that randomly alters the way that we perceive our environment and
set our goals until we manage to achieve them in the long term (p. 251).
For example, if during a virtual reality experience, my arm moves and suddenly comes into contact with a cable, I immediately become aware of the change
at the level of proto presence and I shift my attention from my virtual reality experience to the cable which is impeding my movement to move it away (Spagnolli &
The same is true for the other presence levels. If the reality TV show the subject is
watching becomes boring or upsetting, the subject becomes immediately aware of the
variation in the level of extended presence, and can decide whether or not to pick up
the remote control and change channel (Riva & Mantovani, 2012a).
However, there are particular situations in which our actions are so fluent and
effective that they produce a feeling of maximum presence. When this experience of
full control and immersion is associated to a positive emotional state, it can create an
optimal experience usually defined flow state (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1994; see
also chapter one).
An example of flow is the case where a professional athlete is playing exceptionally well (positive emotion) and achieves a state of mind where nothing else matters
but the game (high level of presence). For Ghani and Deshpande (1994) the two main
characteristics of flow are (a) the total concentration in an activity and (b) the enjoyment which one derives from the activity. Moreover, these authors identified two
other factors affecting the experience of flow: a sense of control over ones environment and the level of challenge relative to a certain skill level. Finally, flow provides
to the individual an intrinsic motivation. In other words, the motivation to engage in
a flow-inducing behavior arises from within the individual because it is intrinsically
rewarding (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
In sum flow is characterized by (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1994):
a high level of concentration and participation in the activity;
by the balance of the perception of the difficulties of the situation and the challenge, and personal skills;
by the distortion of the sense of time (the internal clock slows down, whilst the
external one speeds up);
and by a natural interest in the process which produces a sense of pleasure and
Within this context, the transformation of flow can be defined as a persons ability
to draw upon a meaningful optimal experience and use it to marshal new and unexpected psychological resources and sources of involvement (Riva, Castelnuovo, &
Mantovani, 2006; Riva, Mantovani, & Gaggioli, 2004).
As underlined by Massimini and Delle Fave, (2000): To replicate [optimal experiences], a person will search for increasingly complex challenges in the associated
activities and will improve his or her skill, accordingly. This process has been defined
as cultivation; it fosters the growth of complexity not only in the performance of flow
activities but in individual behavior as a whole. (p. 28). In other word, our cognitive
system selects and cultivates activities, interests and relationships also mediated by
technologies and tools (for deepening this point see also the next Chapter and Gaggioli & Riva, 2014) associated with meaningful optimal experiences.
Put differently, meaningful optimal experiences carry indirect and long-term
adaptive value because they facilitate personal change through the emergence of new
solutions and skills.
The previous chapter introduced and discussed the concept of Psychological
Selection (Delle Fave et al., 2011; Inghilleri, 1999; Massimini, Inghilleri & Delle Fave,
1996) that further develops the concepts discussed in these pages by linking optimal
experience to the social dimension. (A detailed analysis of the link between the social
dimension and optimal experiences can also be found in Chapter 4).
2.7 Conclusions
How do we lastingly change our lives for the better? The chapter presented a possible
answer to this question by focusing on the concept of personal change.
As underlined by recent research in psychology and neuroscience, personal
change is a complex process depending on the person, the issues, and the situation.
However, by merging the ideas of two influential transdiagnostic models of change
the Perceptual Control Theory (Higginson et al., 2011; Vancouver & Putka, 2000)
and the TransTheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982,
1983; Prochaska et al., 1992) it is possible to describe a process of personal change
(Kottler, 2014) following this sequence (pp. 19-20):
1. there is an expressed desire for change that is triggered by a crisis, trauma, or
developmental transition;
2. a level of pain and discomfort is reached that cant any longer be ignored or
3. there is an awareness or insight that something different must be done;
4. there is a gradual process of applying what was realized or learned into constructive action; and there is recovery from inevitable relapses.
Even if these characteristics of personal change are now shared by many of the leading
approaches to psychotherapy, many of us experience psychological change without
the help of any form of treatment. How and why?
In the chapter we suggested that our cognitive system is naturally shaped to identify and counter the experiential conflicts that are described in the points 1 and 2 of
the above list.
This is achieved through a specific cognitive process presence the goal of
which is to control the the activity of the individual: I am present in a real or virtual
space if I manage to put my intentions into action (enacting them).
On one side, there is a link between presence and the effectiveness of an action:
the greater level of presence a subject experiences in an activity, the greater the individuals involvement in the activity will be, and this increases the probability of the
activity ending well (the transformation of the intention into action).
On the other side, presence provides the self with a feedback about the status
of its activity. Specifically, the self perceives the variations in the feeling of presence
(breakdowns and optimal experience) and tunes its activity accordingly.
The role of breakdowns in personal change is clear: to push individuals towards
it. By perceiving a conflict (awareness) between different goals the subject is pushed
to resolve the conflict between them.
Optimal experiences, also defined as flow experiences, instead allow the individual to consider their long-term personal goals differently and start to experiment
with changing them. In other words optimal experiences, when meaningful for the
individual, widen the array of thoughts and actions, facilitating generativity and
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technology in every sphere of our life is also changing us. But how is it changing us
Cyberpsychology is a recent branch of psychology that is trying to answer these
questions. Cyberpsychology originated in human sciences, and is driven by the quest
to help humans deal with their digital environments. The object of study in cyberpsychology, as it is for much Human-Computer Interaction research, is the change
introduced by the technology and not the technology itself. In particular, it aims at
the understanding, forecasting and activation of the different processes of change
related to the use of new technologies.
Journals such as CyberPsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Computers in Human Behaviors, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Journal of
Cybertherapy and Rehabilitation, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Telemedicine and e-health, are dedicated to reporting progress in this field.
Within this broad focus, however, cyberpsychology has two faces. On one side,
cyberpsychology tries to understand how technologies can be used to induce clinical change (cybertherapy). On the other side, cyberpsychology focuses on the possible use of technology for improving personal development and well-being (positive
In this chapter we will focus on positive technology. Specifically, we will introduce and describe the Positive Technology approach the scientific and applied
approach to the use of technology for improving the quality of our personal experience through its structuring, augmentation and/or replacement as a way of framing
a suitable object of study in the field of personal change (Graffigna, Barello, Wiederhold, Bosio, & Riva, 2013; Riva, 2012b; Riva, Banos, Botella, Wiederhold, & Gaggioli, 2012; Wiederhold & Riva, 2012). Specifically, we suggest that it is possible to use
technology to influence three specific features of our experience affective quality,
engagement/actualization and connectedness that serve to promote adaptive
behaviors and positive functioning (Graffigna, Barello, & Riva, 2013a, 2013c). In this
framework, positive technologies are classified according to their effects on a specific
feature of personal experience. Moreover, for each level we have identified critical
variables that can be manipulated to guide the design and development of positive
communities, and societies to flourish (Aspinwall & Staudinger, 2003; Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
Specifically, in Positive Psychology we can find two different conceptions of wellbeing, namely subjective well-being (also called hedonic well-being) and psychological well-being (also called eudaimonic well-being). The first position refers
to a persons subjective evaluation of his life satisfaction, and of his positive and negative emotional feelings. In contrast with subjective well-being, psychological wellbeing links happiness with lifelong conduct aimed at self-development. Whereas psychological well-being focuses on the challenges faced by adults in their private lives,
social well-being concerns the tasks encountered by adults in their social structures
and communities (Keyes & Haidt, 2003).
Since then the field of positive psychology has flourished. In his book Authentic Happiness Seligman talked about the three pillars of a good life (Seligman, 2002):
the pleasant life: achieved through the presence of positive emotions;
the engaged life: achieved through engagement in satisfying activities and utilization of ones strengths and talents;
the meaningful life: achieved through serving a purpose larger than oneself.
Notwithstanding its fast growth, some have underlined that positive psychology
has relevant methodological limitations related to the focus and the length of
most studies (McNulty & Fincham, 2012). To address this issue, Riva recently suggested that positive psychology may be the science of personal experience (Riva,
2012a) in that its aim should be understanding of how it is possible to manipulate
the quality of personal experience with the goals of increasing wellness and generating strengths and resilience in individuals, organizations, and society.
In this view, positive functioning is a combination of three types of well-being (Keyes
& Lopez, 2002) high emotional well-being; high psychological well-being; and high
social well-being that are achieved through the manipulation of three characteristics of our personal experience affective quality, engagement/actualization and
Riva and colleagues (Riva, 2012b; Riva et al., 2012; Gaggioli & Riva, 2014) also
suggested that it is possible to combine the objectives of Positive Psychology with
enhancements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) towards a
new paradigm: Positive Technology. The main objective of this new paradigm is to use
technology to manipulate and enhance the features of our personal experience for
increasing wellness, and generating strength and resilience in individuals, organizations and society (Wiederhold & Riva, 2012). In the proposed framework (see Figures
1 and 2), positive technologies are classified according to their effects on the above
features of personal experience (Botella et al., 2012):
Hedonic: technologies used to induce positive and pleasant experiences.
Eudaimonic: technologies used to support individuals in reaching engaging and
self-actualizing experiences.
Social/Interpersonal: technologies used to support and improve social integration and/or connectedness between individuals, groups, and organizations.
Figure 3.1: Positive Technology levels (Adapted from Riva et al., 2012)
that can lead to adaptive behavior (Fredrickson, 2001). For example, in children joy
is associated with the urge to play, whereas interest sparks the urge to explore; in
adults, positive emotions make them more likely to interact with others, provide help
to others in need, and engage in creative challenges. The second proposition of Fredricksons model concerns the consequences of the positive emotions: as discussed in
the first chapter, by broadening an individuals awareness and thought action repertoire, they build upon the resultant learning to create future physical, psychological
and social resources (Fredrickson, 2004).
In literature it is possible to find many different approaches to hedonic technologies. For example, Riva and colleagues (2007) investigated how the content of interactive media, in particular virtual reality (VR), can be manipulated to induce specific
emotional responses, including positive moods. The results suggested the efficacy
of VR as an affective medium: the interaction with anxious and relaxing virtual
environments produced anxiety and relaxation.
In a subsequent study, Villani and colleagues (Villani, Lucchetta, Preziosa, & Riva,
2009; Villani, Riva, & Riva, 2007) compared the efficacy of structured experiences
provided through different technologies (video, audio and VR) for inducing relaxing
states. The results of this experiment showed a significant reduction in anxiety and
a significant improvement in positive emotional states, measured through self-report
questionnaires and physiological parameters, but no difference among the media
conditions. However, findings highlighted a significant correlation between changes
in emotional states and factors related to the sense of presence felt by participants
during media exposure.
3.4 The Eudaimonic Level: Using Technology to Promote Engagement and Self-Empowerment
The second level of Positive Technology is strictly related to the eudaimonic concept
of well-being, and consists of investigating how technologies can be used to support
individuals in reaching engaging and self-actualizing experiences.
The theory of flow, developed by Positive Psychology pioneer Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990), provides a useful framework for addressing this challenge. As discussed in the first chapter Flow or optimal experience is a positive and complex state
of consciousness that is present when individuals act with total involvement. The
basic feature of this experience is the perceived balance between high environmental
opportunities for action (challenges) and adequate personal resources in facing them
(skills). Additional characteristics are deep concentration, clear rules in and unambiguous feedback from the task at hand, loss of self-consciousness, control of ones
actions and environment, positive affect and intrinsic motivation.
The theory of flow has been extensively used to study user experience with
information and communication technologies. Ghani (Ghani & Deshpande, 1994)
The Social and Interpersonal Level: Using Technology to Promote Social Integration
and Connectedness
experience of the subject. As underlined by Gaggioli and colleagues (2003), to maintain the balance between high challenges and skills that characterize optimal experience, the individual will search for increasingly complex opportunities for action
leading to the progressive improvement of related skills. By virtue of this dynamic
process of skills cultivation and increasing levels of challenges, optimal experience
influences individual development through the building of a life theme, namely the
set of goals and interests a person preferentially pursues and cultivates in his/her life.
elders homes. These ambient displays, which reflect data on remote and face-to-face
interaction gathered by wireless sensor networks, are intended to raise awareness of
social connectedness as a dynamic and controllable aspect of well-being. According
to findings, this strategy was effective in reducing the feeling of social isolation of
Key arguments for the usefulness of connectedness in increasing well-being have
been presented by Ryff and Singer (2000). The authors argued that interpersonal
flourishing (the development of positive relations with other people) is a key dimension of well-being, which is stable across different cultures and time. Furthermore,
in a recent paper, Mauri and colleagues (2011) used a variety of physiological data
skin conductance, blood volume pulse, electroencephalogram, electromyography,
respiratory activity, and pupil dilation to evaluate the affective experience evoked
by the use of Facebook. The biological signals revealed that Facebook use can evoke
a psychophysiological state characterized by high positive valence and high arousal
(Core Flow State). These findings support the hypothesis that the successful spread
of social networks might be associated with a specific positive affective state experienced by users when they use their account.
Finally, the concept of social capital underlines the value of social relationships
for the society as a whole: relations among persons facilitate activity and promote
well-being (Coleman, 1988; Helliwell & Putnam, 2004).
Despite the fact that creating and maintaining social relationships is considered
a major indicator of well-being and a protective factor for health (House, Landis, &
Umberson, 1988), Western society is characterized by increasing levels of loneliness
and lack of social integration. The need of social integration is higher in specific
social groups, such as adolescents, disabled, and elderly people. As a consequence,
healthcare policies have become increasingly interested in supporting mental health
and rehabilitation programs aimed at overcoming social isolation. Information and
communication technologies can play a key role in improving these programs.
possible use of technology for improving personal development and well-being (positive technology).
In this chapter we introduced and described the Positive Technology approach:
the scientific and applied approach to the use of technology for improving the quality
of our personal experience through its structuring, augmentation and/or replacement
as a way of framing a suitable object of study in the field of personal change (Graffigna, Barello, Wiederhold, et al., 2013; Riva, 2012b; Riva et al., 2012; Wiederhold &
Riva, 2012).
The core psychological background of Positive Technology is Positive Psychology a nascent discipline whose broad goals are to understand human strengths and
virtues, and to promote these strengths in order to allow individuals, communities,
and societies to flourish. Specifically, Positive Psychology views optimal functioning as the combination of emotional well-being, social well-being and psychological
In this chapter we also suggested that it is possible to use technology to manipulate the quality of experience, with the goal of increasing wellness, and generating
strengths and resilience in individuals, organizations and society. Firstly, we have
classified positive technologies according to their effects on these three features of
personal experience (Figure 2):
Hedonic: technologies used to induce positive and pleasant experiences.
Eudaimonic: technologies used to support individuals in reaching engaging and
self-actualizing experiences.
Social/Interpersonal: technologies used to support and improve the connectedness between individuals, groups, and organizations.
Additionally, for each level we have identified critical variables affect regulation for
the Hedonic, flow and presence for the Eudaimonic; social presence, collective intentions and networked flow for the Social/Interpersonal that can be manipulated and
controlled to guide the design and development of positive technologies.
Finally, the different examples show that technology can be used to manipulate
the features of an experience in three separate but related ways (Figure 2):
By structuring it using a goal, rules and a feedback system (McGonigal, 2011): The
goal provides subjects with a sense of purpose focusing attention and orienting
his/her participation in the experience. The rules, by removing or limiting the
obvious ways of getting to the goal, push subjects to see the experience in a different way. The feedback system tells players how close they are to achieving the
goal and provides motivation to keep trying.
By augmenting it to achieve multimodal and mixed experiences. Technology
allows multisensory experiences in which content and its interaction is offered
through more than one of the senses. It is even possible to use technology to
overlay virtual objects onto real scenes (Rosenblum, 2000).
Figure 3.2: Positive Psychology tools (Adapted from Botella et al., 2012)
Even if Positive Techology tools can be used in cybertherapy, too, there is a relevant
difference: to be effective, they have to adapt to the specific stage of the change
process that the patient is in. As discussed in the first chapter of this book, Kottler
(2014), identified a process of change that basically follows this sequence (pp. 19-20):
1. there is an expressed desire for change that is triggered by a crisis, trauma, or
developmental transition;
2. a level of pain and discomfort is reached that cant any longer be ignored or
3. denied;
4. there is an awareness or insight that something different must be done;
there is a gradual process of applying what was realized or learned into constructive action; and
there is recovery from inevitable relapses.
Within this process, Positive Technologies are successful only if they are able to
sustain the patient engagement within the provided experience. Recently, Graffigna
and colleagues (Graffigna, 2009; Graffigna, Barello, et al., 2013a; Graffigna, Barello,
& Riva, 2013b; Graffigna, Barello, Wiederhold, et al., 2013) defined patient engagement as the experience resulting from the conjoint conative (act), cognitive (think)
and emotional (feel) enactment of individuals in their care & cure management.
Figure 3.3: The Process of Patient Engagement (Adapted from Graffigna et al., 2013a)
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4.1 Introduction
Traditionally, creativity has been mostly investigated from an individual perspective,
focusing on the psychological features that distinguish creatively-gifted individuals from normal people. These features include, for example, personality traits,
intellectual abilities and the type of education received (Sternberg e Lubart, 1999).
More recently, however, there has been a shift in interest from individual to social
and cultural factors that shape creativity (Amabile, 1983; Amabile et al., 1996; Csikszentmihalyi, 1999; John-Steiner, 2000; Sawyer, 2003, 2007). This change of perspective has been driven by the increasing acknowledgement that creativity is a complex
phenomenon, which results from multiple psychological, socio-economic and cultural factors (Hennessey & Amabile, 2010). Csikszentmihalyi (1996, 1999) has been
among the first researchers to introduce a systemic perspective on creativity, emphasizing the importance of the interaction between the individual and the surrounding
domain. According to Csikszentmihalyi, the creative process results from three interacting forces: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty
into the domain and a field of experts who recognize and validate the innovation
(1996, p. 29). Csikszentmihalyi defined this model as systemic because all its components the person, the field and the domain are necessary to achieve creativity:
although the new ideas produced by the individual are important, a critical role is
also played by the cultural domain (including the conventions, the techniques, the
system of symbolic codes and norms) and by the experts (the hierarchy of groups and
Copyright 2014 Andrea Gaggioli, Luca Milani, Elvis Mazzoni, Giuseppe Riva
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
individuals who can influence the knowledge system and can eventually recognize
the value of the innovation). Essentially, Csikszentmihalyi considers creativity as the
result of an evolutionary process: the individual produces variations in the pool of
ideas/artifacts (or memes). Then, the field operates a selection among the memes
(allowing the replication of the ideas that are more worth to the field itself), which are
eventually retained (or not) by a specific domain. This systemic model of creativity is
particularly useful to understand how creative products are originated by groups or
communities of individuals. When one looks at the history of creativity in the arts,
science and technology, it is easy to recognize that most great innovators do not work
in isolation, but in collaboration with like-minded peers, friends and colleagues, with
whom they share insights, knowledge and aspirations (Sawyer, 2007). But why collaboration is so determinant in creativity? At first glance, the answer to this question may seem obvious. First, collaboration allows complex problems to be broken
down into smaller issues or tasks, which can be distributed according to the expertise
of co-workers. For example, the discovery of the so-called Higgs boson within the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN would have been virtually impossible
without the contributions of thousands of physicists, informaticians and engineers
from over the world. Second, collaboration can foster divergent thinking and promote
the sharing of methods, competences and techniques. Third, successful collaboration
empowers individuals to engage and can make them feel like they are part of something greater than themselves, by sharing a same objective or ideal.
The increasing acknowledgment of the critical role played by collaboration in creativity has resulted in several conceptual models and a number of empirical studies to
validate them. In an attempt to systematize this field, Glveanu (2011) identified two
main perspectives on collective creativity, namely the sociocognitive approach and
the sociocultural approach. The first paradigm has mainly focused on the cognitive
dimensions of group creativity and on the possible strategies to enhance its effectiveness. The sociocultural approach, in contrast, has put more emphasis on the process
of creative collaboration, focusing in particular on its intersubjective and cultural
dimensions. In the following sections, we draw on Glveanus review of this field to
summarize the main models of collective creativity. Next, we introduce the Networked
Flow model, which attempts to identify a possible link between these two different
views of social creativity. Finally, we describe social network analysis as an appropriate methodology to investigate Networked Flow in creative collaboration settings.
that creativity is essentially embedded in the mind of individuals, while the social
dimension is external to this process. Models of sociocognitive creativity are thus
oriented towards understanding the subcomponents of team creativity and their
interrelations. Typical questions with which the sociocognitive approach is concerned include, for example, what difference exists between individual and group
creative performance; how creative performance can be optimized, both in quantitative (i.e. production of more ideas) and in qualitative (i.e. generation of better ideas)
terms; how experimental manipulation of specific variables (i.e. the nature of the
task, competence level, cognitive load, group size and others) affect creative performance. To address these issues, sociocognitive approaches have mostly relied on
quantitative methods typically used in social and experimental psychology (Paulus,
2000; Paulus et al., 2006). Within this paradigm, brainstorming has been one of the
most investigated technique to assess (and enhance) group creative ideation. Essentially, brainstorming consists of a group of people collaborating in a noncritical
environment to generate a high number of ideas. This technique typically involves
gathering a group of 56 participants (including both novices and experts, from a
wide variety of background). The increasing popularity achieved by brainstorming
over the years has led sociocognitive researchers to investigate the effectiveness of
this technique in enhancing group creative performance. Surprisingly, the bulk of
empirical evidence indicates that group brainstorming is not more effective than
individual brainstorming (Paulus and Nijstad, 2003). In a typical experiment of this
kind, creative performance of a group of participants (real groups) is compared to
that of the same number of participants working individually (nominal groups). In
most cases, it has been observed that real groups tend to generate fewer ideas than
nominal groups. This reduced productivity has been explained by both social and
cognitive influence processes. Janis (1972) highlighted the groupthink effect, in
which members of a group tend to avoid producing too many personal thoughts and
conform with peers, adapting their proposals to be similar to others. Other known
social effects include comparison among members, such as evaluation apprehension
(i.e., fear negative evaluations from others) and social loafing (individuals give less
effort in a group because responsibility is diffused). Cognitive influence processes
include the so-called production-blocking effect (in the course of idea generation,
one person speaks while the others listen, and this results in a cognitive interference
that hinders the generation of ideas), excessive demands on cognitive resources and
working memory (due to the dual tasks of paying attention to others ideas and generating ones own ideas), distractions and fixation (being exposed to others ideas,
members tend to focus on those and block other types of ideas from taking hold).
Paulus and Brown (2007) have proposed a cognitive-social-motivational perspective
of group ideation, which provides a basis for understanding group creative processes
for ideational tasks. They argued that the creative process occurring in groups has two
key dimensions: a social dimension, since it results from the interaction with other
individuals, and a cognitive dimension, because group members share each others
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
ideas, views, and information. The model posits that in order to achieve high levels of
creativity, group members need to focus their attention deeply on the activities of the
other participants. By focusing on others ideas, new insights can be stimulated, new
knowledge accessed, and more elaborated combinations generated. However, allocating attention and avoiding distractions is only the first step: the shared ideas must
be further processed and elaborated by participants, and this involves the ability to
understand, remember, evaluate and integrate the shared information. These abilities, in turn, can be affected by group context factors, such as the structure and the
motivation of the task. Another influential sociocognitive model is the Search for
Ideas in Associative Memory introduced by Nijstad and colleagues (Nijstad et al.,
2003). According to this theory, creative ideation is characterized by a continuous
search within associative memory. The ideas provided by group participants provide
cues that trigger the activation of a specific image in the long-term memory, from a
pool of images associated to it and structured in a complex network. When the image
is triggered, this can be used to generate new ideas (resulting from the combination
of previously-existing knowledge), new associations or new applications of pre-existing knowledge in a new domain. According to Nijstad and colleagues, the production block within real groups is can be explained by the delay between generation
and expression of an idea, since ideas cannot be communicated while another group
member is speaking. On the other hand, the model suggests that the ideas generated by participants can effectively stimulate processes of knowledge activation and
production, by reducing the time needed to combine cues and thereby optimizing
search within long-term memory. An interesting practical implication of this model is
that diversity of competences in a group is directly reflected in the variety of knowledge that can be accessed. Thus, internal diversity plays an essential role in creative
performance of a team: as the overlap between accessible knowledge increases, so it
increases the tendency to activate knowledge from a restricted number of domains,
which in turn can undermine both the variety and complexity of ideas generated by
the group. As Glveanu (2011) points out, sociocognitive models are based on a vision
of individuals and groups as systems for the elaboration of information. The main
advantage of sociocognitive approach is that it is based on highly-operationalizable
constructs and testable hypotheses, which can be assessed in rigorously-controlled
experimental settings using quantitative methods. However, for Glveanu, the price
for this strength is a risk of methodological reductionism, which can lead to the exclusion of other levels of the phenomenon. A further limit of this approach is the individualization of the group creative process, which tends to overlook the role of interactions between participants.
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
the ideas expressed by others, highlighting aspects which are even not perceived by
the person who generated the idea. This aspect underlines the importance of taking
the perspective of the other, cultivating empathy and developing the capacity to
locate the Self in the context of the Other. Resuming the systematization proposed
by Glveanu, sociocultural models are not only focused on the creative process but
also on its content (the creative product and the resources used to generate it) and
the context in which it unfolds, mainly relying on qualitative methods. For Glveanu,
the main advantage of this paradigm is that it offers a more comprehensive view of
collective creativity, by extending the analysis from cognitive to contextual and cultural dimensions. On the other hand, some sociocognitivists consider collaboration
studies not appropriate to draw rigorous inferences about creativity, because they are
mostly based on interpretive qualitative research methods (Paulus and Nijstad, 2003;
Glveanu, 2011).
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
Networked Flow model (for more details see Gaggioli et al., 2013; Riva et al., 2011),
social presence is defined as the non-mediated perception of an enacting Other (I can
recognize his/her intentions) within an external world (for a broader discussion see
Riva & Mantovani, 2014). But how does one connect to the Other? How does the Other
become present for the subject? The analysis of the mirror neuron system provides
a possible answer to these questions. Mirror neurons, discovered in the ventral premotor cortex of apes (area F5), have, among other qualities, that of activating not
only when the animal performs a given action, but also when the animal sees another
animalman or apeperforming the same action (Rizzolatti et al. 1996; Rizzolatti
and Sinigaglia 2006). Therefore, the individual who observes is able to put himself in
the shoes of the actor: I am able to understand what another is doing because when I
watch him I gain experience, completely intuitively, through the same neuronal activity as when I perform that action. The result is the creation of neural representations
which are shared on two levels (Gallagher and Jeannerod, 2002):
On the one hand, execution and observation share the same neural substratum
in one individual subject;
On the other, when a subject observes another subjects action, the same representations are simultaneously active in the brains of both subjects.
This means that at neural level, the action performed and the action observed are
codified in a multisubjective format, which does not recognize actor or observer. This
process is, however, effective if the subject is capable of distinguishing between an
action performed and an action perceived. As Becchio and Bertone point out (2005):
By codifying an agent-free representation of action, mirror neurons support the
visual and motor comprehension of the action, but are not in themselves enough to
attribute an action to an agent. This level of comprehension, defined as agentive by
the authors, requires that the agent parameter is specified as a separate parameter:
only in this way does the action become the action of a particular agent (p. 859). In
order to be able to distinguish between myself and another subject, I have to make
use of a specific cognitive process presence which is able to position me in or
out by analyzing my actions and their effects. At the moment in which the subject is
able, through presence, to distinguish between him or herself and another, an I and
an Other are created. The other similar to the Self thus becomes, together with the
self, one of the two relevant elements which the organism is able to identify within its
perceptive flow. This suggests the existence of a second selective and adaptive mechanism, social presence, which enables the Self to identify and interact with the Other
by understanding his intentions. In other words, from an evolutionary point of view,
social presence has three functions:
To enable the subject to identify the Other and to attribute to him an ontological
status the other similar to the self different from the other objects perceived;
To allow interaction and communication through the understanding of the
Others intentions;
To permit the evolution of the Self through the identification of optimal shared
experiences (Networked Flow) and the incorporation of artifacts physical and
social linked to them.
In summary, we can define social presence (Biocca et al. 2003; Riva, 2008) as the
feeling of being with other Selves in a real or virtual environment, resulting from
the ability to intuitively recognize the intentions of Others in our surroundings. This
process is characterized by three levels:
proto social presence, which is essentially based on the recognition of the motor
intentions of the Other (Other vs. the Self);
interactive social presence, which allows for the recognition of the intentions of
the Other that are oriented towards the Self (Other toward the Self);
shared social presence, which allows the Self to enter in resonance (like a diapason) with the intentions of the Other (Other like the Self).
Since these levels are hierarchically organized, the activation of the maximum level
of social presence (empathy) requires the activation of the lower levels (namely, interactive and imitative social presence). In other words, shared social presence is associated with the highest level of empathy between the Self and the Other, allowing
progression to a state of we-intentionality where the objective of the Self and the
objective of the Other are at one: this is well exemplified by the notion of group
mind often described by Jazz musicians (Sawyer, 2007). Empathic social presence
allows for the emergence of an intersubjective state, the evolution of which is unpredictable but nevertheless coherent with the objective of each participant. In this perspective, group flow (Sawyer, 2007) can be regarded as the experiential correlate of
such we-intentionality, associated with the highest level of social presence (Gaggioli
et al., 2011), and can be achieved also using mediated communication (e.g Facebook
use, see Mauri et al., 2011).
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
individuals he comes across in Phase 1 are experiencing the same sense of dissatisfaction, and this mutual dissatisfaction leadson a structural levelto the creation of a
subgroup which finds itself in a situation of liminality. People start to get close to one
another and to form a subgroup: self-definition enhances the identity making process
and it is likely that the feeling of involvement in the subgroup increases as well.
Among the members of the new subgroup there is a growing perception of a common
finality, although this may not be immediately transformed into a goal. However, at
this stage the subgroup does not yet put itself in direct contrast with the group (or
better, with the frame) of reference; instead, it acts in terms of minority influence and
draws on its persuasive skills in order to influence and to affect the general direction
of the frame.
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
a web forumdoes not guarantee that all participants will read it. To address this issue,
some authors (Manca, Delfino, & Mazzoni, 2009) have proposed a coding procedure
to identify the receivers (or readers) in relational data collected within online environments. For each structural characteristic of a relational network, SNA provides two
types of indices: individual indices (i.e., based on relations and exchanges characterizing each actor of the networks) and group indices (i.e., based on relations and
exchanges characterizing the network as a whole). To study the Networked Flow, different structural SNA indices have been proposed, such as Density, Group Centralization and Cliques Participation index.
4.4.1 Density
Density of a network (in this case a group) is defined as the percentage (ranging from
0 to 1, or from 0% to 100%) of aggregation of its members calculated based on the
totality of direct contacts that each member has activated or received from others
(Scott, 2000; Wasserman & Faust, 1994).
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
node is connected to all other nodes of the same clique (Wasserman & Faust, 1994).
Within any network, community, or group, although an individual may interact with
a number of other participants, he or she will preferentially interact with some individuals rather than others. The clique index (the number of cliques characterizing a
group) can therefore indicate the preferential interaction zones within which it is more
likely that individuals will interact at a certain time (Gaggioli et al., 2013). As a study
by Aviv, Erlich, Ravid, and Geva (2003) showed, the availability of a larger number
of cliques may provide groups participants with more opportunities to access different and varied opinions about the subjects discussed. The negotiation process that
follows this step could in turn enrich the number of arguments, eventually enhancing
groups productivity both quantitatively and qualitatively. However, an issue with the
clique index is that it is affected by the number of participants in the group and also
by the number of participants in the cliques. To address this issue Mazzoni (2014)
introduced the Cliques Participation Index (CPI), which is calculated by adding the
participants who make up the various cliques in a certain network, community, or
group, and then dividing this number by the total number of members of the main
structure. This calculation considers the main group dimensions and the participation of group participants in cliques. Defined in this way, the CPI can also be regarded
as a structural indicator of the social presence that characterizes a group. In fact, the
CPI is an indicator of the extent to which a group enables its member to be involved in
different cliques and benefit from the diverse discussions going on within the group.
The higher the CPI, the more group members participate in cliques, increasing the
groups internal cohesion, which is a key dimension of social presence, as identified
in previous related research (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008; Swan & Shih, 2005; Shea,
Hayes, Vickers, Uzuner, Gozza-Cohen, Mehta, & Valtcheva, 2010).
These type of questions can also be repeated over time to obtain a set of longitudinal
data, which allows investigating different aspects of creative collaboration dynamics.
Once participants data are collected, it is possible to generate an adjacency matrix,
in which each row represents a respondent and each column represents the members
of the group who have been selected by the respondent.
Figure 4.7: An example of adjacency matrix, which provides the possible choices of respondents to
the question: Which member of the team do you think most shares your vision?. It is interesting to
note a remarkable centralization of the two most internal members, who probably are the carrier of a
vision which is shared by most of the members of this group.
SNA data can also be collected from the observation of the participants behaviors, e.g. by videotaping their interactions. Clearly, this procedure is facilitated by
online collaboration contexts, thanks to the possibility of tracking and analyzing the
exchanges of information and contents between participants (i.e. e-mail, web forum,
social networking sites). To exemplify this method, we describe two studies in which
we used SNA to analyze the Networked Flow process in online collaborative groups.
The first study (for more details see Mazzoni, 2014), involved 26 small groups
of adults with a university degree in Education who followed a training course to
become designers of online courses. Participants were tasked with designing an innovative online training course. To this end they collaborated using the web platform
Synergeia (http://bscl.fit.fraunhofer.de/). Two experienced team trainers evaluated
the teams projects along the dimensions of quality and originality. Groups interaction logs in Synergeia web forum were collected to generate the adjacency matrix of
each group. Next we calculated the Cliques Participation Index (CPI) for each team.
Results showed that projects created by groups with higher mean involvement in
cliques (high CPI) obtained significantly higher evaluations on the originality dimension compared to the groups with low CPI. This result might suggest that participation
in cliques allows group members to access different views and opinions, supporting
divergent thinking and variety of ideas. Since (as previously mentioned) in our terms
Positive Change and Networked Flow: From Creative Individuals to Creative Networks
CPI can also be regarded as a structural indicator of the social presence that characterizes a group, these findings could also support a possible role of social presence in
promoting group creativity.
In a further study (Gaggioli et al., in press) we investigated the relationship among
the indices of social network structure, flow, and creative performance in students
collaborating in a blended setting. Thirty undergraduate students enrolled in a Media
Psychology course were assigned to five groups tasked with designing a new technology-based psychological application. Team members collaborated over a twelve-week
period using two main modalities: face-to-face meeting sessions in the classroom
(once a week) and virtual meetings using a groupware tool. Social network indicators of group interaction and presence indices were extracted from communication
logs, whereas flow and product creativity were assessed through survey measures.
The findings showed that the social network indices of density and degree of centralization (which, in our terms, are two key indicators of collaborative zone of proximal
development) were positively correlated with several flow dimensions, supporting
the hypothesis that the establishment of a zone of joint action can be associated
with group flow (Armstrong, 2008; Gaggioli et al., 2013). Furthermore, it was found
that the projects of the groups characterized by higher values on density and lower
values on centralization received higher scores on several dimensions of creativity.
Figure 4.8: Density and Centralization indices of a group over 11 weeks of collaboration (adapted
from Gaggioli et al., in press)
In sum, the findings of these preliminary studies suggest that the combination of
qualitative evaluation of participants experience and SNA is a potentially useful
approach for investigating Networked Flow and the evolution of creative collaborations over time. SNA provides a mixed-method approach, which can mitigate the disadvantages of using a single method (quantitative/deductive or qualitative/inductive)
by combining the advantages of both approaches. In fact, although SNA is primarily
4.5 Conclusions
In this chapter, we have described a model of collective creativity aimed at analyzing how a creative network is born and develops. Central to this model is the definition of a shared intersubjective space, which we identify with (highest level of) social
presence. When shared social presence is achieved, participants can experience networked flow, an optimal state that maximizes the creative potential of the group. Following Glveanus distinction between sociocognitive and sociocultural paradigms of
collective creativity, we contend that our model is closer to the sociocultural perspective, since (i) it places at the center of the analysis the creative collaboration process
and the intersubjective dynamics which characterize it; (ii) it emphasizes the role of
interaction between participants and symbolic/physical artifacts involved in the collaboration process; (iii) it aims at casting light on the evolution of the creative collaboration process, by taking into account both the micro and macro-genetic levels; (iv)
it looks at how collaboration is embedded within wider social and cultural networks.
On the other hand, the Networked Flow model does not propose a rigid dichotomy
between creativity embedded in interaction (as in the sociocultural view) and creativity embedded in the mind (as in the sociocognitive view). Rather, we argue for
an approach where cognitive and intersubjective dimensions of collective creativity
are taken equally into account. Furthermore, at the methodological level, the Networked Flow model supports both qualitative and quantitative procedures, and introduces social network analysis as a possible trade union between them. A future goal
is to empirically evaluate the validity of the theoretical phases of Networked Flow, as
well as to improve our understanding of the neuropsychological underpinnings of
shared social presence.
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1Autotelic personality has been defined for the first time by Csikszentmihalyi and Gardner in their
research on optimal experiences and creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Gardner, 1993a, 1993b). It
is a quality that characterizes a person who is always receptive, active and open to detecting new
challenges adapted to promoting their own experience of Flow. An autotelic person is a person with
the ability to understand and extract the intrinsic characteristics of the activities connected to Flow,
starting from self-experience, and investigate their presence in other activities of daily experience, in
order to maximize the opportunities to find flow and satisfaction in life
open and directed to all kinds of clinicians and psychotherapists, most of the technical and methodological proposals in applied and clinical psychology ended up being
oriented to cognitive-behavioral therapies. Various practical approaches have been
developed in this direction, each one with its specific set of technical instruments,
such as Frischs Quality of Life Therapy (2006, 2009a, 2009b) or Favas Well-Being
Therapy (Fava, 2012; Fava & Tomba, 2009; Runi & Fava, 2008; Ruini, Tomba & Fava,
2007). The strategy of these psychotherapeutic models is to focus on the development
of psychological well-being subjectively perceived by the client, which becomes the
core of a short-term therapeutic process. In this way the therapy, oriented toward the
reinforcement of the clients subjective abilities, will obtain both the result of eliminating or diminishing the symptoms, and reinforcing the clients personality in order
to prevent future relapse (Fava & Tomba, 2009; Frisch 2006; Goldwum & al. 2004;
Goldwum & Colombo, 2010; Seligman 2002b; Seligman & Peterson 2003;).
Delle Fave and colleagues also studied the impact of theoretical positive psychology models in health care situations, but the main focus of their research is on the
influence of eudaimonic experience in the subjective daily perception of health and
disease (Delle Fave, 2006; Delle Fave & al. 2011) They were among the first groups
to use the experience of Flow as a tool for the assessment of capacities to develop
resilience and autotelic abilities in situations of great physical and emotional stress.
Delle Fave and colleagues investigated both the various situations of chronic health
conditions, as well as the human experience of health professionals. They demonstrated that Flow experience can be a significant variable in the perceived subjective
experience of people who face sufferance and pain in everyday life, and consequently
that the perceived quality of life can vary in patients with the same diagnosis or in the
same category of professionals (Delle Fave, 2010; Delle Fave & Massimini, 1982; Delle
Fave & al. 2003; Bassi & al. 2012). This research demonstrates that there is a close link
between Flow experience and health/illness perceptions and, consequently, that the
capability of finding flow in everyday life is connected with the subjective positive
view of life, quality of life and mental health. The authors use the Flow model, measured by ESM2, as a monitoring tool of the daily experience of the research sample
to define personality characteristics, but they do not offer a clinical application that
has the purpose of changing the individuals style of perception. More recently, other
studies have suggested a close correlation between flow and psychotherapy, but
again using it as a tool for monitoring the change of the patients experience during
the evolution of the therapeutic process and not with an applicative intent (Freire
2013; Freire, & Teixeira, in press: Freire & al. 2012, 2014).
2Experience Sampling Method (see Bassi & al., 2007; Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Larson 1987; Delle
Fave, & Massimini, 1992; Massimini & al. 1987).
these situations as the turning points of therapy towards psychological change. But
the most interesting contamination comes from a clinician who, though not using the
terminology from positive psychology, perfectly identifies the meaning and approach
that may derive from it. In 2004 Daniel Stern introduced the concept of Present
Moment both in psychotherapy and everyday life, as an experience of psychological fulfillment, that produces positive emotions, and is characterized as a temporary
peak situation very similar to Csikszentmihalyis Flow. In the authors conception the
present moment is central to the introjections of everyday experience, and can also
appear in the sessions of psychotherapy. It then becomes a fruitful opportunity for the
therapist to enter into a deeper relationship with the client and with their inner world.
Present moments lay the foundation on which patient and therapist can weave the
intersubjective matrix that is the basis of the therapeutic process and of the patients
psychological development. In a later work Stern arises in a broader perspective and
proposes the concept of Forms of Vitality (2010), which resembles the approach of
Strengths and Virtues of Seligman and Peterson, but still maintains a strictly psychodynamic slant.
3 Gardners Theory of Creativity is at the base, together with the concept of Flow, the ability to develop an autotelic personality. This theory proposes creative ability as an individual competence, closely
linked to a domain of action. According to the author, creativity emerges from a fruitful asynchrony,
an imbalance between or within three nodes of subjective experience: individual, social forces and
cultural context. Gardner argues that, when a person perceives a conflict between different visions or
options, he is driven to seek an alternative (and then creative) solution that allows the resolution or
minimization of the perceived conflict.
jectively perceived, together with psychological states and emotions that derive from
it, are the central point for the development of a complex and flexible Self, and are
in close correlation with the transmission and the enrichment of the cultural system.
The autotelic ability is considered as the capacity of a person to identify and select
new activities that promote Flow experience, well-being states and Self-satisfaction.
This competence can be considered a creative characteristic per se, but often autotelic persons develop several creative situations and solutions in order to multiply the
opportunity to experience Flow. This process of continuous research of new opportunities for optimal experience, improves the everyday life of autotelic persons, which
is richer in optimal experience as compared to the average person, and makes the
individual more flexible when considering new and unexpected situations.
Following this vision in which Flow, Creativity and Subjective Experience are
closely related in a ratio of reciprocal causality, here we summarize the characteristics of the experience of Flow that are most noteworthy for the purpose of its use in
a psychotherapeutic setting, referring to the first chapter of this volume for a more
detailed description of the theory of Csikszentmihalyi. Flow of Consciousness is to be
considered as a dynamic psychological experience that is based on both affective and
motivational positive states, and which is fundamental for the psychological development because it nourishes the Self making it gradually more complex and stronger.
Its occurrence has a relatively short duration, and is closely related to an action or
activity. Among the indicators and variables that are considered necessary and sufficient to say that one is faced with a situation of Flow4, there are three which can be
considered as the main factors from a psychodynamic perspective. Indeed, on their
manifestation depends and follows the occurrence of all the others. These three characteristics are: intrinsic motivation, self-determination and balance between challenges and skills. Self-determination means that the individual chooses to perform a
certain activity independently, as well as that the individual chooses to do that thing
at that particular moment, and not at another. This is because at that moment they
feel to be in a condition of focusing on the task without any interference coming from
either their own physical or mental state or from outside. Intrinsic motivation means
that the subject realizes that the main reason for carrying out a certain activity is
that it produces a state of intense psychological well-being. This does not mean that
there cannot be other incentives to action, such as in situations related to the working
environment, but that other possible benefits, at that precise moment, are secondary to the objective of achieving a state of fulfillment. Rather than a balance between
challenges and skills, it is to be considered as the balance subjectively perceived by
4 The characteristics that distinguish the Optimal Experience are: intrinsic motivation, self-determination, balance between challenges and skills, absence of boredom, absence of anxiety, clear goals,
immediate feedback, concentration on the task, lack of conscious control, altered perception of time,
and positive affective state.
the person between the demands of the environment and their own personal skills.
If a person has a good self-awareness and a proper examination of reality, their perception of the balance between challenges and skills will be close to the objective
situation. Conversely, if our patient suffered from low self-esteem and a negative selfconsideration, their evaluation of the request of the task will always be superior to the
skills they perceive to possess, and consequently will never reach the state of optimal
experience, or will reach it with tasks that require minimal skills. Whereas if we are
dealing with a mythomaniac or with a person with a hypertrophied ego, they will feel
encouraged to face situations far superior to their own resources, sometimes putting
themselves in danger or ridicule, because of the pathological overestimation of their
own abilities. Nevertheless, it can occur, despite the negative feedback received from
the context, that our patient retains carryovers of intense feelings of subjective wellbeing in the most paradoxical situations.
Flow experiences. Recent research has established that the Flow experience can be a
shared experience (see chap. 4 Aub & al., 2014; Delle Fave & Bassi, 2009; Gaggioli
& al., 2011). In our proposal Flow can be considered a shared experience when it is
developed thanks to the relational characteristics of an activity or a situation. In the
case of psychotherapic setting, both the interacting persons are deeply involved in the
therapeutic relationship. The communication with the counterpart and the development of mutual understanding and empathy focus the attention and the energy of
both patient and therapist, in fact, the therapy is first of all a process of care through
the relationship. Both therapist and client are involved in an activity of great interest and involvement, and the relational aspect is the one in which they share the
intense emotions derived from the intimate contact with another human being, with
their sensitivity and their richness. In some phases of the therapy, when this intimate feeling of empathy is stronger, the conditions may lead to experiment shared
moments of Flow, which allow the therapeutic relationship to make a quantum leap
and simultaneously enable the patient to feel both more accepted by the therapist
and closer to the acquisition of their own autonomy. A simple indicator of these situations is to be traced in the perception of time, which is often slowed down, in contrast
with the need to measure and define the times of the encounters that is characteristic
of this profession.
An important consideration with respect to the possibility of experiencing and
stimulating Flow in the session concerns the personal characteristics and skills of
the therapist. In order to promote Flow experience in clients the first requirement is
that the therapist be prone to experiencing Flow during their work. This ability will
depend both on the characteristics of the psychotherapists personality and on the
kind of involvement they have in their work and with their patients. Their involvement may spring from gaining knowledge of the patients private life, or the emergence of the healthy aspects of the inner child, the first motions of entrustment or
the gradual therapeutic successes In any of these cases, if the therapist works for
the love of their profession, opportunities for Shared Flow will develop with different
patients. From these situations, the therapist will learn how to research and promote
Flow within their work, and how, through this, to activate time after time shared Flow
with their patients. The therapeutic sessions will become, in this sense, a protected
place in which clients can find Flow for the first time, or recover it after many years
in which they have been depressed, emotionally deprived and unhappy. This may be
the case of people with a dysthymic disorder, a severe form of depression, a nervous
breakdown due to bereavement or an inability to adapt after a transfer or a migration
process. These and other categories of clients can find benefit in a clinical approach
oriented to shared Flow development. In a second step, reinforced by the experiences
of well-being inside the therapy (inner), the patient can be supported in looking for
new opportunities of Flow in daily life (outer), and in developing a form of autotelic
ability that will, in turn reinforce them and prevent future relapses.
promote Flow through the individual actions completed successfully, which exhibit
their sporting talents and supremacy over the teammates.
Once a Flow Profile of the patient has been compiled, which defines them in a
unique way by relating their characteristics of personality with their daily experience
and with the cultural opportunities provided by the environment, the information
provided by the profile can be used to stimulate an increase in the flow-promoting
situation in the everyday life of the patient. The promotion of Flow can follow different
strategies. Firstly, where possible, it has to recover or redefine a space for activities
and situations already known as triggers of Flow, in order to increase the frequency
and quality of well-being already present in the subject. It is just like recovering space
for self-care, for sport and leisure activity, for social relations, for natural environment
frequentation. At a second level, the therapist can use the Flow Profile to detect other
kinds of situations or activities that possess similar characteristics or elicit the same
area of skills in the client. This is a way of stimulating the development of some form
of autotelic skills. It is the case of those sports personalities which, having reached the
end of their career due to age or accident, decide to invest all their energies becoming coaches, or working to promote sports culture in young people, or applying for
improving the sporting environment. Besides working on the Flow, the therapist can
work on the enhancement and strengthening of other subjective strengths (Peterson,
2006; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Ryff & Singer, 2008), to reinforce the psychological
structure of the patient and increase their predisposition to perceive and detect Flow.
A restoration of self-esteem, for example, can return a more accurate perception of
the balance between challenges and skills and decrease the level of anxiety, making
it easier to achieve the state of Flow. A recovery of a broader social network can facilitate the contact with richer and more varied activities within which it is possible for
the person to identify new and unexpected sources of Flow. Finally, the transfer of the
experience of Flow in Therapy to situations of life outside the sessions can support
the regeneration of social relations and the chance to try empathic situations and
positive emotions in relationships with other people, supporting the social reintegration of the patient and their perception of a better quality of relational experience.
belonging but also a high level of danger and borderline situations. His Flow Profile
showed as a main characteristic the need feel a sense of vitality and feelings of psychological well-being, to find himself in extreme, dangerous, adrenaline-charged situations with possible implications of violence. The Air Force had been proposed as a
possible way in which Mr. X may invest his need for discipline but also for risk, danger
and demonstration of courage. On his arrival in therapy Mr. X had been relieved from
active duty because of his anxiety disorder, and had been assigned to administrative
duties. This change had brought him into a state of deep dejection, dissatisfaction
and low esteem. Unfortunately, at the time of taking charge of his case it was not
possible to orient the patient towards activities similar or comparable to those that
had revealed as states of Flow in his previous experience, because the access to risky
assets had been prohibited to him. So part of the therapy has been devoted to deepen
his history and his psychological strengths and weaknesses, in order to understand
in which area of life he would be able to transfer his need of extreme and risky challenges. In the end an answer was found in his family experience: Mr. X had been
happily married for several years, but had always felt scared by the idea to becoming
a father, due to the bad experience with both his parents, who had proven unable to
perform their duties of protection and education towards him and his brother. The
focus had then been directed to the theme of paternity, considered as an extreme and
risky challenge, in respect of which Mr. X, distancing himself from his family history,
proved to have all the necessary characteristics to become a caring and responsible
parent, but was not aware of this. During the therapy the dissimilarities that he had
developed in contrast with his parents have been brought to light, and the personal
features that characterize him as a conscious adult figure have been returned to Mr.
X in a picture of himself that is more complex and detailed than the one which he
had previously. During therapy, Mr. X, who was initially very reserved and defensive,
has developed a relationship of trust and mutual respect with the psychotherapist.
When he finally got to face his deepest concerns about his adequacy as a father and
husband, the concentration on the topic, the involvement in the relationship and the
level of empathy were so high as to repeatedly activate situations of Shared Flow. For
the first time Mr. X experienced Flow inside a relational activity and not in an individual high-risk situation. From this first experience he would be able to develop wellbeing experiences in other relational contexts, first of all in regard to his approach
toward his wife. The therapy ended when Mr. X declared he felt strong enough to
stand on his own two feet. One year later he called back to announce he had become
father of a beautiful daughter.
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6.1 Introduction
The connection between environmental features, aesthetic preference and psychological well-being is a paradigmatic example of the dilemmatic bond which links
scientific psychology and common sense. It is in fact a widespread belief that such
a link exists, and psychological research too has shown that human beings attend
their favorite places as triggers of positive feelings and emotions when they are going
through critical moments (Korpela et alii, 2001; 2003). The problem arises when this
bond is investigated from a scientific point of view, considering that the theoretical
analysis could be divided into at least three fundamental aspects. Firstly, it is necessary to examine whether there are distinctive environmental features that, more than
others, elicit a positive response. The identification of these characteristics involves
several higher order issues, such as, the assessment of whether these are universally
recognized or automatically chosen. This query calls into question the second key
issue, which concerns the subjective experience in dealing with these environmental
features. To exert a preference means exercising a judgment based on available data,
on the gestaltic qualities experienced in a specific context, or in an exercise of imagination/recalling of that event based on an environmental stimulus, such as in a video
or a picture. The third aspect concerns the conceptualization, and the subsequent
measurement, of the fundamental characteristics of psychological well-being. Also
in this case it can be disputed whether the state of well-being has to be considered as
a short or long term phenomenon, as when it occurs sharply when facing a specific
Copyright 2014 Nicola Rainisio, Marco Boffi, Eleonora Riva
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License
Since the seventies, environmental psychology has tried to give scientific foundation to such findings, already widely present in peoples common sense. The mainstream explanation was oriented by an epistemology that considered the environment as a stimulus that triggers a normative human response or activates a cognitive
scheme. Not surprisingly, studies of this kind have deepened only the first aspect,
the one concerning environmental features that foster psychological well-being,
exploring only in part the other two. Recently, however, some innovative proposals
have been advanced taking into greater account the experiential (Ryan et alii, 2010;
Joye & van den Berg, 2011) and cultural aspects (Kitayama et alii, 2003; Buijs et alii,
2009) of our relationship with the environment. These theories suggest new contact
points between the seminal works of Csikszentmihalyi (1975) and Kaplan & Kaplan
(1983), towards a new framework which integrates the complexity of the experience
of place and its generative features (Rainisio & Inghilleri, 2013) in the classical model.
We suggest, in fact, that a phenomenological point of view would be useful to better
define a systemic model of how the physical environment interacts with preference
and psychological well-being, as it would be to include individual agency and emotionality. Before analyzing the more recent theories, it is necessary to deepen the
mainstream framework and its underlying epistemological structure.
Place as a Stimulus
culture of belonging. Schemes are in fact molded from the everyday experience and
from the information and suggestions received in the educational process by caregivers and the community at large.
These aspects are an important innovation compared to the evolutionary model,
as they propose an idea of subjective compatibility that goes beyond the phylogenetic
determinism. Purcell (1986) suggested that preference might be given to those environments which possess an optimal level of discrepancy from ones own scheme, in
order to generate a mild form of psycho-physical arousal without activating negative
feelings such as boredom or anxiety. Conversely, Whitfield (1983) stated that preference might be oriented to environmental stimuli that mostly resemble the subjective
scheme. Here too, as argued for other cognitivist theories, the representation of the
relationship between man and environment appears to be cold, unable to account
for the emotional complexity of everyday experience. Moreover, even if a cognitive mediation is theorized, the holistic nature of that relationship is not taken into
adequate consideration, focusing only on how subjective schemata are activated by
external stimuli.
An integrative theory that unifies cognitive and evolutionary aspects was proposed by Kaplan, Kaplan & Ryan (1998). The peculiarity of this point of view consists
in considering cognition as the adaptive product of phylogenesis and assumes the
existence of two basic needs for the optimal cognitive functioning, which is a prerequisite for survival, and specifically: the understanding of the context for action
and the exploration of the same. If understanding is the central system that governs
decision, exploration is equally important because it allows the acquisition of new
information, and thus a qualitative increase in knowledge as a function of adaptation.
The intersection of these two basic needs, understanding and exploration, with the
degree of inference activated in the act of perception along the continuum of immediate-inferred, generates a 2x2 matrix which has four variables:
1. Coherence: comprehensibility immediately perceived (visual order)
2. Legibility: inferred comprehensibility (wayfinding, distinctive space)
3. Complexity: complexity immediately perceived (visual richness, high number of
elements, various textures)
4. Mystery: complexity inferred (promise of new information on the environment
deriving from its exploration)
While in the seminal study of Berlyne (1960) the complexity has been indicated as the
main determinant of preference, in this theory the four factors described must remain
in balance to maximize the pleasantness of the environment and perceived fitness
with itself.
Despite the diversity of approaches, both the cognitive model on environmental
aesthetics and the evolutionary models left two important aspects behind. The first
concerns the subjective experience in dealing with environmental quality. The second
deals with the short and long term effects of the exposure to restorative environments.
Place as an Experience
According to this point of view, he suggested (1982) that the human experience of
the physical environment should be one of the main topics for environmental psychology. It is possible to refer to some scholars who have studied the environmental
experiences and their relevance for aesthetic judgment and well-being. In popular
culture the connection between environment and particular experiences, generally
called peak experiences (Maslow, 1959), has been well-known since centuries; suffice
it to mention the ritual vision quests of Native Americans, the spread of the romantic
sublime in the European imaginary, or the centrality of the wilderness idea for the
American culture. Moreover, nature is frequently associated with mysticism, ecstasy
and other supernatural experiences in daily speech and thought. Kaplan & Kaplan
(1989) suggested that a complete restorative environment can be experienced as such
when presenting four main features:
1. Fascination: to activate the involuntary attention permitting the voluntary one
to recover.
2. Being away: to trigger feelings of being elsewhere, far from the daily routine.
3. Extent: to experience the environment as unique and differentiated from others.
4. Compatibility: to perceive a high fitness between the subjective goals and the
possibilities offered by the socio-physical environment.
context, a feeling commonly reported by the researchers in environmental psychology, which could be summed up in the expression deep experience.
c) Intrinsic motivation
During optimal experience, the main subjective motivation is the experience
itself, the related sense of competence and completeness, without any external goal.
A similar disinterested pleasure is considered as a main element of the aesthetic
Place as Generative
also be led by the relationship between person and place. Scholars have pointed
out several findings in support of long-term changes associated to the experience of
place. Kaplan & Talbott (1983) stated that a wilderness experience had a deep impact
on the individual personality of a group of young people involved in a natural camp.
Wells (2000) found that a group of children living in an area with greater presence of
trees developed a better ability to cope with stressful life events, also controlling the
data for economic income. Kuo and colleagues (1998) underlined that the presence of
natural areas empowered number and strength of social relationships in a Chicago
apartment block.
Again, we suggest that an explanation to those findings should be found in flow
theory and its developmental implications. First of all, after an experience of flow,
the organization of the self is more complex than it had been before (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p.41). It means that an optimal experience may lead to a lasting change
in self-perception and self-confidence. If there is no subjective experience without
place, then every place compatible with a flow experience should become a positive
place, and should be linked in memory and cognition with the positive experience
of increased skills and self-esteem, especially if the context is relevant to that particular experience. It will depend on the subjective compatibility (or challenge-skills
balance) as perceived in a precise moment of life. At the same time, the positive emotions experienced in a particular place could broaden peoples momentary thoughtaction repertories, widening the array of the thoughts and actions that come to mind
(Fredrickson, 2001) and promote, on the long-term, a complete mental health, a subjective state of flourishing in life (Keyes, 2002). According with this argument, place
couldnt be only considered as a trigger for attentional and stress recovery, as argued
by Kaplan & Kaplan or Ulrich, but mainly as able to promote a long lasting well-being.
Moreover, as suggested by Csikszentmihalyi & Robinson (1990) the objects
involved in this experience (in our case, the place) will become subject of aesthetic
pleasure and preference. In this perspective, a favorite place is where I lived the
highest possible number of positive experiences. If we consider instead the typology
of places, the favorite will be the one where I had the highest number of flow experiences or, the one that presents more evidence of the possibility of having experiences
of flow based on past experience. According to these arguments, the flow experience
could even be a trigger to support and strengthen place attachment and identification.
Lastly, all this will have a significant impact on places. In fact, a shared investment of psychic energy on a place will facilitate its conservation and protection,
increase its semiotic complexity and activate its transmission to future generations, just as it happens for the other memes of our cultures (Dawkins, 1989; Inghilleri, 1999). Summarizing, it is not that evolutionary and stimulus-driven effects do not
affect peoples well-being in environment. These elements, rooted in our bio-cultural
heritage, should be considered as positive factors to enable our optimal experiences
in environment, which in turn activate several effects on psychological well-being. In
Preliminary Results
the following section we will discuss some results that support these hypotheses, first
providing experimental verification for our assumptions.
That stimulus was followed by four ex novo items, designed to deepen the following aspects of flow experience in environment:
1. Perceived probability of a flow experience facing that environment (Walking a. in
a place like that I could feel this way).
2. Experiential past with regard to that environment (It happened to me to feel this
way in places like that).
3. Place capability in activating optimal experiences (Places like that can help me
to feel this way).
4. Strategic use of places as triggers for optimal experiences (Sometimes I go to
places like that to feel this way).
This scale is the first proposal of a Flow in Environment Scale (FLIES), an instrument
able to analyze the connection between optimal experience and environmental contexts. The scale showed adequate psychometric properties.
The four items belong to one single factor, that we could call Environmental Flowability, intended as the perceived potential of a place to enable optimal experiences.
This factor explains 79.74% of the variance, and has high saturation of items on the
factor (all values higher than .84).
6.5.2 Results
We hypothesized that Flow would play a role in influencing preferences, wellbeing and restoration in environment, as well as that Flow should be linked with
place attachment. Observing the matrix below (Tab.5.1) what emerges is a significant correlation between the perceived flowability, the two measures of restorativeness (PRS .698; RS .773), environmental preference (.656) and place attachment
Table 6.1: Matrix of correlations between flowability and other main variables
Place attachment
p. (2 tales)
Concluding Remarks
.394; VIF 2.537), could be due to a wide overlapping between the two constructs,
whereas conceptualizations of flow and restoration tend to share some fundamental aspects as argued above. Not surprisingly, the higher FLIES-PRS correlations are
observed on two PRS factors, fascination and compatibility, which call into question
the two fundamental elements of interaction between the two: the optimal allocation of attentional resources and the compatibility between perceived challenges and
environmental skills.
Pending further experimental support to this data, it can be suggested that the subjective perception of possible Flow experiences fosters aesthetic preference and influences place attachment. Also, a significant association was found between Flowability and restorativeness, assuming that the two constructs (Flow and restoration) could
also be seen as two partially different descriptions of the same mental state (a peak
experience), which could be adequately described by the notion of optimal experience as conceptualized by Csikszentmihalyi.
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The debate was not simply about GDP itself or the use made of it, to a broader extent it
concerned the privileged role of economists to the detriment of other cultural actors in
selecting the information to be used by political decision makers. It is indeed a crucial
issue, as the information selected to be monitored can then shape not only political
decisions, but also the public perception about what is relevant in a society. This perspective provides understanding to the famous speech given by Robert F. Kennedy
when he declared that GDP measures everything, in short, except that which makes
life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud
that we are Americans (1968, p. 5). Such a strong spirit of change, in the country
that more than others was embracing capitalism, has favored the study of alternative
measures. From the beginning the research has been characterized by a continuum
between two opposing poles that are still present nowadays (Noll & Zapf, 1994). On
the one hand there is the American approach characterized by a mainly psychological background and therefore more sensitive to the individual and their subjectivity,
which produced the etymological shift from the notion of welfare to that of well-being.
On the other hand is the Scandinavian tradition rooted in sociological studies, which
focused on the objective resources available to the individual and which were defined
in terms of money, property, knowledge, psychic and physical energy, social relations, security and so on (Erikson & Uusitalo, 1987, p. 189). As clarified by Erikson,
they tried to
[] assess the individuals level of living in a way which makes it as little influenced as possible by the individuals evaluation of his own situation. This seems all the more natural as the
individuals level of living is to a large extent based on his command over resources, resources
which can be used for the ends which he himself finds most satisfactory (1993, p. 77).
being research: hedonism and eudaimonism. Delle Fave, Massimini and Bassi (2011)
effectively summarize some key points distinguishing these two positions. To begin
with, hedonism conceives well-being as a state of homeostatic balance addressed to
satisfy individual needs, whereas eudaimonism focuses on the process of complexity
enhancement leading to it. Hedonism, then, defines well-being as a subjectively felt
presence of positive affect and absence of negative affect, whilst eudaimonism emphasizes the active role of the individual in pursuing opportunities for growth. Lastly,
hedonic well-being is an individual dimension to be fulfilled also through the community, while in contrast eudaimonic well-being is a primarily collective and shared
factor. It is fundamental to consider both aspects, since hedonic and eudaimonic
foci are both overlapping and distinct and [] an understanding of well-being may
be enhanced by measuring it in differentiated ways (Ryan & Deci, 2001, p. 148). Nevertheless, beyond the strictly scientific domain, these two different traditions also
imagine different relations with the rest of the society.
This severe judgment draws attention to two relevant aspects. Firstly, the role of
Aristotle is crucial to modern scientific reflections regarding eudaimonia, even to
the extent that the contribution of other philosophers, such as Plato, is underplayed
(Grinde, 2012). Secondly, the difficulty of accomplishing the passage of eudaimonia
from philosophic principles to psychological constructs has given rise to multiple
theories, which emphasize different factors underlying wellbeing and are usually
accompanied by articulated assessment instruments. For example, Ryff defines Psychological Well-Being referring to six facets (self-acceptance, positive relations with
others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth) (Ryff
& Keyes, 1995), whereas the Self-Determination Theory focuses on the importance of
satisfying three basic needs, namely competence, relatedness, and autonomy (Deci
& Ryan, 2000). Such variety is actually seen as a generative resource for the whole
debate on well-being (Waterman, 2008), especially considering the earlier stage of
eudaimonic approach compared to hedonic research. Indeed such complexity is considered necessary, as it is costly for psychology to equate rigor with an absence of
theory, complexities or abstractions (Ryan & Huta, 2009, p. 202).
This last stance on the role and features of eudaimonia entails two fundamental
consequences. The first is scientific, and posits that the call for a Big One conception of well-being (Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008) is not only premature but
also undesirable, in that feeling good (hedonism) and functioning well (eudaimonia)
are conceptually and empirically distinct (Keyes, 2006; Keyes & Annas, 2009; Waterman, Schwartz, & Conti, 2008). The second is political, in so far as the political use of
eudaimonic knowledge in fostering a positive social change is concerned. As formerly
discussed, the notion of QoL altogether is an elusive concept considered among the
most inconsistently used terms within the human sciences (Cummins, Gullone, &
Lau, 2002, p. 8). Yet, this did not prevent it from exerting a decisive influence in different sectors of society during the last few decades. At the same time, although methodologically more homogeneous, SWB measures have proven not to be directly translatable in specific policy goals or governmental actions (Duncan, 2013; Frey & Gallus,
2013; Thin, 2011). Hence it appears that scientific uniformity is not the most relevant
feature to provide government with what is necessary, that is an effective feedback on
the delivered programmes. We agree with those scholars advocating a more influential
role of psychosocial scientists in such informative function (Diener & Diener, 2011),
but the assumed neutrality of the hedonic approach alone does not seem the most
effective means. We argue that to pursue this goal it is necessary to call for explicit recognition of the ultimately political mission of some branches of psychology aimed
in the first place at community psychology but to be extended to positive psychology
and to accordingly redesign its practices by directly engaging in the field (Burton,
Kagan, & Duckett, 2013). What is most needed by social actors involved in such a
dialogue towards a positive change alongside the academic community, whether they
are politicians, associations, or communities, is not only a variety of social indicators
but above all a vision of society that allows them to imagine a genuinely new perspective. In our view here is the added value of eudaimonic theories, which provide a
highly meaningful context for the proposed instruments. From this point of view, the
search for well-being is mainly a wide cultural project aimed at changing values, as
in Kassers proposal of building an alternative to materialism (2011). Yet, it appears
that efforts to broadly implement the solutions have been largely uncoordinated, as
there exists no central organizing body [] to conceptually unify the many disparate
conclusions have been drawn with reference to the general population: participation in social movements frequently involves enlargement of personal identity for
participation and offers fulfillment and realization of the self (Gamson, 1992, p. 56).
Yet, Benford and Snow have noted that the question of how participation precipitates the enlargement of personal identity [] has not been satisfactorily answered
(2000, p. 631). We suggest that a fruitful answer to this point can be offered explaining
participatory behaviors through Flow of Consciousness (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975/2000).
Such a theoretical construct, by virtue of its remarkable connections with the core
principles of the eudaimonic approach, accounts for a wide range of phenomena. We
aim to explore our proposal at two different levels the individual and the environment. Indeed the relation between these two components represents the file rouge of
eudaimonic well-being stemming from participation. Furthermore, flow itself can be
conceived as a theory describing a very high-level interaction between human being
and space. Hence, our goal is to offer an explanation of what happens to the individual
during political participation and how this can be favored in participatory settings.
The first level to be considered is the most circumscribed, being referred to activists. In many modern societies there is a significant minority of people supporting
some public cause by enacting behaviors with a political value (from institutional
actions like promoting a political candidate to unconventional initiatives like boycotting). As stated by Wallace and Pichler these
people participate in civil society because they follow a particular enthusiasm which is important
for them [] or because they feel they want to contribute to society []. These kinds of enthusiasms and commitments are aspects of life that can lead to self-actualisation in a Maslowian
sense (2009, p. 259).
Hence activists involved in participatory activities experience flow, an optimal experience characterized by a sense of engagement and enjoyment (Csikszentmihalyi,
1975/2000). Such characteristics concur to qualify flow as an autotelic experience
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1997), which means that its highly rewarding nature drives people
to repeat the actions from which it is generated, without any additional external
reward. If we imagine the replication of such a mechanism on a daily basis, in the
long term it can account for how activists come to determine their own life theme, that
is the original and personal set of interests and purposes pursued in a lifetime (Csikszentmihalyi & Beattie, 1979; Inghilleri, 1999). These two aspects, namely the intrinsic motivation in participating and the self-determination related with it, are key
factors to foster individuals well-being. Such a paramount role of intrinsic motivation in participation is consistent with data from Omoto and Snyder (1995), who have
demonstrated that more self-oriented volunteers are actively engaged for a longer
period as compared to those more altruistically oriented. Consistent with this is the
data presented by Klar and Kasser (2009), which suggested that political activism is
motivating in itself. Similarly, Meier and Stutzer (2008) have shown that volunteering
Table 7.1: Structural analogies between features of positive participatory settings and dimensions of
Positive participatory settings
adapted from (Mannarini, Fedi, &
Trippetti, 2010)
Providing participants with adequate
time and information on the issue at
Challenge-skill balance
Perception of competence in the situation, not only in
physical activities but also in intellectual and social ones.
Smooth relationships resulting in a
general positive feeling.
Positive affect
General positive sensation, to be complemented with the
notion of group flow
Make publicly clear aims and scope
of participation.
Clear goals
Identify specific route of action; goals can be immediate or
distant in the future.
Concrete effects in the environment
and the community.
Unambiguous feedback
Closely related to established goals, it allows the regular
monitoring of the effective consequences of executed
that is the acquisition of critical thinking and awareness about oneself and the world
(Campbell & Jovchelovitch, 2000).
7.4 Conclusions
In this chapter we aimed to develop a meta-analytical reflection on the role of psychology in studying and informing the society on the importance of political participation. We are of the persuasion that an increased consciousness of the historical
function of the psychological discipline can lead to a better use of its knowledge in
present communities. Furthermore, we call for a determined stance in fulfilling the
mission of positive psychology, which is to overtly interact with other stakeholders in
pursuing common well-being.
In presenting the different perspectives we tried to include contrasting voices,
being convinced that from this long-time debate useful insights can be derived. Yet,
our attention revolved mainly around the eudaimonic approach (see also chapter
1), as we recognize in it the potential to effectively deal with the environmental and
social rights issues at stake. Our effort was to depict a wide, multidisciplinary framework for the flow theory, hoping that it can be of inspiration to scholars from other
backgrounds as well.
Ultimately, our proposal of integrating flow of consciousness among the measures of political participation aims at encouraging a qualitative observation of this
phenomenon. The diminishing engagement of citizens in traditional forms of participation cannot be looked at only in a quantitative perspective. For instance, data has
shown how the Italian political system is no more able to offer opportunities of selfdevelopment to its practitioners (Boffi, 2012b), hence it is highly relevant to explore
the many reasons behind political withdrawal. Against a general drop in voting
turnout, it becomes crucial to understand whether we are facing an informed and
critical decision of abstaining from voting or rather a generic loss of interest. On the
other side, the same question has to be asked at the emergence of popular antagonist movements, to appraise to what extent these represent an aware reaction to
system malfunctions instead of a political emotional outburst.
We see a great space for developing such an approach, notwithstanding the methodological difficulties. The recent decision to examine more in depth eudaimonic
measures in the European Social Survey (2013) proves the interest for such a wider
picture, and once again highlights the need for new instruments. Our proposal in
particular offers a demanding challenge to all scholars devoted to flow research. The
assessments hypothesized at different levels (i.e. individual, group) requires the evaluation of which tools, among those already existing, can better provide the necessary
information, or if new efforts are to be made. Specific attention should be devoted to
group dynamics of flow, which we expect to be fruitfully expanded in collaboration
with community psychologists.
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8.1 Introduction
This chapter presents two empirically validated models incorporating flow theory and
classroom learning environment constructs. These models and the methods of confirmation exemplify optimal learning environments characterized by flow experiences.
Each operationalizes experiences and respective conducive conditions to enable
research and also to inform design of positive change in schooling. The first is the
capabilities-expectations model of student engagement in school learning developed
in Australia (Cavanagh, Kennish & Sturgess, 2008). The second is the environmental
complexity model of optimal learning environments developed in the USA (Shernoff,
Tonks, Abdi, & Cavanagh, 2013).
model of student engagement was based on this aspect of flow theory. To increase relevance to the learning environment notion, skills were reconceptualised as learning
capabilities and challenge was reconceptualised as expectations of learning. Student
engagement in learning was defined as a balance between the students capability
for learning and the expectations of learning in a particular learning environment
both capability and expectations are context specific (Cavanagh, Kennish & Sturgess,
2008, p. 9). Flow is experienced when strong capabilities are applied to a situation
with demanding expectations. For example, a highly competent student is expected
to complete difficult tasks. This model is also applicable when less capable students
are engaged. In this case, engagement is possible because although the expectations
of success are low, these are commensurate with the students ability.
The construct of learning capabilities was hypothesized to be comprised of two
broad attributes of students the expressive self as typified in studies of self-esteem
and self-concept and the managerial self as typified in studies of self-regulation and
self-efficacy. Additionally, resilience was included in the model due to the prevalence
of this notion in the research on school engagement and participation (Howard &
Johnson, 1999).The five sub-constructs were operationally defined as follows (for
more detail, see Cavanagh, Kennish & Sturgess, 2008):
a) Self-esteem: Positive self-image and involving the evaluations we make about
how worthy we are as human beings.
b) Self-concept: An individuals perception of self and it is formed through experience with the environment, interactions with significant others, and attributions
of ones own behavior (Marsh, Smith, Barnes & Butler, 1983, p. 773).
c) Resilience: The overcoming of the negative effects of risk exposure and coping
successfully with resulting traumatic experiences, requiring an incidence of
both risks and factors that either promote a positive outcome or avoid a negative
d) Self-regulation: Self-regulated students are aware of the qualities of their own
knowledge, beliefs, motivation, knowledge and cognitive processing elements
that jointly create situated updates of the task on which the students work
(Butler & Winne, 1995, p. 245). The awareness and gaining of information from
experiences occurs through a process of feedback which can be internal (e.g.
student self-reflection) or external (e.g. from the teacher). In this way, students
personally initiate and direct their own efforts to acquire knowledge and skill
rather than relying on teachers, parents, or other agents of instruction (Zimmerman, 1989, p. 329).
e) Self-efficacy: Bandura (1986) proposed self-efficacy perceptions are developed
by people interpreting information from their experiences. He proposed that the
most significant source of information comes from the interpreted results of past
performance, which he termed mastery experiences. These can create a strong
sense of efficacy to accomplish comparable tasks in the future. Significantly, selfefficacy beliefs are context specific judgments, are sensitive to contextual factors,
instruments applied to two different samples produced similar results. Over 80% of
the students had equivalent scores for capabilities and expectations which suggests a
high level of engagement in the classes and students investigated.
often in the context of real world issues or community service as with experiential
or problem-based learning.
e) Assessment and expectations for mastery: The clear expectation that obtained
competencies will be demonstrated, performed, or assessed in a way regarded
as mutually meaningful to both student and instructor, and for a level of performance that is within reasonably high standards for mastery or competency (APA,
1997; Wiggins, 1993).
The environmental support dimension is a multifaceted construct representing the
provision of instrumental and emotional resources necessary for meeting challenges,
a) Motivational support: Teacher support for autonomy (Reeve et al., 2004),
competence (Urdan & Turner, 2005), interest development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006), intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000), flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), and/or self-efficacy (Bandura,
1977a, 1977b).
b) Positive Relationships: Positive teacher-student relations and rapport; positive peer relations; social cohesion; value for individuality and diversity; and
absence of negative interactions (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Roorda, Koomen,
Spilt, & Oort, 2011).
c) Interactivity and transactional learning: Interactivity among teacher and
students; every student has a clear and valued role; opportunities to make
valued intellectual contributions; expertise is distributed; community construction of knowledge (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Zhang, Scardamalia, Reeve, &
Messina, 2009).
d) Performance feedback: Feedback on targeted competencies and/or performance is provided by the instructor, peers, and/or it is embedded into the
activity, and is timely, specific, and accurate (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990); use of
effective scaffolding (Meyer & Smithenry, 2014) presence of positive as well
as constructive feedback (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996).
e) Physical activity: Presence of physical activity and opportunities for action,
as with hands on learning activities (Prince, 2004).
Overall, the challenge dimension features clear prescriptions for meaningful and
goal-directed action by presenting a task to be completed or a challenge to be mastered. In the classroom, environmental challenge may be stimulated by the assessment of skills, learning, and/or performance. Similar to the research by Cavanaugh
et al. (2008) described above, the challenge dimension is indicative of high expectations for academic mastery, competency, and/or success. The support dimension
represents the provision of resources necessary for meeting challenges, including
competence, emotional, and relational support. These features include motivational
supports for students autonomy, interest, intrinsic motivation, and flow. Key to the
challenged with complex tasks and high teacher expectations; and were also given
the supports to be successful, including competence, motivational, relational, and
social/emotional supports.
Multilevel, cross-classified models (Bryk & Raudenbush, 2002; Snijders & Bosker,
2012) were used to analyze the influence of learning environment dimensions on
student engagement and other aspects of students quality of experience. The variance component of the cross-classified instructional episode factor was significantly
greater than zero, and this significant variation was entirely accounted for by the
combination of all 14 dimensions of the learning environment. The Rasch measure
of optimal learning environments derived from the OLES was a significant predictor
of engagement after controls. A composite of only the five environmental challenge
dimensions as well as a composite of the five environmental support dimensions were
also significant predictors after controls.
In addition, the influence of each dimension of the learning environment was
analyzed separately. Results revealed that the superordinate global rating of environmental complexity (combination of environmental challenge and support) was a
positive predictor of engagement, as were both the global ratings of environmental
challenge and support. Specific dimensions of the learning environment that were
positively related to engagement included support for motivation, importance of the
activity, clear goals, and feedback. Positive relationships were also a significant predictor, but only when the control variable for class/teacher was removed (while still
controlling for person-level factors). Thus, positive relationships were significant predictor of engagement across episodes, but one likely accounted for by the specific
teacher or class (i.e. mentoring see chap.11).
The results suggested that there is significant variation in engagement across
instructional episodes in high school classes, and that properties of the learning environment account for this variation. In addition students engagement, as well as other
markers of quality of experience, were largely accounted for by environmental complexity, in which environmental challenge and support were simultaneously present.
Observations from videos suggested that environmental complexity was frequently
created through structured tasks in individual or small group work with teacher monitoring. When students believed that what they were doing was both important and
had clear goals, they were more likely to interact within the classroom environment
with interest and absorb what is available in the environment. When they additionally
were supported to reach those goals, both emotionally and with timely performance
feedback, they adopted an attitude of excitement, fun, and interest in learning.
8.7 Conclusion
The two lines of inquiry described above sought to measure flow-oriented engagement and then to examine its association with student and learning environment
variables. The empirical studies conducted suggested that characteristics of both students and learning environments can account for variance in engagement and flow in
both Australian and US classrooms.
There are some common themes that exemplify the application of positive psychological theory across the two models of student engagement and the learning
environment. One is the epistemology within the models. Both models were derived
from flow theory and assumed that classroom engagement was related or similar to
flow experiences encountered by learners during learning activities. The capabilitiesexpectations model conceptualizes this as individual student capability for learning
in conjunction with perceived expectations of what is required of the learner. In the
notion of environmental complexity, there is a combination of environmental challenge and environmental support hypothesized to facilitate engagement in learning
activities. The components within the major constructs comprising the two models
are also similar and reflective of the well-being and flow aspects of positive psychology. The consonance becomes stronger when the respective learning environment
elements are included. The importance of positive relationships, intrinsic motivation, emotional support, relational support, positive self-esteem and self-concept are
present in both. Furthermore, application of meta-cognitive strategies such as planning, strategizing, provision of feedback, high expectations and mastery experiences
can be seen.
Another theme is the methodology applied in the validation and understanding
of the models characterized by systematic phenomenology. Such an approach investigates lived subjective experiences, the traditional concern of phenomenology, systematically using empirical tools and statistical analyses to answer targeted empirical questions. Systematic phenomenology is commonly applied in investigations of
flow (Hekter, Schmidt & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007), although less commonly utilized in
studies of classrooms, learning, and academic engagement. Testing the two models
for evidence of construct validity using applied measurement techniques with instruments being developed, administered and data analyzed with statistical modeling
(Rasch, Structural Education Modelling and Hierarchical Linear Modelling). This
approach is proffered as a strength of positive psychology. Seligman (2011, p. 1)
argued his writings [on positive psychology] are believable because of the underlying science, and the appeal coming from the fact that it is grounded in careful
science: statistical tests, validated questionnaires, thoroughly researched exercises,
and large representative samples.
Most significantly from a conceptual and theoretical standpoint is that both
investigations provided evidence of significant unidimensionality among various
properties of engaging classroom experiences. Although both conceptual models
broke these experiences and characteristics of the students and learning environments into component parts (and in conceptually distinct ways), evidence suggests
that these components are not only highly interrelated; they indeed may be part and
parcel of a singular overriding classroom dynamic or quality of experience. It is not
only interesting and important, but exciting, to consider what that unidimensionality
represents. What is that singular quality of learning environments when experienced
as engaging? We only know that if it could be bottled and sold, teachers and students
alike would line up to pay for it.
The research presented does provide a few clues, however. It is likely that learning environments are more engaging, and can be positively changed, when student
capabilities and actions flourish as facilitated by the challenges, expectations and
support in the learning environment. Of course, at this point we come full circle in the
paradox between dimensionality and unidimensionality. So: is it one thing, or many?
We cannot resolve this paradoxical riddle, but we are reasonably confident that positive change and well-being in education will be characterized by flow experiences.
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9.1 Introduction
Modern psychology became an interpreter of the need to integrate the interest in
mental illness and psychic discomfort, typical of the classical psychology tradition,
through an investigation on growth processes and the expression of potential in individuals, groups and organizations. The consolidation of a psychological practice in
negative (Seligman, 2002), oriented towards the improvement of well-being through
reduction or, whenever possible, elimination of psychopathological deficit, has been
put in opposition to a kind of psychology oriented towards epistemological, theoretical and practical analysis of what is positive, that is, positive psychology.
Positive psychology gave a strong and innovative contribution at a theoretical
and applied level: it emphasizes the crucial role of the individuals resources and
potentials, something that previous research oriented towards the analysis of deficiencies, deficits and pathologies did not highlight. This change is a reversal of
perspective: interventions set out to deploy a persons abilities and resources are privileged, rather than the reduction or compensation of personal limits (Delle Fave, Massimini & Bassi, 2011). Furthermore, this perspective brings the relationship between
the single persons well-being and the communitys development to the researchers
attention, suggesting that it is possible working on the quality of personal experience to improve well-being and generate resilience in individuals, societies and organizations (Botella, Riva, Gaggioli, Wiederhold, Alcaniz & Baos, 2012; Riva, Banos,
Botella, Wiederhold & Gaggioli, 2012).
Peak Moments
Passive involvement
Positive and deep affective
states with high emotional
Focus on internal states
Deep fulfillment
Lack of manifest behavior
Flow andSports
Figure 9.1: Flow and Peak Moments (Berger & Tobar, 2007, modified)
skills, his style of play (being ahead of the game) and emotional intelligence, even
though Nowitzki didnt show mature technical skills: the factors noticed by the scouts
are necessary preconditions to enter a state of flow. One year later 1998 , during
the Goodwill Games in New York, the American relay race team (4x400) established
a new world record with a time of 25420. The press described the excellent performance and commented it by saying the athletes were running in a flow state. The term
was used with no uncertainties: everyone seemed to know its meaning.
From that moment on, the study of optimal experience became an object of interest for both people in sports and psychologists, since sport and physical activity can
easily induce a flow state (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Jackson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999).
Psycho-diagnostic assessment
Goal Setting
Proprioceptive Training
D5: Focus
D6: Sense of control
Ideomotor training
9.5.1 Interview
The interview is dedicated to the start of a mental preparation path and it will have to
support the construction of a trusting atmosphere, favored by empathy and assertiveness, in order to promote expression of attitudes, expectations and needs not only in
the athlete, but in the entire surrounding environment.
Self-talk favors the development of self-confidence, of new skills and allows for
correction of wrong automatisms (Muzio, et al., 2012). After the education phase
not differently from the technical and physical ones learning and training have to
9.5.7 Focus
An optimal handling of attentional resources allows the athlete to exclusively focus
on stimuli that are functional to his performance, to voluntarily switch attention on
new information sources and keep focus on the selected stimuli (D5, focus on task).
Some examples: the ability to control pain and exertion, or to tolerate frustration. The
selective systems efficacy increases progressively with experience and competitive
level (Goleman, 2013). Uncontrolled and insufficient changes in the focus of attention
can damage performance. Distractors can be external (spectators, climate conditions,
rivals, referee) or internal (exertion, pain, anxiety, frustration, excessive self-monitoring, continuous control). Among the methodologies used for the development of
attentional control abilities, (Memmert, 2009; Nideffer, 1985, 1992; Nougier, Stein, &
Bonnel, 1991) there are imagery, structuration of aimed training sessions, use of routines.
9.6 Imagery
Visualization techniques or imagery support the voluntary creation of an experience
exclusively mental that reproduces real experience (Moran, Guillot, MacIntyre,
& Collet, 2012; Murphy & Martin, 2002). They can be represented by visual images,
tactile and proprioceptive sensations, smells, tastes and sounds. In evaluation
phase, it is necessary to investigate, for every athlete, the personal meaning that
evoked images have and the emotional reactions that derive from them (Gregg, Hall,
McGowan, & Hall, 2011). The perspective according to which the images are visualized can be internal or external. In the first case, the athlete visualizes him or herself
from an internal angle, as if he/she is actually carrying out the imagined task. In the
latter case, the athlete visualizes him or herself as a spectator. The choice of one or
the other perspective depends from the athletes spontaneous tendency (personality
aspects) and the visualized situation (disciplines specific characteristics). The use
of mental images results in the effective development of focus skills, self-trust, emotional reactions control, technical and tactical skills, and optimization of time needed
to recover from injuries. In applying imagery to mental training, it is useful to observe
some indications, in order to optimize its efficacy (K. A. Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999):
vividness, multi-sensoriality and controllability are essential.
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10.1 Introduction
The family is an exceptional instrument for the transmission of information: within
which both the genetic and cultural heritages are transmitted. This social structure
has taken on varied myriad of forms over the centuries and between different countries, yet some universal traits recur: the tendency for procreation, the safeguard of
the survival of the children, their education according to the main principles of a
given culture. In general terms and from an evolutionary point of view, human beings
and the groups they form and of which they are part (for example, the family) develop
by means of a bio-cultural process that brings an increase in capacity and complexity (Massimini & Inghilleri, 1993; Massimini, Delle Fave & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988).
The mechanism of natural selection (Darwin, 1859) has allowed the human species to
adapt to various environmental conditions and has produced biological and genetic
changes that have led individuals and social groups to build artifacts and cultural
products that can be transmitted through time and are increasingly complex. Once
the genetic fundamentals are set that guarantee the possibility of developing a cultural system as complex as the human one, this evolves with the times, manner and
content that are only partially attributable to the genetic system (Shennan, 2008),
which in turn is likely to be conditioned by the cultural instructions (Rogers & Ehrlich,
2008 see also chap.1).
Some of the issues highlighted by Darwin on the genetic evolution are of particular interest outside of the biological context.By means thereof, the populations
Copyright 2014 Paolo Inghilleri, Franco Cesaro
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and, more generally, the flow of information, have been studied by social sciences
from an evolutionist point of view, yet not in a reductionist manner. In this sense,
the thought of Dawkins (1976/2006, 1982) is particularly interesting. Dawkins argument starts from the consideration that the human species, due to the biological and
cognitive characteristics of its mind, the outcome of evolution, was able to form a
hereditary system of transgenerational transmission of information different from the
genetic one, but just as powerful and lasting: a cultural form.The human mind is biologically able to conceive and build efficient replicators of cultural information that
are transmitted over time because they are deposited outside of the individuals, in
extra-somatic locations.This leads to the development of tools, family systems, social
norms, religions, hunting and harvest techniques, agriculture, art, ideologies, institutions, and so on.These cultural elements, which are veritable basic units of culture,
are defined memes, from the greek mimeomai which means to replicate by imitation
(Blackmore, 1999; Dawkins, 1976). Other authors, on the contrary, use the broader
term artifacts, including in this category both the material (an object) and intangible
(an idea) products of culture (Cole, 1995; Inghilleri, 1999, Vygotskij, 1934/1962).
Dawkins identifies the three characteristics that have allowed genes to become
successful replicators of biological information, even for millions of years, as: copying-fidelity, that is, the ability to make identical copies of the original; fecundity, that
is, the ability to make a certain number of copies; longevity, that is, the ability to exist
long enough to express the previous two properties, namely to make a certain number
of copies faithful to the original.
Dawkins also points out the distinction between vehicles and replicators. The first
are the containers of the information transmitted over time, whereas the latter make
up the information that is actually replicated from one generation to another. The
first is represented, in biology, by the cells of the organism, the latter by the genetic
information contained in the DNA. The first die (from one biological generation to
another), the latter survive (from generation to generation). The author lays emphasis on the following key point, that copying-fidelity, fecundity and longevity are the
three general properties that make successful replicators, regardless of the type of
information involved. In other words, genes are good replicators of a specific type of
information biological information. But other kinds of replicators can be identified which pertain to other types of information. As stated previously, it is precisely
this biological evolution that has led to a second type of replicator. The extraordinary
features of the central nervous system of the human species, the associated symbolic
capacity, language, the ability to build long-lasting artifacts, have, in fact, led to the
creation of memes, a new kind of replicator or unit of information transmission, in
this case, not of biological but of cultural information. Within the memes too, we
can distinguish the vehicle (for example, returning to the topic of interest here, the
organization of a family system) from the replicator (the specific values, ideologies,
and family customs).
different possibilities, following only the biological interest, or only the cultural one,
or both (bio-cultural interest), or paradoxically by denying them both.
The specific relationship between Flow and the memes characteristic of a
company or a business activity has been studied specifically (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004;
Cesaro, 2012). Here however, the issue will be addressed from a different point of
view.We will start by considering that the experience of Flow can occur in the everyday life of an entrepreneur whose family members work in the company, within the
different situations of bio-cultural interest that have been outlined above. In general
terms we can imagine four possible situations from an experiential viewpoint:
entrepreneurs who experience Flow in the family and at work
entrepreneurs who experience Flow in the family and an absence of Flow at work
entrepreneurs who experience Flow at work and an absence of Flow in the family
entrepreneurs who experience an absence of Flow in the family and at work
In the first case the entrepreneur loves their work, links it to purposes higher than
mere earning and finds optimal experiences in the company.Work becomes an important moment in life, able to provide moments of Flow.This, however, also occurs in
the family, while being with the spouse and children in the evening, on weekends,
on holidays, but also at the company if they work there.The person is thus able to
invest psychic energy in an integrated manner on different objects, those pertaining
to family affections and those pertaining to work and productivity. In the second case
the person finds satisfaction and experiential fulfillment in the domestic sphere, at
home, with the children, whereas the work and the company are factors of anxiety,
stress, or in some cases boredom.These states may also affect the relationship with
the family members if they work in the company. The third case represents the opposite situation.The work provides rewarding moments, stimuli, a meaning.The homecoming, the time spent with the children and the spouse outside of work, does not
represent a positive experience, but rather entails a contrary situation. In the fourth
case, the daily life, both at home and at the company, is experientially negative and
an optimal psychological state is never achieved.
It should be emphasized that these four prototypical situations, which will be
discussed later with concrete examples, inevitably involve important psychological
processes, of satisfaction and of conflict. The conflict, since the family and the family
business are bio-cultural entities, can also be understood as the struggle between the
biological interest (the future of the children) and the cultural interest (the future of
the company).In the case of satisfaction, we can expect an increase in the complexity of both the individuals inner Self and of the bio-cultural element represented by
the family and the company.The result will be the attainment, on the one hand, of
psychological well-being and development of economic well-being and development
on the other.In case of conflict there are several options: either the conflict is solved
in a positive way, or it endures with destructive effects on a psychological level for the
people involved, and from the position of the company. However, the four situations
should not be considered static and unchanging, but rather moments of a process
during which the possibility of a change that can enable the creation of moments of
Flow and thus of development, is always accessible.This too will be discussed in the
cases considered below.
The state of Flow of Consciousness, as seen in the first chapter, is composed of
several factors, each of which is necessary, but not sufficient in itself, to bring out the
optimal experience. Summarizing, the factors necessary to achieve a state of Flow
are: clear goals, immediate feedback, balance between challenges and skills, concentration on the situation, absence of self-observation, presence of intrinsic motivation,
merging between action and awareness, sense of automatic control, altered sense of
time, positive affective state, absence of boredom, and lack of anxiety.
We wish, however, to bring forward other variables that must be considered in
the cases of family businesses that will be described below: the presence of a defined
symbolic system, the relationship with the territory, the culture and values shared
in the company and in the family, the characteristics of the physical structures in
which the work is performed (factories, offices, laboratories, warehouses, etc.), existing technologies, and the system of rules upon which the relations rest.
Family activities should also provide clear feedback. [...] keeping open channels of
communication (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 181), to communicate the problems
as well as the achievement of the objectives.
Full sense of ability:
The balancing of challenges and skills is another factor as necessary in enjoying
social relationships in general, and family life in particular, as it is for any other
flow activity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p.181)
Positive affective state:
Csikszentmihalyi states that There are great opportunities for joy and for growth
that can only be experienced in family life (1990, p.184). Unconditional acceptance is especially important to children.
In a company, by contrast, it is more likely that other factors define Flow: the vision,
the dream of an entrepreneur, the partners who are chosen to achieve a goal, the satisfaction for the achievements accomplished, the visibility and recognition of power
in a given market. The very idea of setting up the company or the need to innovate
are often sufficient to feel well-being (Cesaro, 2004) and the entrepreneurs push for
change is often an intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and part of the basis of
optimal experience.
Among the variables that we have most frequently ascertained in the presence (or
absence) of Flow in the family and in the company, the culture should be mentioned
as shield/protection for both systems. As recalled by Csikszentmihalyi:
One of the major functions of every culture has been to shield its members from chaos, to reassure them of their importance and ultimate success (1990, p.11).
In fact, this principle will emerge several times in our discussion, where the hypothesis of the simultaneous presence of strong shared culture and the state of Flow will
be reaffirmed, in confirmation of the statement that:
When a culture succeeds in evolving a set of goals and rules so compelling and so well matched
to the skills of the population that its members are able to experience flow with unusual frequency and intensity, the analogy between games and cultures is even closer (Csikszentmihalyi,
1990, p.81).
10.4.1 Story 1: From the Absence to the Creation of Flow in the Company and in the
The generational transition within family entrepreneurship is very often complex. We remember
a family with two children, a common situation: the first is the one who works, is committed,
follows in the fathers footsteps, gives continuity, in other words, is reassuring, and looks ahead.
The second is the creative one, funny, playful, enjoys life, is always late when and if at work,
full of ideas, friends, travels and a vision of life based on the here and now. Conflicts arise
constantly. The parents suffer, and hope that things will settle down sooner or later. Instead,
the sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and grandchildren get involved: the first complicate things;
the younger ones, on the other hand, give a renewed hope for a better future. The real help that
can be offered to all of them is to try to protect the roots, defend the heritage and speak out.As
in jealousy, resentment, fear, one forgets to tell the motivations for the achievements, mistakes,
dreams and disappointments.
In this situation the optimal experience in the family was affected mainly by the lack
of a positive affective state, not so much because of the parents, but because of the
conflict between the children.At the same time, the differences in values and culture
prevented them from having clear goals, especially at the family level.In addition to
this, the balance between challenges and skills is not recognized by any of the family
members involved.So, with these preconditions, it is very unlikely that an optimal
experience can be fostered in the company, or at least, not until the conflict between
the children is resolved, often with the removal of one of the two.Although the family
of origin was lacking some of the elements to allow the emergence of the Flow, the
latter can still be transferred to the new family, so that the heirs obtain optimal experience thats what happens in the second part of the story.
I never forget that I got as far as fourth grade and even if I wanted to study, my family needed my
job. The roots, the sense of belonging to an identity that was never repudiated, had always been
that fathers strong point. He always carried within himself the customs, traditions and values of
a rural culture.Start early in the morning, work hard and intensely until five in the evening, but
then always remember that life is not just work, but also.These were the rules.After the hard
work comes the family, friends, the Church, physical activity, the participation in rituals, a walk
in the city center. These are simple and concrete activities that the generation of new managers
and young entrepreneurs can hardly feel as being part of themselves, as true and basic elements
of a life organized by the seasons and not by Googles agenda.The company was founded by
the man who had used several occasions spending time on the market, in contact with people,
seizing opportunities and alliances with other people with distinct backgrounds and skills.He
had worked with his wife always beside him, with great tenacity and simple world views: perseverance, tenacity, reliability, a touch of cunning, a lot of luck after many a moment of economic
difficulty; completely normal for someone who was born and has lived in the countryside. International success had never made that man forget the system of rules and the basic values for
which he was recognized and appreciated: a rough person but sincere and reliable.The children,
initially involved in equal manner within the company, in time took two different roads: the
one imitating in his own way the rules and habits of the father, the other preferring a concept
of delegation of the daily management to external managers, enjoying the fruits of the success
achieved by the family.The cultural conflicts soon led to a climate of tension and unease in all
three families, the original one and the two families which the two youngsters had in the meantime created.The final break came when the youngest decided to create a new, creative company
like his fathers, but with modern styles and views.Work rules were clear and communicated
to all employees and customers who shared these goals and values.The well-being flowed year
after year together with the positive results.Within the family that state was enjoyed to the full.
Leaving had been the only way to regain a positive state.
In this case, we can see that the creation of a new company and thus of a new challenge, laid the groundwork for an optimal experience in the company.The feedback
is immediate, the goals are well defined and the relational climate is decidedly positive.All this entails a positive impact on the family as well. In fact, the Flow of the
company in time pours into the new family created by one of the children. In the
families of origin, on the contrary, too many aspects were missing for an optimal
experience to arise, starting from a negative emotional basis, the lack of an adequate
feedback and the inconsistency of common and clearly shared objectives.It is interesting to note that the charge of psychic energy that the Flow involves and the feeling
of well-being connected to it can have consequences on the family too (Cesaro, 2011),
emphasizing yet again the strong bond that exists between family and business.
10.4.2 Story 2: Initial Presence of Flow in the Family, Lack of Flow in the Company
and Consequent Discomfort in the Family as Well
If the core values in the company are declared but it is not possible to put them into
practice and the original values of the parents are adhered to by the family due to the
daily strain experienced at work, the persons, both the old and young, feel bad in
both contexts. Often psychosomatic illnesses emerge; Flow does not occur neither in
the family nor in the company and this creates problems that do not allow the realization of any experience of well-being.
We could not understand why everyone in that family felt so bad: the discomfort could be perceived right in their physique.Body and mind were entwined in a discomfort which was expressed
every time they had the opportunity to talk about it in private with their closest friends and a
few trusted consultants.Theirs was a financially healthy company with a solid position in the
international market, despite having started from nothing, simply as a response to the parents
desire to succeed. They were both eager to redeem themselves from various difficulties suffered
during youth, in their families of origin, due to the uncertain economic conditions as well as
to premature bereavements.Year after year, however, the organizational climate was becoming
increasingly tense and the evident and hidden conflicts wore the relationships out, day after day,
at all levels.The communication between people was mainly handled by the father, who had
always practiced the principle of trust and generosity toward employees and customers.His style
was that of the domineering father apparently able to control and decide everything in the
company and in the family. The mother was a volcano of creativity, dynamic and involved in
every possible initiative, curious and eager to enjoy every opportunity that life had to offer.The
children had a strong bond with the territory, great respect and gratitude for the parents but,
other than executing orders, had never experienced the feeling of autonomy and responsibility.
They eventually developed a lack of confidence in themselves and, gradually, in others.All their
decisions were contradicted every day and the feeling of insecurity and organizational confusion
was in contrast with the image of positivity and confidence that the brand communicated on
the market.Parents and children could not explain their inability to communicate: Sorry if Im
not the son you wanted was the unspoken sentence that echoed every day from the now young
adults who were trying to find compensation for their discomfort outside the company and the
family, moreover without great results. What did we do wrong? was, instead, the recurring
thought in the conversations between the parents, shifting responsibilities and disappointments
to one another for a situation too overwhelming for their capacities and energies, now waning
as time went by. Sell the company?Entrust it to a manager?Run the risk of demolishing it under
the weight of the tensions, sufferings and difficult relationships that had already defiled employees and customers? The feeling was that only a precipitating event, a shock, a bereavement,
could make them stop and bring order and a little peace, perhaps after a period of further suffering.The hope was that a consultant or a very positive event from the outside such as a birth
could light up the gray and painful climate that accompanied their solitudes, furthermore, lived
in gilded cathedrals.
In this case, it is clear that the lack of a positive affective state is a hindrance to laying
the groundwork for Flow to occur in the family.At the same time, the absence of feedback in the family blocks the occurrence of Flow within the company, spreading a
sense of inadequacy and low self esteem among the family members.Consequently,
the balance between challenges and skills does not occur, triggering a high state of
chronic anxiety that often involves psychosomatic illnesses too.All of this has repercussions for the collapse of the intrinsic motivation, as well as the lack of clear goals
in the company as in the family.Finally, the parents lack of unconditional acceptance
of the children was a serious detriment to the development of an optimal experience.
The second part of this case, however, gives new hope: some of the founding values
of the family found acknowledgement in the behavior of the children and endured the
difficulties at least until a partial solution of the problems. This came about when the
social engagement and corporate social responsibility were put into play. The fathers
habit of doing charity in silence, following old-time Christian ethics, was combined
with the desire of one of the children to be engaged as leader of an international solidarity project. In those years there were several proposals for financings to benefit
from tax breaks or promotion. That is how, at a meeting of entrepreneurs, a project for
social assistance was presented, based on the family values and not as a mere business project.Donating a share of our profits is giving meaning to what we do every day:
I have learned this as well from my parents. No advertising would be done.In different
ways, the family styles and values were perpetuated, thus creating psychological and
economic well-being.
10.4.3 Story 3: Flow in the Family, Flow in the Company. The Case of Acquisitions
and the Value of Corporate Culture
In the companies, the continued demand for psychic energy necessary to face the
adjustments of conduct and organization urged by the state of evolution or crisis
within the market, brings the individual to play an active role by committing their own
personal resources and skills, pleased with their operations, focusing their attention
and increasing their state of well-being and their professional background.Or, conversely, the individual may suffer from the situation, passively performing the duties
assigned (in a sort of perpetual state of routine).In the latter case it will not be possible to reach a state of balance, since the person, in the long run, will perceive their
ability to face and solve problems as being higher than required (Cesaro, 2011) and are
therefore unable to reach the Flow state if not stimulated with new goals to reach.So
as to understand the first hypothesis (that of participating actively in the change) we
present a letter written by an employee of a company which, after a difficult acquisition, was able to transfer the family values within the organization.
I gladly remember the first day of work as if it were yesterday. After all, a year goes by quickly but,
little as it is, we have seen things change a lot. The key words today are innovation novelty
change evolution keep up with the times or rather these represent our owner. Visible
changes, starting from the smaller things, up to the real innovations: modern machinery, capable
of giving quality and volume in an increasingly competitive market, and improvements on an
individual and collective level in a group driven to a greater open-mindedness.The ensemble of
all these innovations, represents for us newcomers a strong stimulus for radical change.Not only
did the friend money contribute to give importance to our daily lives, but it was also important
to see growth in a company with the desire to grow.Another key factor in the development of a
company is the family, very much felt in this company, but also from mine and I think from all of
ours.The family means help, understanding, support, security, future, and so much more that
fills the life of each of us. There is one thing I am certain of now: my job which, despite the crisis
and the negative aspects of the reality that surrounds us, is what allows us to live, think and act
more serenely with an eye on a future with better prospects.
It may also happen that the family has all the features that allow the presence of Flow,
thanks to a strong culture of shared values, and is not able to transfer this symbolic
system into the company, often due to real contrasts between different cultures as in
the case of acquisitions or mergers with other companies, or when economic market
crisis bring the small family businesses face to face with financial problems.The creation of alliances and business networks can help overcome the economic problems
but this often drives persons to identity crises that threaten their sense of belonging
and, in the long run, the intrinsic motivation for working well. The case comes to
mind of a company that had absorbed a competitor, whose owners were members of
a family with an equally important history and experience, but with totally different
values, style, and languages. This second company was in serious difficulty due to the
economic crisis, the internal climate was very tense and communication was limited
to operational needs. The relationships between the employees were saddened by
personal events, by bereavements and a lapse into mere production activities. Relations with the outside world were limited to mutual convenience, to the quality of
the product and to times of hard work. Year after year, everything had clouded: the
faces of the persons, the walls of the company, and the results of the financial statements. Yet all the family members involved in the organization appreciated and supported each other, though, outside of work, they had made different life choices and
chosen different values.They met at the factory, but lost sight each other in everyday
life. Perhaps they were incapable of processing their common grief and their difficulties in the market, but most of all they had forgotten how to smile and their juvenile
buoyancy. There was simply no communication, and the collaborators had followed
them down this road. Selling the company not only had the meaning of saving what
could be saved from the point of view of the assets, but it had been an opportunity to
be invigorated with a new energy.But initially it was not so: the two different family
cultures collided and for a couple of years the relations were agonizing and frustrating. Conflicts and organizational confusion would have worn down the entire system,
but for the commitment of the new family in wanting to reaffirm the consistency of
the principles and values that characterized it. In this case we have a family with a
strong positive affective state. The culture (corporate in this case) can effectively be
the shield and the vehicle through which it is possible to protect the members from
chaos, reassuring them of their importance and finalizing the success of their actions
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
10.4.4 Story 4: Flow in the Family, Flow in the Company. Well-Being Created Also by
the Ability to Face and Overcome Grief and Shock.
In the following case we find optimal experience that concerns both the family and
the company mainly through the rituals, traditions, and the symbolic system of
We were all sitting around the kitchen table with the father. In his bathrobe and with the spontaneous smile on his face, hollowed by suffering, his eyes shined as always. The disease had
worn him out only in the body but the spirit was very strong.We were about to start our meeting
to decide the future of that family.The documents and the notary were ready, to ensure the correctness of the decisions made for the future of children and grandchildren.The mother stopped
us and asked for a silent prayer: the only embarrassed person was the notary. He wondered
about the meaning of such a private and intimate rite in a business meeting. But we knew the
importance of rites, those which sanction commitment to the values of that family.The economic
wealth of the family was mostly invested in a group of companies where the daily activity involved persons who could feel they were part of a project, a path to which they clung because they
shared primarily the values that the family represented.Most of the customers and suppliers had
a clear image of the principles, ethics, and the example of that father to whom the children referred, especially in times of difficulty.The climate entailed was predominantly positive.
In this optimal case all the elements of Flow were present in the family and by
means of clear goals, immediate feedback, a positive affective state and a strong
intrinsic motivation it was possible to transfer the optimal experience to the organization as well.The vehicle for this transfer is contained explicitly in the culture, in a
strong system of symbols and in the values shared in the family and company, but
also in the possibility to feel capable and motivated within the roles and moments of
the family, as fathers, mothers and children.
10.5 Conclusions
The case studies reported above suggest that the presence of Flow in one of the two
systems, family and company, may affect the other. It is possible that an optimal
experience in the family influences the company and vice versa; at the same time the
opposite is also possible, that is the lack of Flow can have a negative impact where
Flow has never occurred or has occurred in the past and is failing. Another aspect,
implicit in the stories reported, is pointed out: when Flow is present, there is not only
a positive correlation with the well-being perceived but also a better economic return
and a more relaxed business climate, which helps productivity. The optimal experience, endowed with meaning and source of well-being, brings with it a eudaimonic
idea: personal happiness and development of the organization and of the community
combine in the direction of good work (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi & Damon, 2002)
and good business (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004).
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Jeanne Nakamura5
11.1 Introduction
Positive psychology has been guided by a working assumption that positive change
is possible throughout life. In addition, it has highlighted the positive roles that other
people may play in an individuals life. One kind of interpersonal tie that may contribute to positive change is the relationship between mentor and protg. Indeed,
in its essence mentoring like parenting, teaching, coaching is a developmental
As others have noted, mentoring has been a persistently fuzzy construct
(Merriam, 1983; Haggard et al., 2010). One reason may be the different contexts in
which it occurs. Despite the classical notion of a young person being guided in all
aspects of life by an older, wiser person (Merriam, 1983, p. 169), mentoring often
takes place and has been most extensively studied within particular contexts:
programs serving at-risk youth, graduate/professional education, and the transition
to work and/or organizational membership (Allen & Eby, 2007). Regarding many features (e.g., level of closeness), definitions of mentoring disagree. However, there is
reasonable consensus that across diverse contexts mentorships are developmental
5Acknowledgments. I am grateful to the Spencer Foundation for their generous support of the
Transmission of Excellence Study and to the participants in this research.
Copyright 2014 Jeanne Nakamura
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License
culture can be viewed as the aggregate of a societys symbolically encoded information: knowledge, practices, and tools as well as values, norms, and beliefs. A culture
is comprised of many specific domains: professions, arts, cuisines, technologies,
and so on. The basic unit of cultural information was dubbed a meme by biologist Richard Dawkins (1976) to underline the notion that like a gene in the biological context, an element of culture a theory, song, shovel undergoes processes
of variation and selective survival across generations. Applying this perspective to
the world of work (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, & Damon, 2001), a profession such
as science encompasses three interacting elements: the domain, person, and field.
The cultural domain (e.g., scientific concepts, instruments, values, findings) evolves
over time. The individual in his/her role as student and later practitioner masters the
domain and contributes to it (e.g., presents theory or results). The social field, the
community associated with the domain, preserves or transforms the domains contents. Most notably, its gatekeepers elicit and judge contributions to the domain and
also transmit the domain to the next generation. In the field of science, the former
include funders, journal editors, faculty search committees; the latter include textbook writers, teachers and mentors.
Mentors have traditionally been thought of in terms of the functions that they
serve for the protg (primarily psychosocial and career support; Kram, 1985). But
they can also be thought of in terms of the memes that they selectively make available
to their protgs and the means by which they make them available.
In many lines of work, including the sciences (Zuckerman, 1977), self-conscious
lineages or lines of descent exist. In the study described in this section, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 members of three mentoring lineages
in science. The heads of the lineages were senior scientists identified through
research and by experts in their field as exemplars of the two manifest dimensions
of good work as defined by the Good Work Project (the third, subjective dimension
of good work is workers experience of meaningful engagement.) That is, the lineage
heads work was regarded as high in quality (excellence) and they had reputations
for scientific integrity and responsibility (ethics). Further, their labs had produced
many active scientists. In each lineage, we interviewed the lineage head (Generation
1, or G1), scientists who had trained with the lineage head (i.e., Generation 2s or G2s),
and scientists who had trained with these former students of the lineage head (i.e.,
Generation 3s or G3s).
heads students, who in turn tended to hand the values and practices down to their
own students. Values such as honesty typically are acquired (or not) prior to adulthood. However, a newcomer to a profession may not know how these basic values
translate into professional practice; for example, the handling of data or the reporting
of results.
Alongside these shared good-work memes were lineage signature memes.
That is, each lineage head embodied a different variation of good work. Excellence
and responsible practice were given distinctive expression by each of them, understandable in terms of factors such as background, personality, and priorities. There is
not just one way to do good work. Stated broadly, one of the lineage heads put greatest emphasis on the relation to the domain; one, the relation to the field; and one,
the relation to the wider society. Furthermore, some distinctive memes were embodied but not endorsed by mentors; and some memes were absorbed by students while
others were not.
To illustrate, an eminent cell biologist, Joseph Gall, was viewed by former students as a paragon of integrity and fairness good-work memes like the other
lineage heads. For example, his lab became a haven for talented female students at a
time when women in science were still relatively uncommon and many were encountering discrimination. In terms of his signature memes, he was distinguished in part
by an unswerving focus on the research process itself, which he had loved since childhood. Many scientists of all generations in all three lineages mentioned their intrinsic
motivation as scientists but only in Galls lineage did the mentor tend to be described
as strongly reinforcing this focus on the relationship to the domain. As in the other
lineages, some of Galls signature memes could be traced across generations, while
other practices (e.g., neatness) and personal qualities (e.g., reserve) were not emulated by mentees.
In addition to exemplifying good work, Gall provides an example of the organization of a life around flow (the experiential state of full absorption in an ongoing
activity; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), under conditions the elite ranks of science that
can undermine intrinsic motivation. Whereas many scientists step away from the lab
bench when they become highly successful, Galls daily conduct and larger career
decisions continued to be guided across adulthood by his love of the hands-on work
of science. As he put it, enjoying the process of doing the science as opposed to
being focused only on the goal is very important. The terms in which he described
his work capture his intrinsic motivation: awe and wonder, so enjoyable, its just
beautiful, something new every day, pleasurable. A former student described
Galls reluctance to leave the bench to take a phone call letting him know that he had
received a prestigious honor. His comments make clear that research has been for him
a flow activity. Indeed, when Gall described his work, he noted his ability to concentrate, not to be distracted and observed that he may be very disconcerting to other
people in the degree to which I can concentrate on something and not pay too much
attention to whats going on around me.
individuals possessing greater experience yet not so advanced that they could not
be emulated (cf. Vygotsky, 1978). The environments also amplified the lineage heads
direct impact: their ethos and structure embodied the mentors values.
As was true of the memes that the lineage heads embodied, the means they
employed were three variations on a theme. There appear to be different ways of
mentoring well, just as there are different ways of doing good work. For example,
Joseph Gall fostered an environment that was quiet, harmonious, and nice whereas
another environment was characterized by high energy and constant interaction.
Gall placed greatest emphasis on providing a model for his students. He observed, I
think my major function is to work with [students] enough that they see how I work.
Former students echoed this view of his approach to mentoring, and appreciated the
way of life that he modeled: He was obviously having a good time doing what he was
doing, and he made it look like a very good life.
1999; see Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, for a discussion of the opportunities for change at
the cultural level that are associated with a domains complexity). The more complex
a domain, in theory the greater the developmental opportunities it contains and the
more important mentoring becomes. The experiential model of optimal development
(Rathunde & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; cf. Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) suggests that movement toward higher psychological complexity is favored when optimal experience
(i.e., flow) is able to serve as the selective mechanism determining an individuals
allocation of attention and use of time. Thus a logical place to study optimal development is in cultural domains with which individuals freely choose to engage.
This section draws attention to mentoring in what might be called the third commitments of adult life. These are life domains that hold a place in some individuals
lives alongside adulthoods two normatively primary commitments, work and family.
Common third commitments are religious or spiritual activity, civic engagement, and
leisure. One feature of third commitments is that unlike paid work, they are not as a
category defined by extrinsic rewards and expectations. The profession of science,
the focus of the first half of the chapter, has tended to attract individuals who find
their work intrinsically as well as extrinsically rewarding (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi,
& Damon, 2001) but many occupations do not. Third commitments are likely to better
illuminate the relationship between positive experience (here, flow) and mentored
development. We examine a longtime practitioners account of mentored development in his third commitment, the Japanese martial art of aikido. The case comes
from a set of interviews with serious aikido practitioners (aikidoka) in the U.S. that
explored their experiences as students and/or mentors. The interviews were conducted as part of the Transmission of Excellence Study.
The first half of this chapter adopted a mentor-centered perspective in order to
examine the effects that exemplars of good work have on their mentees. To illuminate
the role of mentoring across the unfolding of an individuals developmental path,
this half of the chapter shifts to a protg perspective. This half of the chapter, like
the first, considers mentoring that is tied to a specific cultural domain and takes the
form of master-student apprenticeship. An evolutionary systems perspective is again
adopted. Given the relative lack of research on this kind of mentoring, rich description
is presented.
The martial arts are thought to afford opportunities for flow in daily life (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) and for positive individual change over time (Saotome, 1989). The following description of a black belt test, based on the accounts of multiple observers and
the student himself, illustrates the experience of flow in the practice of aikido:
[T]he speed and intensity of the attacks increased, and yet there was still a general sense of times
moving slowly, at an unhurried, dreamlike pace. [He] was beginning to get the feeling that he
was not doing anything at all, that the movements of his body were just happening without
thought or effort. The exam continued in this spirit, like a long, hypnotic phrase of music. He
experienced no effort or strain whatever. He had no question that he would be hit or trapped.
If need be, he could go on forever. (Leonard, 2006, pp. 91-93)
The aikidokas commitment to this cultural domain appears to have evolved over
time. By his account, the origin of his commitment was simple: It really fascinated
me. Having been brought along to a class by his brother, something appealed about
it and I just kept doing it. And I never really sat down and analyzed, Why am I doing
this? His first mentor (G2a) influenced him less through his teaching than his stance
toward aikido: it was his attitude of how important it was to him that convinced
me that it could be important. He remains fascinated, two decades later: What are
you going to do today? . The same thing I did yesterday. When are you going to
stop doing that? When it stops being interesting. Of his current, increasingly selfdirected practice he ventured: What fascinates me, I think, is being able to take anything that I run into [e.g., a book, a museum exhibit] and bring it here and explore it.
It never gets boring. His goal is development, continued development. Of aikido,
he suggested that training as a path to improving yourself is the core to it. In his
view, aikidos value is that of the monastic traditions generally: Simple work every
day, and your mind on something higher than yourself.
It appears this aikidoka followed one of three logically possible paths to a life
organized around a vital engagement a source of both absorption (flow) and
meaning (Nakamura, 2001). His path began in initial fascination with the activity
itself, to which meaning then accrued. Alternatively, vital engagement with a domain
might begin purely because of its perceived importance. Or, from the start it might be
perceived as both important and enjoyable. The aikidokas goals for his students are
consistent with having come to be vitally engaged with aikido: The most important
thing that you can give them is a desire to do it. If you can convey a sense of how valuable it is, and how enjoyable it can be, thats all [they need]. If you give them that, the
rest of it theyll do.
embodied it. In addition, both G1 and G2b were models of continued development,
always working on something.
In terms of means of mentoring, the aikidoka was not taught aikido by G1 and
G2b as a highly codified basic skill set that cannot be changed; I dont know that I
would have stayed if I was taught that way. While recognizing that some individuals
are comfortable formalizing and teaching what they know without change, he characterized this as a kind of stagnation that he would find boring as student or teacher.
This said, he makes clear that his learning mode was markedly different prior to
the past 5 or 6 years. Until then, it was Be with your teacher, learn the technique,
develop your skills, listen, steal everything you can, absorb everything you can. To
a significant degree, he perceived development in aikido as technical and dependent
on the mentees willingness to grind.
Comparison with apprenticeship in the science lineages is instructive. As a physical practice originating in Eastern culture, the importance of modeling and direct experience is even greater in aikido and as such the Japanese mentors use talk aimed at
you less. Developing involved getting a feel or tacit sense through extended, close
watching and through doing. A developmental meme that the aikidoka absorbed
from G2a was to be proactive as a student, like the apprentice consigned to sweeping
the floor in an artists studio. He was told by G2a, Dont expect them to give it to you;
steal it. In terms of the balance of challenge and support provided by his mentors,
the early experiences appear shaded toward challenge. G1 could be very severe.
intimidating. A developmental meme that his students reported absorbing from the
aikidoka was take feedback seriously but not personally.
In the science lineages, mutual selection contributed to successful mentorships.
The aikidoka counseled recognizing and avoiding harmful mentors as a part of selection You should evaluate that before you start. However, if someone fascinates
you, then if they say, Were walking this way, then were walking this way for a
while. That is, trust is an essential foundation of mentored development: you have
to trust them and you cant judge.
He was conscious that he absorbed distinct but complementary memes from the
three mentors (you get a little bit from all of them) due to differences in personality, priorities, and length of experience. He echoed the novice scientists who learned
differently from step-ahead peers and from their advisors: when I first saw [G1], he
was so much better than we were that we had no idea what he was doing the complexity of his motions was too great whereas with G2b it was more possible to see
the process.
To return to the notion of development as growth of psychological complexity,
the aikidoka provided a vivid description of the increase in complexity through differentiation and integration modeled by his mentors. He saw them physically take
an idea and work on it for two or three years; he watched it subtly change over time;
eventually he saw it get fully internalized. A measure of its integration was that it
would disappear.
Finally, training methods were among the memes that the aikidoka absorbed
from his mentors. His mentors teaching practices not only influenced him directly,
as a student, they also became examples for him as a teacher. In the same way, many
of the scientists in the earlier lineage study both consciously and unconsciously emulated facets of their mentors approaches to mentoring when they had students of
their own. The aikidoka felt he had integrated (welded together) distinctive aspects
of his mentors approaches as teachers. He expects students to train hard and become
technically proficient able to demonstrate clear, beautiful technique. His students
are perceived by others as serious, kind of severe, with a little bit of an edge
terms he applied to G1 and to himself earlier in their respective aikido careers. As
noted, over the many years of their relationships, the aikidoka could see his mentors
demonstrations evolve as they continued to explore and develop; he has been determined to do the same (stay fresh) as a teacher.
In at least one respect, the aikidoka has modified what he experienced as a
student. Like his mentors, he eschews telling people how to do a technique (put
your foot here). However, he talks more, not to tell his students what to do step-bystep but to draw on his explorations and offer students an idea or image verbally
along with demonstrating a movement. His development as a practitioner has contributed to his teaching. The reverse is also true. Through showing and telling rather
than following tradition and demonstrating without commentary, his own understanding has developed: if I wasnt challenged to try to figure out how to explain it, I
dont know if Id understand it as much.
and then wondering if the gentleness could be generalized to any attacker. Given the
severe style he had cultivated, this meant experimenting physically with restraint,
openness, and gentleness of technique while maintaining its martial quality (were
not dancing). There is clear, immediate feedback in these efforts: when he succeeds
in being powerful but soft, he can press someone large into the ground and they
smile at him. In his view, positive change is real only if it can be enacted on the
physical plane; development occurs from the outside, in. He described his efforts
to achieve greater physical openness as difficult, dramatic, and very personal.
He is pursuing his own stuff; at the same time, G1 in particular is a model of the
integration of power and openness in his own technique and posture. Further, this
integration of opposites is fundamental to the philosophy of aikido. Leonard (2006)
suggested that the flow experience he had observed was a manifestation of this characteristic of aikido:
The genius of Aikido is to transform the most violent attack, by embracing it, into a dance, and
it was the essence of dance we saw there on the mat neither powerful nor delicate, neither
destructive nor creative, neither masculine nor feminine, but all such seeming opposites connected and drawn to a point of balance. (Leonard, 2006, p. 92)
This extended example has described one way that mentored engagement in a third
commitment can provide a sustained source of flow and meaning, and a pathway
to greater psychological complexity. Other developmental pathways and other roles
for mentoring can be envisioned both within aikido and beyond it. In closing, we
examine one set of general implications from the case study.
and integrates increasingly high levels of skill. Their challenges, however, may be
finite; if they are exhausted, the individual can be left with the existential dilemma of
feeling there is, so to speak, no place left to grow. In the aikidokas account, for many
years his efforts were organized by the goals of developing technical mastery and
gaining an increasingly refined feel for the art. His account suggests that at his level
of mastery, boredom is a greater threat than anxiety and increasingly the challenges
he engages are self-generated.
In an extension of simple complexity that might be called multiplied complexity, the fullest form of an activity intrinsically contains two or more fundamentally
distinct sets of challenges, each itself characterized by a graded set of opportunities
for action (i.e., simple complexity). Mastering the activity requires mastering distinct
sets of complex challenges and integrating them. An example is biathlon; athletes
must learn to both ski and shoot, as well as to coordinate the two. Compared to an
activity characterized by simple complexity (e.g., skiing or shooting alone), developmental opportunities are multiplied in activities of this kind, as are possible developmental trajectories. Development can still be summarized as movement up a single
flow channel (one grows as a biathlete), but one can also envision sequential trajectories or switches between trajectories, with a higher-order set of challenges related
to integrating distinct developmental processes, capacities, and performances. In the
aikidokas case, his approaches to both learning and teaching became more complex
over time, he perceived gains in his practice and his teaching as mutually beneficial,
and each mentor provided models of both learning and teaching. Although in these
ways the two sets of action opportunities were harmoniously interwoven, teaching
contained unique challenges and as a teacher he consciously deviated from the practices of his mentors. In other domains characterized by multiplied complexity there
might be less integration and mentors might be influential in other ways. Thus, while
this distinction between simple and multiplied complexity in practice sometimes may
blur, it has the value of suggesting new questions concerning possible developmental
trajectories and the mentors role in supporting them.
Finally, in dialectical complexity an activity requires integrating two sets of
challenges that are not just different they are inherently in tension or indeed in
opposition. Enhancing one of them would seem to undermine the other. Consider
one example, the challenge of maintaining disinterested interest as a professional
(Hughes, 1963). Good work in medicine, law, or education requires passion, which
encourages full and sympathetic engagement with a patient, case, or student. Concurrently good work requires dispassion, which enables impartial exercise of expert
judgment. Dialectical complexity entails integrating the two in professional judgment
and action. One both steps in, and steps back. Dialectical complexity further expands
the developmental possibilities held by domains. It also raises new questions about
the developmental paths presented by cultural activities, such as the question of what
kinds of internal and external resources may be required in order to be both passionate and dispassionate, as in the example above. We have been considering mentoring
as an external resource. For example, mentors may encourage engagement of qualitatively different forms of complexity (G2as urging to integrate tradition and creative
self-expression); they may show through their own embodied example that dialectical complexity is possible (G1s manifestation of openness and power). Concerning
internal resources, the concept of complex personality (Rathunde & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006) mirrors this form of cultural complexity, suggesting that to transform a
cultural domain (i.e., to create), an individual must have the capacity to function in
two opposed ways (e.g., to think divergently and convergently) and the metaskills to
move between them.
Some cultural activities evolve to possess all three kinds of complexity. The
martial art of aikido has provided one example. As detailed in earlier sections, growth
of technical skill illustrates simple complexity and the concurrent roles of learner
and teacher, multiplied complexity; the integration of power with gentleness illustrates dialectical complexity. To draw one example from the sphere of work, investigative journalists must maintain disinterested interest (dialectical complexity), master
and integrate skills of inquiry with skills of communication (multiplied complexity),
and hone each set of skills to a high level (simple complexity).
Complex flow activities are more likely to survive and more likely to lead to psychological growth than complex activities that do not tend to promote flow. Insofar as
the rewards of experiencing flow introduce intrinsic motivation for individuals to stay
involved and to keep moving toward increasingly complex levels of activity, in this
way cultural evolution is affected by psychological selection (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990;
Massimini et al., 1988; Massimini & Delle Fave, 2000). However, complex systems of
all kinds, including cultural domains, are vulnerable to a tendency to break down
into more elemental forms. This fragility may be greatest for dialectically complex
domains, which integrate across apparent opposition rather than only difference.
Dialectical complexity is neither obvious to pursue nor easy to achieve.
Aikido again illustrates this point. A survey of aikido practitioners in Japan and
the U.S. about the meaning of aikido (Dykhuizen, 1996) showed that in the process of
diffusion, the physical component of the domain was transmitted with greater fidelity
than the philosophical or spiritual component. Our interviews suggest that the heads
of some U.S. dojos foregrounded the physical practice while heads of others foregrounded the philosophical principles; heads of some likened aikido to dance while
heads of others likened it to combat training. To the extent that students in these
dojos learn by diligently emulating their mentors, one would anticipate evolution
toward distinct and less complex traditions within aikido, carried by distinct mentoring lineages. Because each variant retains a pathway to increasing (simple) complexity, it may remain an attractive source of flow and personal growth for self-selected
students. Thus, the influence of individuals like this aikidokas mentors, who model
and encourage the integration of apparently opposed capacities, may be particularly
critical to the intergenerational survival of dialectically complex cultural forms.
11.4 Conclusion
The first half of this chapter offered a model of mentoring at work that extends traditional models by focusing on what is transmitted and how. The model foregrounds the
role of mentoring in the selective survival and transformation of the cultural domain
that defines a profession. The society served by a profession relies on the survival
and evolution of the memes that support good work. Lineage research suggests that
mentors play a role in this process of cultural continuity and change by influencing
the development of the next generation.
The second half of the chapter turned to mentoring in one of lifes third commitments, in order to address the role of mentors in positive change more broadly.
Pursuits to which adults regularly devote significant time despite the absence of
extrinsic rewards may be the clearest examples of the ways a cultural domain fosters
individual development during adulthood. An extended case example provided
a detailed account of how the complexity of a cultural domain affects the possible
paths to greater psychological complexity, and the roles that mentors may play along
this path. Analysis of the case suggested that a cultural domain may be dialectically
complex and when it is, the opportunities for personal growth are amplified. Mentors
may encourage and embody the integration of apparent opposites and create environments that foster dialectical complexity. Alternatively, they may cultivate the realization of one pole of the dialectic. Mentors thus may play a crucial role in the intergenerational preservation or dissolution of dialectical complexity.
Future theory and research might seek to identify other key characteristics of cultural domains that affect the opportunities for positive change they afford and the
role of mentors in engaging these opportunities. It might also examine systematically
the mechanisms by which mentors encourage movement toward greater psychological complexity.
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12.1 Introduction
The phrase Wish not so much to live long as to live well can be found in the Poor
Richards Almanac, compiled by Benjamin Franklin more than 250 years ago. Interestingly, many of the phrases in this document relate to the theme of time. This particular phrase raises an interesting question: is it better to live long, or live well? What
does it mean to live well? What is a quality life?
In 2008, the Good Project6 launched a study to explore the concept of Quality7.
We were curious about the meaning of quality, how people judge quality, and if
modern technology influences how people think about quality. In other words,
does the ability to do things quicker or with more information change the notion of
quality? In our study, we sought to understand how individuals with unprecedented
access to resources and efficiencies think about the quality of personal belongings,
consumer experiences, work, and time. By asking what quality looks like, when it
matters, and what experiences shape how people characterize excellence, we wanted
to understand the meaning and value individuals in contemporary societies attribute
to quality.
When we first began our research, we predicted that individuals would define
quality in terms of objects and services. We thought that individuals would list criteria
or identify specific features that marked or defined quality. For example, individuals
might tell us about a watch that is high quality because of its price, the status of the
store from which it was purchased, the country in which it was made, or the specific
features which deem the object excellent. Based on our own research on the Good
Project, which studied the kind of work that individuals do and how they go about
doing it, we wondered if individuals might define quality in terms of their work
in terms of excellence in their respective professions. However, after interviewing
nearly a hundred individuals and surveying thousands of people across the globe, we
were surprised and interested to find that time was the most unifying concept of
quality; indeed quality time is how individuals define and judge quality.
Interestingly, quality time has become a frequently used phrase in contemporary society. Most often, it is utilized when referring to time spent with others time
to deeply connect with friends or relatives (more than a quick phone call or email).
But in order to understand the relationship between quality and time and how
individuals make decisions about the role of quality time in their lives, we set out
to specifically collect data about these questions. After careful analyses, we coined
the term time well spent to describe the kind of activities individuals deem worthy
of their personal and professional investments of time. In the following chapter, we
describe individuals perceptions of time well spent as well as wasted time, and
how individuals bring about optimal experiences through their own meanings of
these terms. In describing our findings, we allude to both qualitative and quantitative
data collected over five years, from individuals in seven different countries. At the end
of the chapter, we discuss how we are using our findings to create applications of our
work, as well as some general lessons about how we as individuals might incorporate
these findings into our own personal and professional lives. Ultimately, we hope to
help people live well and long, but to begin with, we explore what living well actually means.
Literature Review
sectors, and adjusted to consider the advent of the Internet. Although numerous perspectives on quality emerged over these years of history, five well-established orientations emerged including: 1) the transcendent or innate character of a product that
defies exact definition; 2) a product-based orientation that focuses on difference in
elements or attributes; 3) a user-based orientation that assumes that the judgment
of quality is determined by the consumer; 4) a manufacturing-based orientation that
focuses on level of conformity to production, safety and design standards; and 5)
a value-based orientation which uses other constructs such as excellence and consumer trends to determine quality. This final construct is considered in conjunction
with cost and marketability.
Garvin (1985) proposed eight dimensions of quality that bridge the above quality
dimensions: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality. With the rise of a service-based economy, there
also arose a need to redefine quality within this context. Parasuraman, Zeithamel,
and Berry (1985) conducted research identifying further characteristics of quality
services and later developed an instrument (SERVQUAL) that is still a standard for
service quality research (Parasuraman, Zeithamel, and Berry, 1988). These dimensions of service quality include: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, and credibility. With the advent of the Internet, the applicability of these models was once again questioned and further refined. Although many
characteristics of in-person service might also be applied to Internet service, there
were additional issues to consider such as privacy, accuracy, and availability (to name
just a few).
Critiques of the various models surveyed within each of three business realms
(banking, health care and tourism) suggest that the business literature provided
an important but not complete introduction to how individuals consider quality in
their lives. In particular, this initial review suggests that further research into consumer culture may help to inform our understanding of quality in important ways.
Objects may help us to find meaning in our lives and hone our identities. Additionally, goods and services may be experiences that educate and define us, for example
by creating memories (Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, 1981; Gabriel & Lang,
1995; Thomson, 2000; Turkel, 2007). These and other such sources might provide a
useful framework, moving thinking about quality from a user-based perspective
to a human-based perspective. As we consider the meaning of quality within individuals lives, this perspective becomes invaluable. As a result, more recently we
have focused our review of literature on this human-based perspective, and considerations of quality in relation to our understanding of experiences (quality of life,
quality of work) and quality of time.
A number of studies examine how individuals prioritize and spend their time and
consider the implications on quality of life. For example, Masuda and Sortheix conducted a seven-year longitudinal study of two hundred and two MBA students from
6 different universities in the United States. Participants were surveyed about their
family, work and leisure goals, family and work values, as well as life satisfaction.
When family goals are given priority over work and leisure goals, higher life satisfaction is reported (2011). The implications of this study are important for the public discourse about balance between work, family and leisure, offering empirical evidence
for the value of giving individuals more time for their families.
In addition, Mezzich et al. (2011) present an instrument designed to measure
quality of life: the Multicultural Quality of Life Index (MQLI). After an extensive
review of health care and social science literature, 10 dimensions of quality of life
were identified, including Physical Well-being, Psychological/Emotional Well-being,
Self-Care and Independent Functioning, Occupational Functioning, Interpersonal
Functioning, Social-Emotional Support, Community and Services Support, Personal
Fulfillment, Spiritual Fulfillment, and Global Perception of Quality of Life. This
instrument was found to be largely successful in terms of ease of use, cultural applicability, comprehensiveness, and self-ratedness. Its ease of use (can be completed in
2-3 minutes) and comprehensiveness indicates that it could have wide applicability in
a variety ofsettings.
Two studies in particular, described below, examine subjective understandings of
time and are of particular relevance to considerations of time well spent. Both studies
describe the concept of time affluence. The first of these describes how, counter
intuitively, giving time gets you time. The second of these studies focuses on morality, and investigates whether a focus on giving time makes individuals more ethical.
First, Mogliner et al. (2012) describe subjective and objective uses of time. Whereas
objective use of time is limited (24 hours in every day, 60 minutes in an hour), subjective use of time is more malleable. Interestingly, our separate experiments suggest
that giving of ones time in a prosocial manner increases the subjective understanding of time. This subjective understanding is directly related to ones sense of selfefficacy how effective and useful one feels about oneself. In other words, time
affluence can be increased, Spending time on others makes people feel like they
have done a lot with their time and the more they feel they have done with their
time, the more time they will feel they have. (p. 1) The authors compare spending
time on others versus wasted time, spending time on oneself, or gaining some unexpected free time. Among other things, Mogilner et al. questioned whether spending
time on others is experienced as more meaningful considering that deeply meaningful tasks are sometimes characterized as flow experiences (Csikszentmihalyi,
1990). The results reveal that time given to another was not reported as more meaningful that time spent on oneself. This and a variety of other factors suggest that only
self-efficacy explains the effect of giving time on time affluence. The authors also
point out that giving time increases not only subjective time, but in some cases can
also increase objective time if the time given to help someone else saves them time
on a particular task, for example, helping to work on a house renovation (2012). This
study is significant because it suggests that if people spend more time on others, they
may feel less time constrained and more effective. This is positive news in the face of
Literature Review
numerous reports about negative effects of time famine, or the feeling of not having
enough time (deGraaf, 2003; Kasser & Sheldon, 2009).
In a later, second study, Gino and Mogilner (2013) conducted a series of experiments that examined whether a focus on time, as opposed to money, would make
people behave more ethically. Operating with the supposition that those who are
focused on money behave in more self-interested and less self-reflective ways, they
sought to discover if a focus on time would encourage more self-reflection, and
thereby, more ethical behavior. These four different experiments, conducted with
varied primes, tasks and measures, the authors consistently found that moving the
focus to time over money decreases the occurrence of dishonesty. These studies are
significant for our purposes in that they provide evidence that how people spend their
time is related to how they understand themselves.
Finally, we offer a brief look into three additional perspectives to offer a sampling of the current academic discourse around time, which seems to be emerging
as a popular topic. First, Philosopher Mark Kingwell approaches the issue of time
via philosophical discussion about how we spend our leisure time. Using the (only
somewhat) hypothetical proposition of a robot working class (although were not
quite there yet, in the future there may well be robot butlers and/or maids) Kingwell
considers the consequences of creating such a class of workers. What would we all do
with our additional free time? Kingwell distinguishes between the slacker and the
idler. The slacker is someone who avoids work without a commitment to anything
else, whose decisions are dominated by the idea of work as the thing to be avoided.
The idler is someone not interested in work at all, but committed to something else,
which is usually some kind of leisure activity. Through a discussion of economists,
philosophers, and thinkers such as Thorstein Veblen, Karl Marx, and Pierre Bourdieu,
Kingwell explains that the hypothetical liberation that such technological advancements could create, would in fact only free us to try to outdo one another, become
consumers and experience leisure time that must be filled with experiences supplied by the culture industry. (p. 7) If individuals are freed from mundane tasks, to
acquire more time for leisure, this free time will be occupied by choices made from a
different industry the culture industry. As Kingwell explains it, redistributing work
to a robot class is worrisome not because of the effect on the quality of the work but
the impact on the quality of ourselves, because work hones skills, challenges cognition, and at its best, serves noble ends. (p. 8) With this contrast in mind, idle time is
much more worthwhile than slacking or wasting time. In other words, how we spend
our leisure time changes the quality of both our work and leisure experiences.
Second, in a provocative essay, In Praise of Laziness economist and political scientist Joseph Schumpeter (2013) argues for the importance of leisure time.
Schumpeter paints a picture of the business world as too frenzied, filled with too
many disruptions. In particular, he focuses on creative workers and argues that they
require large portions of unbroken time. This description of the overscheduled nature
of todays working world is a regular part of the public discourse. Schumpeters
perspective suggests that our economy may suffer as creative individuals who make
change produce a different quality of work.
Third, in Locust and the Bee, Mulgan discusses the relationship between time
and value, explaining that individuals relationship to time has impact on how we
interact with those around us. Specifically, he discusses the history and future of capitalism, and considers fields such as healthcare, education and green industry. Considering time as another type of currency, he explains, For anyone living rationally
and wisely, the quality of life will always be a higher value than money or consumption (224).
In summary, public and academic discourse is replete with the subject of time,
and increasingly, concerned with how the quality of our life experiences (both work
and leisure) has been impacted with the evolving nature of how we experience time.
As discussed below, our study of quality and time well spent contributes to this discourse as well as providing suggested applications to help and encourage individuals
to structure time in order to allow for optimal experiences in their lives.
9 Specific countries include: Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and the United States
naire was adapted, translated, and disseminated in seven different countries over the
period of two years.10
12.3.1 Methodology
The research on quality was carried out over five years (2008-2013) in four phases.
Each phase built on previous findings, including measures and tools of research as
well as type of participant (age and locale). Here, we outline the specific phases and
our methods used to carry out the work:
220.127.116.11 Phase 1
We conducted 81 in-depth interviews with people in the United States. This phase
included three different groups: 1) interviews with 22 participants (based on personal connections) including children, young adults, and adults about the various
tools they use in their work and whether the quality of these tools had an impact on
the quality of what they produce; 2) based on a snowball method, we interviewed
22 adults to understand how individuals define quality in general; and 3) we used
Craigs List11 in Boston and Seattle to recruit 37 individuals to participate in an interview about their general perspectives on quality, but also more questions about time
and how it factors into individuals overall conceptions of quality. In this phase, all
interviews were conducted in-person or over the telephone with semi-structured
interview questionnaires. Each interviews lasted about an hour. They were recorded,
and the interviewer wrote summary sheets about each interview, including quotes
taken down during the actual interview and checked on the recording.
22.214.171.124 Phase 2
We used the themes from our qualitative findings from the first phase to develop a
comprehensive Internet survey that was administered to a broader population in the
United States. The survey took approximately 20 minutes to complete and included
questions about quality as it relates to objects, time, and work, as well as questions
about the relative quality of digital and non-digital experiences. To recruit partici-
10 There are some limitations to the data collected, primarily that the survey was disseminated
through the Internet, therefore individuals had to have access to the Internet in order to complete
the survey (which does not always accurately reflect the demography of each country). However, we
worked with a consumer awards program, ResearchNow, to recruit the most reflective group as possible in terms of demography. Every person who completed the survey was 18 years of age or older and
was a member of the awards program.
11 Craigs List is a website that posts classified advertisements.
22.214.171.124 Phase 3
We expanded our research to the global context incorporating six other counties,
including Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, and Turkey. After some adapting and translating (when appropriate), we continued to work with ResearchNow to
secure responses from 1000 individuals in each country whom reflected the demographics of each country (as much as possible given that this was a survey that only
could be accessed via the Internet). After a thorough analysis of the data, we met with
a group of country experts, two individuals from each country, who helped us to
interpret and make sense of some of the findings in order to double and triple check
that we put the findings into appropriate context.
126.96.36.199 Phase 4
We interviewed 27 global employees of Faber Castell to pilot test and explore our
findings about time well spent. The participants were located in various countries
worldwide. The employees represented different departments within the company
(e.g. human resources, sales, marketing, management, etc.) who held various roles
within these departments and markets. All interviews were conducted via telephone,
and each lasted an hour (and were recorded).
12.4 Findings
188.8.131.52 Time as an Indicator of Quality
Though we began our study with key questions about quality in general, we found
that time is an essential factor in how people define and think about quality in
their lives. Even though we sought to understand the relationship between time and
quality from the outset of our study, we did not anticipate that the concept of time
would be so important to how people make decisions about quality in their personal
and professional lives. In our first set of interviews with individuals in the United
12 ResearchNow invites individuals who are affiliated with consumer rewards programs to join their
response panel and then draws purposeful samples from the panel to meet client-specific needs (e.g.
recruiting a sample that reflects the demography of a specific country).
13 The Human Development Index is a composite of the countrys social and economic standing.
family and friends as the top response in terms of defining time well spent (33% for
the United States, 27% for Germany). Not only are the rankings of family and friends
lower for each of the countries with a lower HDI (Brazil, China, Indonesia, India,
Turkey), but calling the use of technology for entertainment time well spent is
higher (Brazil: 12%, India: 12%, China: 19%, Indonesia: 22%, and Turkey: 11%; compared to the high-HDI countries of the US [6%] and Germany [7%]).
Interestingly, even survey participants who expressed technology for entertainment as time well spent also indicated that technology can be time wasted time
spent that did not improve the quality of their daily experience. Specifically, technology for entertainment is the highest ranked time waste for every country, regardless of the HDI index, though individuals in countries with the highest HDI are more
decisive about technology as a time sink. Seen in Figure 3, the highest HDI countries
(United States & Germany) are much more likely to call technology time wasted
than the lower HDI countries. However, as is largely evident, more people in most
countries believe that technology is more of a time waste, than time well spent.
This finding shows that despite prevalence of the use of technology, it is a doubleedged sword for many individuals. Through both the interviews and surveys, we
found that the widespread use of modern technologies (e.g. laptop computers, smartphones, tablets) seems to have both a positive and negative impact on how individuals spend their time. As revealed in our interviews in the United States, individuals
praise the ability of technology to keep them connected to friends and family (e.g.
via email or Skype, or other venues). However, surfing the web, or playing games
that do not necessarily keep them connected to others, is considered to be a waste
of time. Moreover, many individuals indicate that technology can lead them to communicate with others inefficiently or impersonally; for example people may be more
likely to send an email to a colleague across the hall rather than having a face-to-face
Perhaps the most revealing data is about how individuals indicated using time
within the last 24 hours in terms of time well spent and wasted time and how they
plan to use future free time. Specifically, at least 20% of the sample in each of the
seven countries surveyed is aware of the fact that they waste their time with technology, and yet do not plan on changing their future behaviors so as not to waste time in
that way again. Furthermore, this finding is represented by individuals from countries
with varying HDIs, across all ages, and ranges of socioeconomic status, and is equally
distributed between males and females (Figure 4). Technology, therefore, presents a
unique challenge for many people: it can provide an efficient and unique way to stay
connected to others and spend time well, and it can just as easily devolve into a waste
of quality time.
Figure 12.4: Percent of respondent who wasted time with technology, AND would spend unplanned
time using technology
deeply enjoy what they are doing whether this be at work or in leisure. In fact,
in earlier work, Csikszentmihalyi notes that flow, most likely occurs when people
are engaged in work, because of the inherent challenges involved. Building on this
work in our study, we also find that meaning and engagement are the most important
factors in terms of how people understand quality. In other words, in defining an
excellent restaurant meal, individuals would talk about the people around the table
and the opportunity to talk with them about topics that matter, rather than the food,
service, lighting, or general ambiance. Similarly, in terms of what makes one pair of
shoes better than another, individuals would comment on whether the shoes would
last a long time (that they were made well) or the experience that led the person to
acquiring the shoes (maybe they purchased them with their best friend, or a pair of
shoes were bought in preparation for a family trip). Price and convenience are rarely
mentioned as indicators or criteria of quality.
Individuals in both our interviews and surveys described experiences in which
they can deeply connect with others as optimal or high quality experiences.
Furthermore, though we had predicted at the outset that individuals may define or
make judgments about quality in terms of external criteria (e.g. price, status, etc.),
we learned that in fact objects are only high quality, if they are durable (last a long
time) and if they represent a piece of someones identity (either the person who owns
the object or the person who gives the object). Individuals also explained that the time
that goes into creating products and experiences can imbue them with meaning and
characteristics that make them high quality in many individuals eyes. In other words,
the care and patience expressed by a barista in a coffee shop (even though the coffee
may take longer to get) or a handmade card or a hand-written note (even though it
may not be letter-perfect), are more important than a final product that might be flawless, but generated by a robot or someone unknown to the client.
Moreover, interviewees explained that they evaluate an object, in part, by considering whether the item helps them spend time in ways that are personally rewarding.
Interview participants clarified that handmade goods are better because they reflect
time investment. We noted with curiosity individuals explanations that computers,
cameras, and mobile devices are not deemed high quality just because of their reliability and features, but also because they help to maintain personal relationships,
enable hobbies, capture and save time for special life moments. A young man who
works in the music industry remarks: Quality objects are things that Ive been able
to get enjoyment out of, thats what makes them quality, they play an important role
in who I am.
However, it is important to note that though many individuals believe in the value
of doing things by hand, they dont always care about the tools they use for such
endeavors. In plain terms, individuals are not particular about the kind of writing
implements they use nearly two thirds of our survey sample responded that they do
not believe that a higher quality tool (such as a pen or pencil) leads to a higher quality
end product (such as a handwritten note). The quality is judged not on the tool or
on the overall aesthetics of the product, but instead, the time and care expressed in
creating something by hand and the enjoyment in creating it. These data indicate that
people care more about the process than the product: the act of writing a note and the
time the act represents, is most important.
Similarly, survey respondents also reported a preference for using traditional
means to carry out tasks, rather than the digital alternatives (reading a book as
opposed to using an e-reader, seeing a painting in a gallery as opposed to viewing it
on the Internet). Interestingly, we found a relationship between the level of development within a country and individuals preference for engaging with digital or traditional media: countries with lower HDI were more likely to want to engage with digital
media as opposed to traditional media. This includes the need to write (by hand)
as opposed to type (on a computer)though nearly 60% of individuals surveyed in
the United States, and 40% in Germany and Indonesia, report regularly feeling the
need to use a writing implement, fewer than 20% of respondents in Brazil, China,
India, and Turkey report ever feeling the need to write by hand, as opposed to using
a computer. Perhaps those who live in countries with less access to technology, value
it more.
viewees (n=27) were universally receptive to the idea of time well spent, and almost
unanimously believed that it is a concept that should be on the minds of all FaberCastell employees.
In general, we learned that employees believe that Faber-Castell is a company
that produces high-quality products and that cares about its employees. Employees
almost unanimously believe in the companys mission to produce the highest-quality
offering in its space, and believe that producing a quality product is top priority. The
understandings we gathered from these interviews gave us the background necessary
to work with Faber Castell on a new initiative to encourage time well spent both
internally and externallyto help employees experience time well spent at work
and ultimately, to encourage customers and clients to spend time well using their
products (writing implements, art supplies, and cosmetics).
We are currently working on a Time Well Spent Award, which will be given to
selected Faber-Castell employees who carry out projects that help others in their
market, department, or office to spend their time well. Through written materials describing the award, we will encourage project ideas to be variedfor example,
some projects may address issues of human resources, marketing, or general administrationbut all of them will be focused on the concept of time well spent. We have
developed a set of criteria for this award which describe categories to evaluate the
project, including 1) working with others (e.g. collaboration, building and sustaining relationships); 2) lasting design (e.g. replicability, eco-sustainability); 3) cognitive
inputs (e.g. reflection, creativity and innovation); and 4) quality (e.g. excellence and
social responsibility). The criteria have been developed to be fairly flexible and brief
in order to be translated into multiple languages and in order to allow for creativity.
We hope that through the award program we will encourage new, innovative thinking
about how to instill time well spent within the company and beyond.
paramount. Spending time with family and friendsbeing around those for whom we
care most is much more important than spending time with technology or running
errands. With this in mind, we asked participants about how we can ensure that students experience quality learning and teaching in school andalso asked them to
think further about how they define quality learning and teaching.
During this two and a half hour mini course we addressed four essential questions: 1) What is quality? 2) Why is quality important? 3) Who decides what quality is?
and 4) How can we encourage quality? We explored these questions through a combination of presentation, hands-on activities, and discussion. Participants grappled
with some of the same survey questions used in our research (to deepen their understandings of our research and to begin conversation about an otherwise overly-broad
topic). Separating into pairs, they interviewed one another using questions also used
in our research, asking them to consider how they spend their time, their judgments
about their work and quality, and their preconceptions about the word quality.
As part of our course, participants also worked with our (currently unpublished)
text entitled Quality Through the Ages. The book is a compilation of 45 examples
of quality over timespanning some of the earliest inventions (e.g. clay and painting) to modern day monuments, professions, and other examples and spheres of
quality(e.g. Shakespeare, tracking of time, the Internet). All of the participants reada
short essay discussingthe Olympics. We initially chose thisparticular essaybecause
we thought that it brought up interesting issues for teachers and because it was timely
(during our first teaching of the course, the Summer Olympics were just about to be
held in London); during subsequent sessions we have returned to this essay because
it inspires excellent conversation and enables educators from many diverse cultures
to discuss their particular perspectives, for example, what excellence, such as the
Olympics, means in their own setting. Specifically, we addressed important topics
such as standards of quality in the classroom in terms of how to judge individual work
and group work and whether it should be subjective or objective and how encouragement toward high quality can lead to too much pressure. Additionally, questions were
raised about how to determine when standards of quality are unrealistic, and whether
educators definitions of quality are value-dependent. Educators also discussed some
of the factors that impact quality work in the classroom, asking themselves how to
encourage young people to work hard for intrinsic (learning for its own sake) rather
than extrinsic rewards, e.g. winning awards, earning high marks and getting accepted
to prestigious colleges and universities).
Interestingly, the issue of time was once again present in the discussion that
emerged. In the classroom, knowing how to judge time is a crucial skill students need
to learn. When is a paper done? When is it time to move on to the next assignment?
Furthermore, the relationship of quality and balance proved a very useful concept
for teachers. Balance related to many aspects of the coursehow to strive for quality
work and at the same time keep balance in our personal lives, how to balance the
double-edged sword of technology use (it helps people be more efficient, but is also
labeled as a waste of time), and how to encourage deep passion and flow in work,
but not lose sight of the ultimate goal.
12.5 Conclusion
Though quality and quality time are regular and significant themes in public discourse, our study revealed interesting findings about the importance of time well
spent and how time is paramount in individuals understanding of quality, especially as it relates to both objects and services. Individuals across the globe have
mixed feelings about the relationship between technology and timewhile they know
that technology can save time, they are conflicted about whether technology is time
well spent or a time waste. In addition, though they value the efficiency technology
provides, individuals most often prefer and appreciate the experience of carrying out
daily tasks with non-digital means (such as writing thank you notes by hand, reading
a tangible book). As discussed earlier, our research has also uncovered potentially
important differences across countries and cultures regarding these findings. Based
on this research and the applications we have developed, we conclude with a series of
suggestions about how individuals can bring about optimal experiences in both their
personal and professional lives.
Place the highest value on your use of time: As described in the research findings above, in general, individuals believe that time is the most important aspect of
quality. As one interview participant commented: Time well spent isa scarce, fixed
resource. How are you investing your time? Its the same way that people think about
money. Twenty-four hours in the day, thats all you getI dont think it takes a lot
of explanation. In other words, treat time as precious (we cant earn more of it), be
careful not to waste time when possible, and reflect upon the kinds of activities that
bring deep enjoyment to help spend time wisely.
Plan well; it takes time to decide how to use time: In our survey, we asked
participants to think about what they might do if they had free, unplanned time, for
example, if a half-a-day commitment was cancelled with short notice. Most individuals reported that they would not spend this free time engaged with activities that
they had earlier (in the survey) indicated as time well spent (e.g. being with friends
and family, hobbies, learning something new). In other words, individuals need time
to plan and think clearly about how to use their time in advance of unplanned time.
Choosing how to spend time last minute, may lead to activities and tasks that
people do not value.
Blend the use of on-line and on-line for activities and connections: Technology is a double-edged sword. It can be seductive and superficially fun, and sometimes
considered to be time well spent, but it is also a waste of time. In other words, using
technology for efficiency, productiveness, and accessibility (connecting with people
around the world) improves our lives greatly, but getting caught spending hours on
Facebook, Twitter, or just surfing the Internet, does not help create optimal experiences. Furthermore, as many of our interview participants explained, technology does
not replace in-person, face-to-face experiences. Seeing a beautiful painting on the
Internet is not the same as travelling to see the same painting in a museum. Reading
a book by physically turning each page may bring more enjoyment than touching an
arrow on an e-reader. Our quality of life is improved by technology, but at the same
time, technology does not (and should not) replace the meaning and enjoyment of
doing things by hand.
Invest your best efforts, not just money: Individuals receive more pleasure from
results when it is clear that time was invested in the product. Time indicates care.
Individuals told us that they would rather stand in a long line to get coffee made by
a barista who knows them well, rather than go somewhere else that might be quicker
(and less expensive). Individuals would also rather go out of their way to pick out
fruits and vegetables from an organic farm, rather than a large market, because they
believe the food was handled and managed with care. These same individuals also
told us that their family would value the meal more if they knew that someone went
out of their way for the food brought to the table. Though money is helpful in many
ways, and gives individuals access and security to many things in life, individuals
derive meaning from objects, services, and work that express effort, care, and time.
Pursue and cherish quality, not mere quantity: Though quality and quantity
are different concepts, in modern society they can be easily confused, and sometimes
inextricably linked. Public perception is that quality reflects quantity or that quantity
is an indicator of qualityhigh quality items are more expensive, things that take less
time are better, status is attained when fewer people have access. However, throughout the process of our research, it is clear that people around the world do not seem
to pursue quantity (or think of the meaningfulness of their lives in terms of this),
individuals want to experience qualitymostly in terms of time well spent. Simply
put, as Franklin stated many years ago, we should focus on the quality, not the
quantity of life.
Ultimately, these lessons bring us back to the opening line of this chapter, and a
final life lesson: Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
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Author Index
Luca Argenton, Psychologist and
Ph.D. candidate at the University of
Milano-Bicocca, he conducts research,
training and consultancy in both
sports and business field. His research
interests include: flow, networked flow,
positive leadership and talent development. With Marisa Muzio, he is the
Project Leader of Flow For Excellence,
the management and the development
of human capital in competitive environments.
Lynn Barendsen, MA, Project Manager
at The Good Project and Executive
Director of The Family Dinner Project at
Harvard University. Since 1997 her work
has focused on investigating and encouraging work that is excellent in quality,
socially responsible, and meaningful to
its practitioners. In educational, familial and other settings, works to develop
responsible, caring and balanced youth.
Marco Boffi, Psychologist, PhD in Psychobiology, he has a research grant in
Social Psychology at University of Milan.
His main areas of interest include: active
citizenship; political participation; application of indicators of well-being; good
administrative practice; decrease. He
works in different local contexts in the
definition of policies for civic engagement of citizens, in collaboration with
policy makers.
Rob Cavanagh, PhD is a Full Professor
in the School of Education at Curtin Uni-
Author Index
Author Index
List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Theoretical precursors of Csikszentmihalyi s Flow theory (from Engeser & Tiska, 2012)
Figure 2.1: The intentional chain (from Riva and Mantovani, 2012a).
Figure 2.2: Layers of presence in human activity.
Figure 2.3: The experience of presence
Figure 3.1: Positive Technology levels (Adapted from Riva et al., 2012)
Figure 3.2: Positive Psychology tools (Adapted from Botella et al., 2012)
Figure 3.3: The Process of Patient Engagement (Adapted from Graffigna et al., 2013a)
Figure 4.1: Phase 1: Meeting (or Persistence).
Figure 4.2: Phase 2: Reducing the distance.
Figure 4.3: Phase 3: Liminality-Parallel Action
Figure 4.4: Phase 4: Networked Flow
Figure 4.7: An example of adjacency matrix, which provides the possible choices of respondents to
the question: Which member of the team do you think most shares your vision?. It is interesting to
note a remarkable centralization of the two most internal members, who probably are the carrier of a
vision which is shared by most of the members of this group.
Figure 4.8: Density and Centralization indices of a group over 11 weeks of collaboration (adapted
from Gaggioli et al., in press)
Figure 9.1: Flow and Peak Moments (Berger & Tobar, 2007, modified)
List of Figures
Figure 12.4: Percent of respondent who wasted time with technology, AND would spend unplanned
time using technology
List of Tables
Table 2.1: The TransTheoretical Model of behavior change (adapted from Prochaska & DiClemente,
1982, 1983; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992).
Table 2.2: The Perceptual Control Theory (adapted from Higginson, Mansell, & Wood, 2011; Vancouver & Putka, 2000).
Table 2.3: Differences between the Rational and the Intuitive systems
Table 2.4: The layers of presence
Table 6.1: Matrix of correlations between flowability and other main variables
Table 7.1: Structural analogies between features of positive participatory settings and dimensions of
Absorption 169, 175
Activity / Action 12, 18, 24, 29, 60, 94, 107, 116,
129, 139, 175
Adolescence 46, 128
Adulthood 166, 170
Aesthetics / Aesthetic preference 91, 94, 101
Aikido 173-4, 180
Artifacts 8-9, 12, 30, 54, 58, 65, 78, 152
Assessment 77, 110, 131, 145
Experience 13, 114, 143
Personality 4, 75, 79-80, 145
Bio-Cultural System 154
Broad-and Built Theory 32, 43-44, 75
Good 148, 153, 164, 184-5
Capabilities Expectations Model 123-5, 133
Care 49
Settings 74, 82
Instruments 76
Capability 144
Learning 126
Negative 15
Challenge 12, 31, 33
Clinical 39-40
Cognitive / Personal / Individual 19, 23, 32,
47, 79, 170, 174
Social / Cultural p. 13-14, 105, 112
Cognition 11, 24, 94
Interpersonal / Social 45, 60, 180
Community 45, 68, 108, 112, 168
Business 154-5, 193
Complexity 1,9, 33,94,109, 128, 172, 178-9
Conflict 11, 20-1, 155
Creativity 14, 44, 53, 59, 79, 177
Culture 6, 10- 12, 53, 98, 152-3, 167-8, 191
Cultural evolution and transmission 7, 10
Cultural Selection 78, 91
Cyberpsychology 40, 48
Cultural /Social 11, 59, 166, 192
Profile 84-85
Therapy 74, 79, 81
Transformation of Flow33, 35, 44
Flowability 3, 91, 100-102
Fluorishing 32, 43, 75, 98, 115
Follow up 148
Generativity 2, 32, 34, 75
Genes 9, 13, 153-154
Gentleness 177-180
Goal(s) 2, 10-13, 20-24, 31-34, 44-45, 47, 57-58,
63-64, 68, 96, 116, 125, 129-130, 132,
144-145, 165-169, 173, 186
Mental 40, 44, 46, 74-77, 98
Positive 76
Hedonic 2, 23, 41-43, 47, 109-112
Hobby(ies) 192, 195, 199
Imagery 144, 147-148
Knowledge 7, 42, 54, 57-59, 94, 107, 112, 117,
124, 129-130, 146, 168, 170
Languishing 75
Learning 44
Optimal 3, 124, 128-129, 131-132
Leisure 84, 173, 186-188, 192, 194
Daily 6, 15, 81-83, 155-156, 174
Meaning / Meaningful 8, 12, 34, 41, 112,
128-130, 175, 186
Personal 194-196
Memes 12, 54, 98, 153-155, 168-169
Mentor / mentoring / mentorship 4, 132,
Good 168
Mindfulness 2, 15, 97
Modeling 170
Peak 78, 139-140
Present 2, 15, 79
Money 26, 107, 110, 161, 187, 188, 199, 200
Motivation / Motivational 6, 10, 55, 115-116, 130
Intrinsic 12, 31, 80, 96, 114, 128, 156, 169
Business / Commercial 152, 162
Creative 65
Social 2, 45, 46, 65, 84
Neurons 15, 24, 60
Neuroscience 14, 18
Participation 2, 13 , 31, 47, 124
Political 3, 105
Social 83
-in-action Model 75
Well-Being 1-3, 39, 47, 74, 91, 108-111, 133, 140,
155-159, 186
Psychological 1, 2, 41, 47, 74, 85, 91, 112,
Good 164, 167-169