The Concept of Flow

Nakamura, Jeanne; Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_16

Cited by 1,211 publications

(1,310 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Flow or transpor-tation is another positive emotional experience described by gamers, during which they are immersed in an intrinsically rewarding activity that elicits a high sense of control while simultaneously evoking a loss of self-consciousness (Sherry, 2004). In psychology, flow experiences have repeatedly been linked to a host of positive outcomes for adolescents, including commitment and achievement in high school (e.g., Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002), higher self-esteem, and less anxiety (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993). Experiencing flow or transportation in games may lead to similar positive real-world outcomes; however, this hypothesis remains untested.…”

Section: Emotional Benefits Of Gamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of playing video games.

Granic¹,

Lobel²,

Engels³

2014

American Psychologist

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1,049

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Section: Emotional Benefits Of Gamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of playing video games.

Granic¹,

Lobel²,

Engels³

2014

American Psychologist

1,724

1,049

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Four gaming experiences (boredom, relaxation, flow, and anxiety) out of the eight pointed out by Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2014) are obtained by crossing CA and CE. Table 1 below shows the correspondence between the two-dimensional concentration measure and XPs, where low (CA or CE≤4) and high (CA or CE>4) levels of concentration measures have been distinguished.…”

Section: The Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, according to Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi [29], one major proximal condition to flow experience is being adequately challenged, with gamers’ skills being stretched but not overestimated (DA H &DE H ). However, in this ‘enjoyable zone’ also lies the relaxation state characterized by a pleasant gaming experience, with the skills not being stretched (DA L &DE H ).…”

Section: The Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An over-challenging game (DA H ) is prone to bring on anxiety (‘a region of anxiety as challenge increasingly exceeded capacities for action’), as well as an under-challenging one (DA H ) causes boredom (‘a region of boredom as opportunities for action relative to skills dropped off’(Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi ([29], p.94)).…”

Section: The Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Being enjoyably challenged is the key to an enjoyable gaming experience: an experimental approach in a first-person shooter game

Corcos

2018

Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology

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Applied to video games, Csikszentmihalyi’s work on flow evidences that a positive gaming experience is intrinsically self-rewarding and primarily determined by the skill/challenge balance. A multi-layered measure of enjoyment is built to take these components into account. Gamers were asked to report the concentration-enjoyment they experienced during a first-person shooter game, and to better assess the gap between skill and challenge, the challenge enjoyment was also rated. Along with concentration level, concentration enjoyment is used to build a gaming experience typology that accounts for the self-rewarding component. An enjoyment-based challenge mapping is also drawn up, crossing challenge enjoyment and challenge level. The results show that this integrative enjoyment measure strengthens the causal link between challenge and gaming experience. Most importantly, the findings suggest that challenge or concentration-based enjoyment measures outweigh the standard concentration and difficulty measures as they are more likely to ensure a pleasant and positive experience (flow or relaxation) for the gamers. Indeed, regardless of the reported level of challenge, a gamer is more likely to have a positive experience when challenged at a level she perceives as pleasant. This article emphasizes the importance for game publishers of gathering enjoyment-based concentration and challenge assessments to ensure a positive gaming experience and gamers’ commitment.

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“…Flow is a psychological state that is characterized by a high level of attention with a low sense of effort, low self-awareness, and a sense of control and enjoyment, and occurs during the performance of tasks that are challenging but matched in difficulty to the skill level of the individual [2,3]. The state of flow has been studied in a wide range of tasks, from chess playing to rock climbing, and is described in remarkably similar terms across activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%