Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Essential Antecedents of Flow Experiences: Perceived Meaningfulness of the Activity as Crucial Factor

全面理解心流体验的基本前因：将活动的感知意义作为关键因素

• 批准号: 524737168
• 负责人: Dr. Michael Barthelmäs
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Sozialpsychologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/524737168?language=en
• 关键词: Towards; Comprehensive; Understanding; Essential; Antecedents

Flow experience is a state characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of various experiential components, particularly a high degree of intrinsic motivation and a strong sense of control, which has been frequently associated with increased well-being. Accordingly, it is interesting and important to identify factors that influence the occurrence of this state. The assumption that flow occurs during activities in which individual skills match situational demands has been widely supported. Furthermore, personality traits have been identified that are beneficial or detrimental to the experience of flow. In the present project, we focus on a specific characteristic of the activity and examine its role in the emergence of the flow experience. Our preliminary studies provided evidence that the perceived meaningfulness attributed to an activity has a substantial impact on the flow experience. Following work psychology’s definition, we understand perceived meaningfulness as the subjective experience that what one is doing (at the workplace) has personal significance. In two preliminary studies, we found a positive correlation between flow experience and perceived meaningfulness. This correlation remains robust when we account for (a) the central determinant of flow experience (i.e., the perceived fit between skills and demands), (b) basic personality traits, (c) activities from different contexts (e.g. work and leisure), and (d) ecologically valid measurements in everyday life. These findings will be further explored in the research program described below, which is designed to replicate our previous findings and to complement them with experimental and longitudinal studies to shed light on the causal role that perceived meaningfulness might possibly play for the emergence of flow experiences. In addition, we broaden the perspective on the dependent variable by including behavior-based indicators of intrinsic motivation in addition to self-report measures of flow. This project offers the chance to test a factor that is already considered in various motivational theories in the context of flow. In addition to a theoretical development of Csikszentmihalyi's (1975) flow model, which is now almost fifty years old, our research project also offers the opportunity to provide new starting points for interventions to enhance flow experience and well-being.

心流体验是一种以多种体验成分同时发生为特征的状态，特别是高度的内在动机和强烈的控制感，这通常与幸福感的提高相关。因此，确定影响这种状态发生的因素是有趣且重要的。心流发生在个人技能与情境需求相匹配的活动中的假设已得到广泛支持。此外，已经确定了对心流体验有益或有害的人格特征。在本项目中，我们关注活动的特定特征，并研究其在心流体验的出现中的作用。我们的初步研究提供的证据表明，一项活动的感知意义对心流体验有重大影响。根据工作心理学的定义，我们将感知意义理解为一种主观体验，即一个人（在工作场所）所做的事情具有个人意义。在两项初步研究中，我们发现心流体验与感知意义之间呈正相关。当我们考虑（a）心流体验的核心决定因素（即技能和需求之间的感知契合度）、（b）基本人格特征、（c）不同背景下的活动（例如工作和休闲）以及（d）日常生活中的生态有效测量时，这种相关性仍然很强。这些发现将在下面描述的研究计划中得到进一步探讨，该计划旨在复制我们之前的发现，并通过实验和纵向研究对其进行补充，以阐明感知意义可能对心流体验的出现发挥的因果作用。此外，除了流量的自我报告测量之外，我们还通过包括基于行为的内在动机指标来拓宽对因变量的视角。该项目提供了测试心流背景下各种动机理论中已经考虑的因素的机会。除了对已有近五十年历史的 Csikszentmihalyi (1975) 心流模型进行理论发展外，我们的研究项目还提供了为增强心流体验和幸福感的干预措施提供新起点的机会。