I am creating this blog as a place to record and share scientific theory and research – as well as my own thoughts – regarding the intersection of positive psychology and gaming. Historically, video games in particular have been the target of criticism for their promotion of aggression, violence, sexism, etc., but far less attention has been given to the benefits of playing games. So, in this blog I will examine various games and describe the psychological theory behind what makes them enjoyable, educational, prosocial, etc. in order to shed light on a bright spot of gaming that often goes unseen.
Let us begin by reviewing theory related to flow, which is a state characterized by complete absorption and intrinsic motivation (in addition to being this blog’s namesake). Flow theory began in the 1960’s when Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi observed artists at work. He noted that some artists would become so absorbed in their work that they lost track of time and seemed to get more satisfaction out of the process than the actual end result. After further observation of artists and people performing a variety of other activities, Csikszentmihalyi compiled his results on the state of flow (see Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002).
Flow can be achieved in any activity by meeting four general conditions.
– The activity must present some challenge.
– The actor must possess skill relative to the challenge.
– The activity must have clear goals for the actor to pursue.
– The actor must receive immediate feedback regarding progress towards goals.
Importantly, the challenge of the activity and the skill of the actor need to be of similar levels in order to enter a state of flow. Additionally, the higher that both challenge and skill are, the stronger the flow experience will be.
So why should we care about whether an activity promotes flow? In addition to the intrinsic enjoyment reported by Csikszentmihalyi, the flow state has been associated with improved academic performance and motivation (Rodríguez-Ardura & Meseguer-Artola, 2017) . In professional settings, flow increases job commitment (Watson, Taheri, Glasgow, & O’Gorman, 2018) as well as the perceived ease and usefulness of training programs (Cheng, 2013). Flow clearly has benefits beyond simply making an activity more fun.
Some activities are better suited to promote flow than others. Some might be limited by how challenging they can be or by how much skill can be expressed while performing them. Others might be too open-ended, making it difficult to perceive clear goals, and many real-world activities cannot provide reliable, immediate feedback about those goals. However, activities that take place in virtual worlds often do not have these same restrictions. Video games in particular are especially well suited for meeting the conditions of flow. As such, we will be looking at different video games and note the ways that they allow players to enter a state of flow, starting next time with one of the classics: Tetris.
References
Cheng, Y. M. (2013). Exploring the roles of interaction and flow in explaining nurses’ e-learning acceptance. Nurse Education Today, 33(1), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2012.02.005
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow. In Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 89–105). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0018
Rodríguez-Ardura, I., & Meseguer-Artola, A. (2017). Flow in e-learning: What drives it and why it matters. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(4), 899–915. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12480
Watson, A. W., Taheri, B., Glasgow, S., & O’Gorman, K. D. (2018). Branded restaurants
employees’ personal motivation, flow and commitment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(3), 1845–1862. https://doi.org/10.1108/09574090910954864
Game Flow 