Abstract
This chapter reviews both qualitative and experimental research, arguing that some theories surrounding flow are potentially contradictory to theories of creativity. Dual-process thought systems and hypofrontality theories are discussed in relation to creativity and flow, highlighting omissions in research to date, and the need for further empirical investigation of creativity in flow. Four specific areas for future research are proposed: (1) a more in-depth understanding of self-evaluative mechanisms during flow, and the relevance of clear goals and feedback within creative domains; (2) whether flow during deliberate forms of creativity is possible and whether this contradicts hypofrontality theories; (3) the complex relationship between creativity, affect, and flow; and (4) whether and how flow relates to creative achievement.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adee, S. (2012, February 6). Zap your brain into the zone: Fast track to pure focus. New Scientist, 2850. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328501.600-zap-your-brain-into-the-zone-fast-track-to-pure-focus.html?full=true&print=true. Accessed 15 Jan 2015.
Akbari Chermahini, S., & Hommel, B. (2012). Creative mood swings: Divergent and convergent thinking affect mood in opposite ways. Psychological Research, 76, 634–640. doi:10.1007/s00426-011-0358-z.
Allen, A. P., & Thomas, K. E. (2011). A dual process account of creative thinking. Creativity Research Journal, 23(2), 109–118. doi:10.1080/10400419.2011.571183.
Amabile, T. M., & Gitomer, J. (1984). Children’s artistic creativity: Effects of choice in task materials. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10(2), 209–215. doi:10.1177/0146167284102006.
Asakawa, K. (2010). Flow experience, culture, and well-being: How do autotelic Japanese college students feel, behave, and think in their daily lives? Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(2), 205–223. doi:10.1007/s10902-008-9132-3.
Baas, M., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: Hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? Psychological Bulletin, 134(6), 779–806. doi:10.1037/a0012815.
Bakker, A. B. (2005). Flow among music teachers and their students: The crossover of peak experiences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 26–44. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2003.11.001.
Banfield, J., & Burgess, M. (2013). A phenomenology of artistic doing: Flow as embodied knowing in 2D and 3D professional artists. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 44(1), 60–91. doi:10.1163/15691624-12341245.
Beveridge, W. I. B. (1957). The art of scientific investigation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Chen, J. (2007). Flow in games (and everything else). Communications of the ACM, 50(4), 31–34. doi:10.1145/1232743.1232769.
Chi, R. P., & Snyder, A. W. (2011). Facilitate insight by non-invasive brain stimulation. PloS One, 6(2), e16655. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016655.
Chilton, G. (2013). Art therapy and flow: A review of the literature and applications. Art Therapy, 30(2), 64–70. doi:10.1080/07421656.2013.787211.
Clark, V. P., Coffman, B. A., Mayer, A. R., Weisend, M. P., Lane, T. D. R., Calhoun, V. D., et al. (2012). TDCS guided using fMRI significantly accelerates learning to identify concealed objects. NeuroImage, 59(1), 117–128. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.036.
Colzato, L. S., Ozturk, A., & Hommel, B. (2012). Meditate to create: The impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 116. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00116.
Comadena, M. E. (1984). Brainstorming groups: Ambiguity tolerance, communication apprehension, task attraction, and individual productivity. Small Group Research, 15(2), 251–264. doi:10.1177/104649648401500207.
Cseh, G. M., Phillips, L. H., & Pearson, D. G. (2015a). Flow, affect, and visual creativity. Cognition and Emotion, 29(2), 281–291. doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.913553.
Cseh, G. M., Phillips, L. H., & Pearson, D. G. (2015b). Mental and perceptual feedback in the development of creative flow. Manuscript submitted for publication.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (1988). The future of flow. In M. CsÃkszentmihályi & I. S. CsÃkszentmihályi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 364–383). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (2002). Flow: The classic work on how to achieve happiness (Rev. ed.). London: Rider.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M., & CsÃkszentmihályi, I. S. (1988). Introduction to part IV. In M. CsÃkszentmihályi & I. S. CsÃkszentmihályi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 251–265). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
CsÃkszentmihályi, M., Abuhamdeh, S., & Nakamura, J. (2005). Flow. In A. Elliot (Ed.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 598–608). New York: The Guilford Press.
de Manzano, O., Theorell, T., Harmat, L., & Ullén, F. (2010). The psychophysiology of flow during piano playing. Emotion, 10(3), 301–311.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
Delle Fave, A., Massimini, F., & Bassi, M. (Eds.). (2011). The phenomenology of optimal experience in daily life. In Psychological selection and optimal experience across cultures: Cross-cultural advancements in positive psychology 2 (Vol. 2, pp. 89–110). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9876-4
Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: Putnam.
Dietrich, A. (2004a). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow. Consciousness and Cognition, 13(4), 746–761. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2004.07.002.
Dietrich, A. (2004b). The cognitive neuroscience of creativity. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 11(6), 1011–1026.
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 109–132.
Engeser, S., & Schiepe-Tiska, A. (2012). Historical lines and an overview of current research on flow. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 1–22). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-2359-1_1.
Finke, R. A. (1990). Creative imagery: Discoveries and inventions in visualization. Hillsdale: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
Finke, R. A., & Slayton, K. (1988). Explorations of creative visual synthesis in mental imagery. Memory and Cognition, 16(3), 252–257.
Finke, R. A., Ward, T. B., & Smith, S. M. (1992). Creative cognition: Theory, research, and applications. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fox, D. (2011). Brain buzz. Nature, 472, 156–158. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110413/full/472156a.html. Accessed 15 Jan 2015.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Ghiselin, B. (1952). The creative process: A symposium. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gilhooly, K. (1996). Thinking: Directed, undirected, and creative (3rd ed.). San Diego: Academic.
Gilhooly, K., & Murphy, P. (2005). Differentiating insight from non-insight problems. Thinking and Reasoning, 11(3), 279–302. doi:10.1080/13546780442000187.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2013). Rewriting the language of creativity: The five A’s framework. Review of General Psychology, 17(1), 69–81. doi:10.1037/a0029528.
Gruzelier, J., Inoue, A., Smart, R., Steed, A., & Steffert, T. (2010). Acting performance and flow state enhanced with sensory-motor rhythm neurofeedback comparing ecologically valid immersive VR and training screen scenarios. Neuroscience Letters, 480(2), 112–116. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2010.06.019.
Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 995–1006.
Jackson, S. A., & CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (1999). Flow in sports: The keys to optimal experiences and performances. Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Jackson, S. A., & Kimiecik, J. (2008). The flow perspective of optimal experience in sport and physical activity. In T. S. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport psychology (3rd ed., pp. 377–399). Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Jackson, S. A., Thomas, P. R., Marsh, H. W., & Smethurst, C. (2001). Relationships between flow, self-concept, psychological skills, and performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13, 129–153.
Jackson, S. A., Eklund, R. C., & Martin, A. (2010). The flow manual: The manual for the flow scales. Menlo Park: Mind Garden.
Joy, S. P., & Furman, L. (2014, August). Progressive change in formal qualities of art produced over the course of frontotemporal dementia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264662859_Progressive_Change_in_Fomal_Qualities_of_Art_Produced_over_the_Course_of_Frontotemporal_Dementia. Accessed 15 Jan 2015.
Kaufmann, G., & Vosberg, S. K. (1997). ‘Paradoxical’ mood effects on creative problem-solving. Cognition and Emotion, 11(2), 151–170. doi:10.1080/026999397379971.
Keller, J., & Bless, H. (2008). Flow and regulatory compatibility: An experimental approach to the flow model of intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 196–209. doi:10.1177/0146167207310026.
Keller, J., & Blomann, F. (2008). Locus of control and the flow experience: An experimental analysis. European Journal of Personality, 22(7), 589–607. doi:10.1002/per.692.
Keller, J., & Landhäußer, A. (2012). The flow model revisited. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 51–64). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-2359-1_3.
Koestler, A. (1964). The act of creation. London: Hutchinson.
Kotler, S. (2014, July 28). Innovation turbo-charge: How to train the brain to be more creative. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenkotler/2014/07/28/the-innovation-turbo-charge-heightened-creativity-with-flow/. Accessed 15 Jan 2015.
Kozbelt, A. (2007). A quantitative analysis of Beethoven as self-critic: Implications for psychological theories of musical creativity. Psychology of Music, 35(1), 144–168. doi:10.1177/0305735607068892.
Landhäußer, A., & Keller, J. (2012). Flow and its affective, cognitive, and performance-related consequences. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 65–86). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-2359-1_4.
MacDonald, R., Byrne, C., & Carlton, L. (2006). Creativity and flow in musical composition: An empirical investigation. Psychology of Music, 34(3), 292–306. doi:10.1177/0305735606064838.
Massimini, F., CsÃkszentmihályi, M., & Delle Fave, A. (1988). Flow and biocultural evolution. In M. CsÃkszentmihályi & I. S. CsÃkszentmihályi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 60–81). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Merrotsy, P. (2013). Tolerance of ambiguity: A trait of the creative personality? Creativity Research Journal, 25(2), 232–237. doi:10.1080/10400419.2013.783762.
Moneta, G. B. (2012). On the measurement and conceptualization of flow. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 23–50). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-2359-1_2.
Mumford, M. D. (2003). Where have we been, where are we going? Taking stock in creativity research. Creativity Research Journal, 15(2–3), 107–120. doi:10.1080/10400419.2003.9651403.
Murphy, S. (1996). The achievement zone. New York: Berkley.
Nakamura, J., & CsÃkszentmihályi, M. (2005). The concept of flow. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 89–105). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Oliverio, A. (2008). Brain and creativity. Progress of Theoretical Physics Supplement, 173, 66–78. doi:10.1143/PTPS.173.66.
Payne, J. W. (1976). Task complexity and contingent processing in decision making: An information search and protocol analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 366–387. doi:10.1016/0030-5073(76)90022-2.
Perkins, D. N. (1981). The mind’s best work. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Plato. (2009). Ion (trans: Jowett, B.). The internet classics archive (Original work published ca. 380 B.C.E.). http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/ion.html. Accessed 15 Jan 2015.
Privette, G., & Bundrick, C. M. (1991). Peak experience, peak performance, and flow: Correspondence of personal descriptions and theoretical constructs. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6(5), 169–188.
Reynolds, F., & Prior, S. (2006). Creative adventures and flow in art-making: A qualitative study of women living with cancer. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(6), 1–8.
Rheinberg, F., & Vollmeyer, R. (2003). Flow-erleben in einem Computerspiel unter experimentell variierten Bedingungen [Flow experience in a computer game under experimentally controlled conditions]. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 211, 161–170.
Rogatko, T. P. (2007). The influence of flow on positive affect in college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(2), 133–148. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9069-y.
Runco, M. A., & Chand, I. (1994). Problem finding, evaluative thinking, and creativity. In M. A. Runco (Ed.), Problem finding, problem solving, and creativity (pp. 40–76). Norwood: Ablex.
Sawyer, R. K. (2006). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schwartz, B. (2004). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. New York: Harper Collins.
Simonton, D. K. (1988). Scientific genius: A psychology of science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Simonton, D. K. (2000). Creative development as acquired expertise: Theoretical issues and an empirical test. Developmental Review, 20(2), 283–318. doi:10.1006/drev.1999.0504.
Sternberg, R. J., Lubart, T. I., Kaufman, J. C., & Pretz, J. E. (2005). Creativity. In K. J. Holyoak & R. G. Morrison (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning (pp. 351–369). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Suwa, M., & Tversky, B. (1997). What do architects and students perceive in their design sketches? A protocol analysis. Design Studies, 18, 385–403.
Sweetser, P., & Wyeth, P. (2005). GameFlow: A model for evaluating player enjoyment in games. ACM Computers in Entertainment, 3(3), 1–24.
Timmermans, D. (1993). The impact of task complexity on information use in multi-attribute decision making. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 6, 95–111.
Young, J. A., & Pain, M. D. (1999). The zone: Evidence of a universal phenomenon for athletes across sports. Athletic Insight The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 1(3), 21–30.
Zenasni, F., Besançon, M., & Lubart, T. (2008). Creativity and tolerance of ambiguity: An empirical study. Journal of Creative Behavior, 42(1), 61–73. doi:10.1002/j.2162-6057.2008.tb01080.x.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cseh, G.M. (2016). Flow in Creativity: A Review of Potential Theoretical Conflict. In: Harmat, L., Ørsted Andersen, F., Ullén, F., Wright, J., Sadlo, G. (eds) Flow Experience. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28634-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28634-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28632-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28634-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)