Flow theory in foreign and Russian psychology: history, contemporary state of arts and perspectives of development

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Abstract

The article describes the theoretical premises and the logic of the emergence of the Flow concept and its development in almost half of the century. The article presents an overview of the current state of arts in Flow theory being developed by M. Csikszentmihalyi and his followers. Different models of Flow are described, main directions of Flow research are analyzed, an overview of research methods and techniques are highlighted, including qualitative (interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaires, experience sampling method (ESM). The possibilities and directions of further development of the Flow ideas and research, including interdisciplinary ones, are discussed. The ideas and concepts of representatives of modern Russian psychology, most close to the ideas of M. Csikszentmihalyi and their contribution to flow understanding are listed.

General Information

Keywords: flow, near-flow states, autotelic, intrinsic motivation, flow measurement, challenge|mastery balance, development

Journal rubric: General Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2022110314

Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number 20-113-50643.

For citation: Aleksandrova L.A. Flow theory in foreign and Russian psychology: history, contemporary state of arts and perspectives of development [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2022. Vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 152–165. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2022110314. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Lada A. Aleksandrova, PhD in Psychology, Leading Analyst of the Federal Coordination Center for the Provision of Psychological Services in the Education System of the Russian Federation, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology & Pedagogy of Distance Learning, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology at National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-8058, e-mail: ladaleksandrova@mail.ru

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