Eight components of flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi developed the idea of "flow" in detail that went beyond simple characterizations of enjoyment or job satisfaction. "Flow" was not just a feeling of well-being, but had eight separate components. 

1) it is the result of a challenging task

2) the person experiencing "flow" becomes part of the task rather than standing outside it

3) it is involved with the pursuit of definite goals

4) it depends on immediate feedback

5) it requires a high level of concentration

6) it gives the user a sense of control without a striving for control, something Csikszentmihalyi called the paradox of control.

7) a sense of self disappears.

8) the sense of time is altered. 

Various parts of this scheme had shown up in other classifications of psychological states, but Csikszentmihalyi's combination of them was unique. "Flow" was not the same as fun, or as joy. It did not depend, as did Maslow's idea of self-actualization, on the meeting of a basic need for security, and indeed it sometimes arose in highly negative situations.

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