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Lookup NU author(s): Maisie Green, Dr Patrick RosenkranzORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2025. Flow theory describes the highly focused state of being absorbed into an activity, causing a loss of self-consciousness and track of time. Research has suggested that this can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand art students’ experiences of flow while making art and to acknowledge any emotional responses they have to this experience. Semi-structured interviews (conducted in 2021) were used to gain an enriched understanding of flow in six art students. The analysis found that all participants experienced flow while making art, and this experience was incredibly similar for all participants. In addition, no emotions were reported while the participants were in the flow state, yet positive emotions were associated with the experience of flow afterward. Interestingly, the participants reported negative emotions toward art without flow, suggesting that flow could be the incentive for wanting to produce art. These findings point to the importance of flow for experiencing happiness, and, unlike previous research, suggest that flow states can play a role in the motivation to make art. Future research should attempt to replicate these finding using other qualitative methods, such as event sampling, and explore the flow state in other activities.
Author(s): Green MAM, Rosenkranz P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Year: 2025
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 17/03/2025
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 07/04/2025
ISSN (print): 0022-1678
ISSN (electronic): 1552-650X
Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678251325392
DOI: 10.1177/00221678251325392
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