PROGRAMA DE DOCTORADO INTERUNIVERSITARIO DE PSICOLOGÍA DE LAS ORGANIZACIONES Y DEL TRABAJO (DIPOT)

2008

Dynamics of Flow: A Nonlinear Perspective
Lucia Ceja & José Navarro

J Happiness Stud
DOI 10.1007/s10902-008-9113-6

Abstract: The aims of this study are to consider the experience of flow from a nonlinear
dynamics perspective. The processes and temporal nature of intrinsic motivation and flow,
would suggest that flow experiences fluctuate over time in a dynamical fashion. Thus it can
be argued that the potential for chaos is strong. The sample was composed of 20 employees
(both full and part time) recruited from a number of different organizations and work
backgrounds. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used for data collection. Once
obtained the temporal series, they were subjected to various analyses proper to the complexity
theory (Visual Recurrence Analysis and Surrogate Data Analysis). Results showed
that in 80% of the cases, flow presented a chaotic dynamic, in that, flow experiences
delineated a complex dynamic whose patterns of change were not easy to predict.
Implications of the study, its limitations and future research are discussed.

Keywords: Flow
Nonlinear dynamics
Work
Experience sampling method
Chaos