IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v25y2024i6d10.1007_s10902-024-00776-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capturing Flow Experiences in Everyday Life: A Comparison of Recall and Momentary Measurement

Author

Listed:
  • Karen Bartholomeyczik

    (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
    New York University)

  • Michael T. Knierim

    (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

  • Christof Weinhardt

    (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

  • Gabriele Oettingen

    (New York University
    Zeppelin University)

  • Ulrich Ebner-Priemer

    (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
    Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University)

Abstract

In a real-life study using time-based ambulatory assessment, we investigated how to unobtrusively capture within-subject and between-subject variations in flow in everyday life. We compared two observation approaches, momentary states, and coverage, which differed in the reference of flow reports and sampling frequency. Depending on condition, participants (N = 38) answered either ten or five queries per day that referred to the current state or the last two hours (n = 1442 observations in total). We found no effect of either approach on compliance, flow intensity, or flow reports over time. However, the approaches differed with respect to flow probability reports, within-subject variability in flow reports, and perceived burden. In addition, we introduced a reduced three-item version of the Flow Short Scale. Our results indicate acceptable to good reliability as well as concurrent, convergent and discriminant validity of this scale. Based on our findings, we recommend that the choice of observation approach for capturing everyday flow depends on the outcome of interest, the targeted comparison within- or between-subjects, and the expected task variability of the participants. Limitations regarding our sampling procedure and the retrospective assessment of flow experiences are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Bartholomeyczik & Michael T. Knierim & Christof Weinhardt & Gabriele Oettingen & Ulrich Ebner-Priemer, 2024. "Capturing Flow Experiences in Everyday Life: A Comparison of Recall and Momentary Measurement," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1-26, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:25:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00776-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00776-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00776-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-024-00776-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ed Diener & Louis Tay, 2014. "Review of the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 255-267, March.
    2. Stefan Engeser & Nicola Baumann, 2016. "Fluctuation of Flow and Affect in Everyday Life: A Second Look at the Paradox of Work," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 105-124, February.
    3. Rob Eisinga & Manfred Grotenhuis & Ben Pelzer, 2013. "The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(4), pages 637-642, August.
    4. Amy Collins & Natalia Sarkisian & Ellen Winner, 2009. "Flow and Happiness in Later Life: An Investigation into the Role of Daily and Weekly Flow Experiences," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 703-719, December.
    5. Céline Bricteux & Jose Navarro & Lucía Ceja & Guillaume Fuerst, 2017. "Interest as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Challenge/Skills Balance and Flow at Work: An Analysis at Within-Individual Level," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 861-880, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dwight C. K. Tse & Jeanne Nakamura & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 2022. "Flow Experiences Across Adulthood: Preliminary Findings on the Continuity Hypothesis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2517-2540, August.
    2. Dave Möwisch & Florian Schmiedek & David Richter & Annette Brose, 2019. "Capturing Affective Well-Being in Daily Life with the Day Reconstruction Method: A Refined View on Positive and Negative Affect," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 641-663, February.
    3. Lyn M. Van Swol & Paul Hangsan Ahn & Andrew Prahl & Zhenxing Gong, 2021. "Language Use in Group Discourse and Its Relationship to Group Processes," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440211, March.
    4. Lingbo Fu & Chengyu Xiong & Min Xu, 2023. "Influential Factors Affecting Tea Tourists’ Behavior Intention in Cultural Ecosystem Services: An Affordance Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Yixuan Liu & Liumeng Li & Guomei Miao & Xinyan Yang & Yinghui Wu & Yanling Xu & Yonghong Gao & Yongzhi Zhan & Yiwei Zhong & Shujuan Yang, 2021. "Relationship between Children’s Intergenerational Emotional Support and Subjective Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: The Mediation Role of the Sense of Social Fairness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Ferdiye Çobanoğulları & Merve Çıldır, 2024. "Exploring the relationship between flow experience and passive learning resistance in learning German," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Francesco La Barbera & Mario Amato & Roberta Riverso & Fabio Verneau, 2022. "Social Emotions and Good Provider Norms in Tackling Household Food Waste: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Isabel Dias & Alexandra Lopes & José Azevedo & Ana Sofia Maia & João Santos Baptista, 2022. "Cleaning in Times of Pandemic: Perceptions of COVID-19 Risks among Workers in Facility Services," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, June.
    9. Kong Juan & Kepili Ema Izati Binti Zull, 2023. "A Survey Analysis: The Current Real Estate Marketing Situation in the China Greater Bay Area in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 31(3), pages 1-19, September.
    10. Lise A. Oortmerssen & Marjolein C. J. Caniëls & Marcel F. Assen, 2020. "Coping with Work Stressors and Paving the Way for Flow: Challenge and Hindrance Demands, Humor, and Cynicism," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2257-2277, August.
    11. Karen Birna Thorvaldsdottir & Sigridur Halldorsdottir & Denise M. Saint Arnault, 2021. "Understanding and Measuring Help-Seeking Barriers among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: Mixed-Methods Validation Study of the Icelandic Barriers to Help-Seeking for Trauma (BHS-TR) Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Frauke Sander & Ulrich Föhl & Nadine Walter & Vera Demmer, 2021. "Green or social? An analysis of environmental and social sustainability advertising and its impact on brand personality, credibility and attitude," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(4), pages 429-445, July.
    13. Leary, R. Bret & Vann, Richard J. & Mittelstaedt, John D. & Murphy, Patrick E. & Sherry,, John F., 2014. "Changing the marketplace one behavior at a time: Perceived marketplace influence and sustainable consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1953-1958.
    14. Xiufang Jiang & Jianxiong Qin & Jianguo Gao & Mollie G Gossage, 2022. "The mediation of perceived risk’s impact on destination image and travel intention: An empirical study of Chengdu, China during COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, January.
    15. Stefan Hoffmann & Tom Joerß & Robert Mai & Payam Akbar, 2022. "Augmented reality-delivered product information at the point of sale: when information controllability backfires," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 743-776, July.
    16. Andrew L. Kun & Raffaella Sadun & Orit Shaer & Thomaz Teodorovicz, 2022. "Multitasking while driving: a time use study of commuting knowledge workers to access current and future uses," CEP Discussion Papers dp1841, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    17. Simon Fauser & David Agola, 2021. "The influence of regional Italian images on consumer behaviour: a study of consumers in Germany," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2021(1), pages 129-158, June.
    18. Leonhard K. Lades & Kate Laffan & Till O. Weber, 2020. "Do economic preferences predict pro-environmental behaviour?," Working Papers 202003, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    19. Bach Q. Ho & Kunio Shirahada, 2022. "Older People’s Knowledge Creation Motivations for Sustainable Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    20. Tobias Wolf & Maria Metzing & Richard E. Lucas, 2022. "Experienced Well-Being and Labor Market Status: The Role of Pleasure and Meaning," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 691-721, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:25:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00776-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.