The Influence of Flow on Positive Affect in College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine whether engaging in flow promoting activities would lead to increased positive affect (PA). Participants in this study consisted of 57 undergraduate university students who participated in order to receive extra credit in a psychology class. The randomly assigned high flow induction group performed a flow activity for 1 h, and filled out the PANAS and Flow State Scale 2 before and after the activity. The low flow induction group performed a low flow activity for the same amount of time and filled out both questionnaires as well. Findings indicated that participants in the high flow condition reported higher increases in PA and flow than those in the low flow condition, and that change in flow mediated the relationship between group and change in PA.

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