Symposium Summary:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is widely recognized for his role in launching the field of positive psychology and for his development of the concept of flow, the state of deep and rewarding absorption that characterizes some of life’s richest experiences. In this session, several of Mike’s long-time collaborators discuss other areas in which Mike made important intellectual contributions to the field. Like the concept of flow, each may be best understood in relation to an underlying perspective on optimal human functioning. We suggest how this work is important for the field’s efforts to understand, advance, and harmonize individual and collective well-being and we present current work that aims to continue advancing our field’s understanding of these topics. Topics addressed in the symposium include the experience sampling method, attention and its role in positive development, psychological selection, and complexity and cultural evolution.

Symposium Presentation 1: ESM: The multiple facets of daily experience and their long-term implications

Presenter: Marta Bassi, PhD

The experience sampling method (ESM) is a powerful tool for the study of experience. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his students developed the method in the 1970s. While his original goal was to find a way of measuring flow, Mike quickly saw the broader potential of the method. In the subsequent decades it has enabled the growth of knowledge in many areas of psychological research. This presentation will discuss the method's use in illuminating the dimensions and implications of subjective experience and will present current ESM research.

Symposium Presentation 2: Attention and the quality of life

Presenter: Jeanne Nakamura, PhD

The concept of flow highlights the close relationship of full, focused, effortless attention to the quality of experience but attention also plays a broader role in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research and writing. He emphasized the universal limitation imposed by having finite attention, the endless claims made on attention in daily life, and the associated imperative to invest attention well in the moment and over time, both individually and collectively. This talk will discuss Mike’s treatment of attention in his research and writing and present current research on attention in daily life and its role in human development.

Symposium Presentation 3: Flow in the lifelong process of psychological selection 

Presenter: Antonella Delle Fave, MD

The conceptualization of psychological selection results from the fruitful collaboration between Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Fausto Massimini. It consists of the lifelong process of active and preferential replication of specific information units available in the biocultural environment, based on the quality of experience and meaning individuals associate with them. Research evidence suggests that, far from being a linear pathway, psychological selection is ceaselessly shaped by life events and circumstances, in which flow experience plays the role of a compass, orienting development through the identification and cultivation of gratifying and meaningful activities.

Symposium Presentation 4: Cultural evolution and complexity

Presenter: Hans Henrik Knoop, PhD

Cultural evolution happens as a consequence of novelty introduced by individuals within domains and selected for by a field of individuals, guarding the domain, or co-creating new domains. As such cultural evolution is an expression of growing complexity. Yet, in order for an increasingly complex culture to be viable, let alone sustainable, it needs to be sufficiently harmonious. Basic assumptions, values and institutions of any culture thus have to be sufficiently aligned for a culture to prevail. Together with Howard Gardner, William Damon, and colleagues, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the Good Work Project seeking to understand the essence of, and conditions for, work that is simultaneously good for the individual (engaging), for the domain (excellent) and for the society (ethical). The insights gained from this project are coming increasingly into focus in a world where currently twice as many countries are moving towards autocracy than towards democracy. This talk presents main insights from the Good Work Project related to positively dealing with current affairs.