Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Flow and Happiness in Later Life: An Investigation into the Role of Daily and Weekly Flow Experiences

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fifty-four older adults ranging in age from 70 to 86 years old (M = 77.54) reported daily levels of positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and daily activities for seven consecutive days. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to investigate inter- and intra-individual effects of flow experiences on affect. Higher quality of flow was positively associated with high arousal positive affect (i.e., feeling peppy, enthusiastic, happy), negatively associated with low arousal negative affect (i.e., feeling sad and disappointed), and positively associated with life satisfaction. However, more frequent flow experiences throughout the week predicted lower average levels of positive affect and life satisfaction. Overall, the results demonstrate that flow is linked to the affective experiences of older adults, and that an individual’s overall propensity to experience flow may be influential beyond the immediate effects of a given flow experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asakawa, K. (2004). Flow experience and autotelic personality in Japanese college students: How do they experience challenges in daily life? Journal of Happiness Studies, 5(2), 123–154. doi:10.1023/B:JOHS.0000035915.97836.89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P., & Mayer, K. U. (1999). The Berlin aging study: Aging from 70 to 100. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blazer, D. (2003). Depression in late life: Review and commentary. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 58A(3), 249–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Oxford, England: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandtstaedter, J., & Wentura, D. (1995). Adjustment to shifting possibility frontiers in later life: Complementary adaptive modes. In R. A. Dixon & L. Bäckman (Eds.), Compensating for psychological deficits: Managing losses and promoting gains (pp. 83–105). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., & Bernston, G. G. (1999). The affect system: Architecture and operating characteristics. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8(5), 133. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00031.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Garnder, W. L., & Bernston, G. G. (1999). The affect system has parallel and integrative processing components: Form follows function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(5), 839. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.839.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantril, H. (1999). The pattern of human concerns. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, L. L. (1995). Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4(5), 151–156. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, L. L., Pasupathi, M., Mayr, U., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2000). Emotional experience in everyday life across the adult life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(4), 644–655. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.4.644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1982). Toward a psychology of optimal experience. In L. Wheeler (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 13–36). Beverly Hills: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1988). The flow experience and human psychology. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 15–35). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Figurski, T. (1982). Self-awareness and aversive experience in everyday life. Journal of Personality, 50(1), 15–28. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1982.tb00742.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Hunter, J. (2003). Happiness in everyday life: The uses of experience sampling. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4(2), 185–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & LeFevre, J. (1989). Optimal experience in work and leisure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(5), 815–822. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.56.5.815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. (1993). The measurement of flow in everyday life. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 40, 57–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. Sociological Forum, 2(2), 211–236. doi:10.1007/BF01124164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1997). Measuring quality of life: Economic, social and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 40, 189–216. doi:10.1023/A:1006859511756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. (2003a). Personality, culture and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Scollon, C. N., & Lucas, R. E. (2003b). The evolving concept of subjective well-being: The multi-faceted nature of happiness. In P. T. Costa & I. C. Siegler (Eds.), Advances in cell aging and gerontology (Vol. 15, pp. 187–219). New York: Elsevier Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman Barrett, L., & Russell, J. (1998). Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(4), 967–984. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.4.967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup Poll. (1988). Omnibus, III.

  • Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1986). Persistent high self-focus after failure and low self-focus after success: The depressive self-focusing style. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 1039–1044. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.1039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., Carstensen, L. L., Pasupathi, M., Tsai, J., Goetestam Skorpen, C., & Hsu, A. Y. C. (1997). Emotion and aging: Experience, expression, and control. Psychology and Aging, 12(4), 590–599. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.12.4.590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamer, D. H. (1996). The heritability of happiness. Nature Genetics, 14(2), 125–126. doi:10.1038/ng1096-125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han, S. (1988). The relationship between life satisfaction and flow in elderly Korean immigrants. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 138–149). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., & Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events, and subjective well-being: Toward a dynamic equilibrium model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4), 731–739. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks, J., & Hendricks, C. D. (1986). Aging in mass society: Myths and realities. Boston: Little Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, R. E. (1990). Self-focused attention in clinical disorders: Review and a conceptual model. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 156–176. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isaacowitz, D., & Smith, J. (2003). Positive and negative affect in very old age. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B(3), P143–P152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776–1780. doi:10.1126/science.1103572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. E., & Moen, P. (2002). Retirement transitions, gender, and psychological well-being: A life-course, ecological model. Journal of Gerontology, 57(3), 212–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunzmann, U., Little, T. D., & Smith, J. (2000). Is age-related stability of subjective well being a paradox? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Berlin aging study. Psychology and Aging, 15(3), 511–526. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.15.3.511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labouvie-Vief, G., Hakim-Larson, J., DeVoe, M., & Schoeberlein, S. (1989). Emotions and self-regulation: A life span view. Human Development, 32(5), 279–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, M. P. (1989). Environmental proactivity and affect in older people. In S. Spacapan & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of aging. Claremont symposium on applied social psychology (pp. 135–163). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, M. P., DeVoe, M. R., & Parmelee, P. (1995). Relationship of events and affect in the daily life of an elderly population. Psychology and Aging, 10(3), 469–477. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.10.3.469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of subjective well-being: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3), 527–539. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mroczek, D. K., & Kolarz, C. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(5), 1333–1349. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, W. N. (1999). The mood system. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 169–189). New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2004). The subjective evaluation of well-being in adulthood: Findings and implications. Ageing International, 29(2), 113–135. doi:10.1007/s12126-004-1013-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavot, W., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57(1), 149–161. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinquart, M., & Schindler, I. (2007). Changes of life satisfaction in the transition to retirement: A latent class approach. Psychology and Aging, 22(3), 442–455. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.22.3.442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2005). Does positive affect influence health? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 925–971. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.925.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S., & Bryk, A. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37(4), 433–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). In the eye of the beholder: Views of psychological well-being among middle-aged and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 4(2), 195–210. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.4.2.195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., Dienberg Love, G., Urry, H. L., Muller, D., Rosenkranz, M. A., Friedman, E. M., et al. (2006). Psychological well-being and ill-being: Do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates? Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 75(2), 85–95. doi:10.1159/000090892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salovey, P., Rothman, A. J., Detweiler, J. B., & Steward, W. T. (2000). Emotional states and physical health. The American Psychologist, 55(1), 110–121. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. (2003). The older population in the United States: March 2002. U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Reports, P20-546. Washington, DC.

  • Snijders, T., & Bosker, R. (1999). Multilevel analysis. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spybrook, J., Raudenbush, S. W., Liu, X., & Congdon, R. (2006). Optimal design for longitudinal and multilevel research: Documentation for the “Optimal Design” software. http://sitemaker.umich.edu/group-based/files/odmanual-20060919-v176.doc.

  • Stacey, C. A., & Gatz, M. (1991). Cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal change on the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale. Journal of Gerontology, 46, 76–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voelkl, J. E. (1990). The challenge skill ratio of daily experiences among older adults residing in nursing homes. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 24(2), 7–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voelkl, J., & Ellis, G. (1998). Measuring flow experiences in daily life: An examination of the items used to measure challenge and skill. Journal of Leisure Research, 30(3), 380–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M. (2007). Profiling retirees in the retirement transition and adjustment process: Examining the longitudinal change patterns of retirees’ psychological well-being. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 455–474. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, A. J. (1988). Self-esteem and optimal experience. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 327–341). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witt, P., & Ellis, G. (1987). The leisure diagnostic battery users manual. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Values Study Group. (1994). World values survey, 1981–1984 and 1990–1993. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 263 Wallace Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Amy Love Collins

  2. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston, USA

    Natalia Sarkisian & Ellen Winner

Authors
  1. Amy Love Collins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Natalia Sarkisian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ellen Winner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy Love Collins.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Collins, A.L., Sarkisian, N. & Winner, E. Flow and Happiness in Later Life: An Investigation into the Role of Daily and Weekly Flow Experiences. J Happiness Stud 10, 703–719 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9116-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9116-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation