A computational theory of the subjective experience of flow

Flow—the immersive, engaging feeling of being 'in the zone'—is well known to boost productivity and health, but what causes it has been unclear. A new theory proposes that flow arises from the mutual information between desired goals and the means to achieve them, a measure of how strongly two variables are linked. Across five experiments (four preregistered), increasing this mutual information consistently increased flow and improved attention and enjoyment. The effect held even when controlling for other psychological factors and alternative measures of association. The findings offer a formal, computational account of how the mind generates the experience of flow.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Flow is a subjective state characterized by immersion and engagement in one’s current activity. The benefits of flow for productivity and health are well-documented, but a rigorous description of the flow-generating process remains elusive. Here we develop and empirically test a theory of flow’s computational substrates: the informational theory of flow. Our theory draws on the concept of mutual information, a fundamental quantity in information theory that quantifies the strength of association between two variables. We propose that the mutual information between desired end states and means of attaining them — I(M;E)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$I({M;E})$$\end{document} — gives rise to flow. We support our theory across five experiments (four preregistered) by showing, across multiple activities, that increasing I(M;E)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$I({M;E})$$\end{document} increases flow and has important downstream benefits, including enhanced attention and enjoyment. We rule out alternative constructs including alternative metrics of associative strength, psychological constructs previously shown to predict flow, and various forms of instrumental value. Flow is a desired but elusive state characterized by the subjective experience of immersion and engagement in an activity. Here, the authors develop and empirically validate a formal model that specifies variables and computations involved in the subjective experience of flow.