Miniature Mindfulness: Finding Spiritual Flow with Warhammer 40,000 Models
Tara B. M. Smith
Religions February 25, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/rel16020121 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 14 |
| Population | Painters of Warhammer 40,000 miniatures |
| Duration | 6-month participant study |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognition Flow Religion Warhammer 40,000 Miniature Painting |
| Key findings | Miniature painting induces a flow state that is meditative, meaningful, and positive for participants' mental health. |
Abstract
Warhammer 40,000 (40k) is the world’s most popular miniature wargame. The game is played with miniatures (small-scale figures made of hard plastic or other materials), which have usually been painted by each individual player. These player–painters typically spend hours in deep concentration painting the models. Drawing on interviews and journal entries from a six-month participant study of 14 painters, this paper explores whether miniature painters achieve a flow state, whether this creates a greater feeling of mindfulness, and how painting impacts their overall mental health. Results from this study indicate that miniature painting is meditative, meaningful, and positive for the participants’ mental health. Using the definition of flow outlined in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (1988), flow is a state of pleasure had when an individual concentrates on a specific task. Csikszentmihalyi, from his research on flow, notes that this state of mind involves both immersion and a sense of transcendence, where the individual temporarily loses a sense of self. This sense of loss of self was explored with an increased attention to the feeling of the body, and situated cognition has been further explored to understand how this connects to painting. While flow is regularly applied to videogame studies, less work has been carried out on this flow state during activities like miniature painting.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.