That work formed the theoretical background of his collaboration with Seligman.

While Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience became a bestseller in 1990 and presented his conclusions based on that database in a warm, humanistic prose style, his other books- The Evolving Self (1993), Creativity (1996), and Good Business (2003)-expanded on his theories in a variety of directions.īecause Csikszentmihalyi’s approach generated a cross-section of daily experience, his analysis paid more attention to experiences of positive states–like enjoyment or creativity–than many of his predecessors. Underlying much of Csikszentmihalyi’s pioneering work was his innovative and groundbreaking use of pagers and questionnaires to produce a database based on people’s self-reports of their ordinary experiences. He soon discovered that this quality he referred to as “flow” applied to people in many different pursuits, whether they were rock climbers, basketball and hockey players, dancers, composers, or chess masters. What these artists were after, Csikszentmihalyi realized, wasn’t the finished work itself but the experience of full immersion and absorption in the act of creation.Ĭsikszentmihalyi went on to study how people attained this state, and in his early work he focused on athletes and artists. They weren’t really interested in the finished painting. They’d finish a work of art, and instead of enjoying it…they would put it against the wall and start a new painting. He was also surprised by what happened when they were done: He recalled in an interview how he would watch painters in their studios and how he was fascinated by their ability to forget everything while working. A bestseller translated into more than 20 languages, the book’s many admirers include business leaders, President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson who, following the team’s 1993 Super Bowl victory, said of Flow that “my team has won because of this book.” Ideas & InterestsĬsikszentmihalyi’s interest in what he later identified as“flow” started during his graduate years at the University of Chicago.

So they set out to develop a focus on happiness, well-being, and positivity with a goal to create a field focused on human well-being and the conditions that enable people to flourish and live satisfying lives.Ĭsikszentmihalyi’s work with Seligman was preceded by his growing international reputation as the author, in 1990, of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

He devoted his life to finding an answer to a simple question: What constitutes a happy life?Īffectionately known on the CGU campus as “Mike C,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi-with Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania-saw something lacking in psychology’s areas of study.

Mihály csíkszentmihályi