AMS Group C - RESPONSE Flow

For TAMPERE Group C:

Examples of flow as a group experience
‘To go with the flow’, meaning conforming to a group, is not contradictory to a personal state of flow. The loss of ego, that Csíkszentmihályi proposes can also be an extension of the self to a group.

a. Esthetic experience
For example, in the theatre the intense concentration of actors and audience can produce the sensation of flow. Also, a group can break the individual esthetic experience when the group is not ‘in flow’ or the concentration is low.

b. Religious experience
To be immersed in a religious activity with others can produce a communal state of flow. Here, the person ‘is totally absorbed in the activity’ as a personal psycholgical experience, but also ‘going with the flow’ can also give the intense personal flow experiences.

In itself, the experience of flow is neither negative or positive. This contradicts Csíkszentmihályi who regards flow as the key to happiness or well-being. But group flow can be used to achieve a negative or positive goal. For example in religious brainwashing an individual can be caught up in a group ideology where he/she loses grasp on reality.

Posted by: Lonneke, Mele, Catherine