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Fluctuation of Flow and Affect in Everyday Life: A Second Look at the Paradox of Work

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  • Stefan Engeser
  • Nicola Baumann

Abstract

Studies with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) have shown that individuals experience more flow at work than at leisure. This indicates that people enjoy working but paradoxically at the same time leisure activities are preferred (“paradox of work”). We took a second look at the paradox of work by measuring flow directly, including affect measures, and differentiating between active and passive leisure activities. We also adopted a dynamical approach based on the idea that the transitions of experiences has to be taken into account to get the total picture. For the period of 1 week, data of 100 employees with different professions were collected with the ESM (in total 4,504 measurements). In accordance with existing work, we found that flow was high during work. It was slightly (albeit significantly) higher than during active leisure activities and considerably higher than during passive leisure activities. At the same time, negative activation was low during passive and active leisure activities and lower than during work and vice versa for valence (happiness). Thus, leisure activities do have a positive affective quality that could explain why people prefer leisure to work. Regarding the dynamical approach, we tested whether flow during work would lead to higher valence in leisure but could not support this assumption. We discussed the findings and made suggestions for future research. In an additional analysis, we reveal that perceived outcome experience could partially explain why work and leisure experience differed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

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  • Stefan Engeser & Nicola Baumann, 2016. "Fluctuation of Flow and Affect in Everyday Life: A Second Look at the Paradox of Work," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 105-124, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:17:y:2016:i:1:p:105-124
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-014-9586-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alan Waterman & Seth Schwartz & Regina Conti, 2008. "The Implications of Two Conceptions of Happiness (Hedonic Enjoyment and Eudaimonia) for the Understanding of Intrinsic Motivation," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 41-79, January.
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    1. Dave Möwisch & Florian Schmiedek & David Richter & Annette Brose, 2019. "Capturing Affective Well-Being in Daily Life with the Day Reconstruction Method: A Refined View on Positive and Negative Affect," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 641-663, February.
    2. Dwight C. K. Tse & Jeanne Nakamura & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 2022. "Flow Experiences Across Adulthood: Preliminary Findings on the Continuity Hypothesis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2517-2540, August.
    3. Xinyu (Judy) Hu & Larissa K. Barber & Alecia M. Santuzzi, 2021. "Does Active Leisure Improve Worker Well-Being? An Experimental Daily Diary Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 2003-2029, June.
    4. Kai Ludwigs & Philipp Haese & Kirill Sivy & Sören Weber & Rolf Schrömgens, 2021. "Increasing Employees’ Resources Lets them Take on More Demanding Work Tasks - the Case of the Trivago Flowlab," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1305-1319, June.
    5. Karen Bartholomeyczik & Michael T. Knierim & Christof Weinhardt & Gabriele Oettingen & Ulrich Ebner-Priemer, 2024. "Capturing Flow Experiences in Everyday Life: A Comparison of Recall and Momentary Measurement," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1-26, August.

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