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Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment

Amy Isham Orcid Logo, Tim Jackson

The Lancet Planetary Health, Volume: 6, Issue: 1, Pages: e66 - e74

Swansea University Author: Amy Isham Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00286-2

Abstract

Materialistic values and lifestyles have been associated with detrimental effects on both personal and planetary health. Therefore, there is a pressing need to identify activities and lifestyles that both promote human wellbeing and protect ecological wellbeing. In this Personal View, we explore the...

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Published in: The Lancet Planetary Health
ISSN: 2542-5196
Published: Elsevier BV 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61456
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first_indexed 2022-10-14T15:34:27Z
last_indexed 2023-01-13T19:22:12Z
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spelling 2022-10-14T16:36:13.3431113 v2 61456 2022-10-06 Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074 0000-0001-6089-709X Amy Isham Amy Isham true false 2022-10-06 HPS Materialistic values and lifestyles have been associated with detrimental effects on both personal and planetary health. Therefore, there is a pressing need to identify activities and lifestyles that both promote human wellbeing and protect ecological wellbeing. In this Personal View, we explore the dynamics of a psychological state known as flow, in which people are shown to experience high levels of wellbeing through involvement in challenging activities that require some level of skill, and can often involve less materially intensive activities. By synthesising the results of a series of experience sampling, survey, and experimental studies, we identify optimal activities that are shown to have low environmental costs and high levels of human wellbeing. We also confirm that materialistic values tend to undermine people's ability to experience a flow state. In seeking to understand the reasons for this negative association between materialism and flow experiences, we are drawn towards a key role for what psychologists call self-regulation. We show, in particular, that the tendency to experience a flow state can be limited when self-regulatory strength is low and when people evade rather than confront negative or undesirable thoughts and situations. We reflect on the implications of these findings for the prospect of sustainable and fulfilling lifestyles. Journal Article The Lancet Planetary Health 6 1 e66 e74 Elsevier BV 2542-5196 5 1 2022 2022-01-05 10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00286-2 COLLEGE NANME Psychology COLLEGE CODE HPS Swansea University This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council funded Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (ES/M010163/1). 2022-10-14T16:36:13.3431113 2022-10-06T13:17:27.3825743 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Amy Isham 0000-0001-6089-709X 1 Tim Jackson 2 61456__25460__586671e9229e4a388855259c4f32fa47.pdf 61456_VoR.pdf 2022-10-14T16:34:56.4552418 Output 509878 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2022 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
spellingShingle Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
Amy Isham
title_short Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
title_full Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
title_fullStr Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
title_full_unstemmed Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
title_sort Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment
author_id_str_mv 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074
author_id_fullname_str_mv 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074_***_Amy Isham
author Amy Isham
author2 Amy Isham
Tim Jackson
format Journal article
container_title The Lancet Planetary Health
container_volume 6
container_issue 1
container_start_page e66
publishDate 2022
institution Swansea University
issn 2542-5196
doi_str_mv 10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00286-2
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
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description Materialistic values and lifestyles have been associated with detrimental effects on both personal and planetary health. Therefore, there is a pressing need to identify activities and lifestyles that both promote human wellbeing and protect ecological wellbeing. In this Personal View, we explore the dynamics of a psychological state known as flow, in which people are shown to experience high levels of wellbeing through involvement in challenging activities that require some level of skill, and can often involve less materially intensive activities. By synthesising the results of a series of experience sampling, survey, and experimental studies, we identify optimal activities that are shown to have low environmental costs and high levels of human wellbeing. We also confirm that materialistic values tend to undermine people's ability to experience a flow state. In seeking to understand the reasons for this negative association between materialism and flow experiences, we are drawn towards a key role for what psychologists call self-regulation. We show, in particular, that the tendency to experience a flow state can be limited when self-regulatory strength is low and when people evade rather than confront negative or undesirable thoughts and situations. We reflect on the implications of these findings for the prospect of sustainable and fulfilling lifestyles.
published_date 2022-01-05T04:20:16Z
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score 11.037166

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