Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the most successful contemporary psychologists and his name enjoys great fame, despite the difficult pronunciation. Your theory was called? Psychology of optimal experiences, for the emphasis that this author places on moments of “fluidity” or complete realization.
This psychologist was born in a small Italian village that was once called Fiume, but is now owned by Croatia and named Rijeka, his family was of Hungarian origin and had to live in very harsh conditions during World War II, this led to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to emigrate to the United States in 1956, with only a few cents in his pocket.
- In this American country.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi entered the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Chicago.
- In 1965 he received his doctorate in this discipline and soon after published his book “Fluxo”.
- Which became a true reference of contemporary psychology.
- Currently considered one of the most relevant figures of the so-called “positive psychology”.
“Pleasure appears on the border between boredom and anxiety, when challenges are balanced with a person’s ability to act. “Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. ?
What Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proposes is that people are much happier when they can be in a state of “flow”. This happens when we do an activity that fully captures our attention. For many, this is called “being on the wave,” which is completely engrossed in something and happy at the same time.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described the flow state as follows: [it’s] the fact that you feel fully involved in the activity alone. The ego disappears. Time flies. Every action, movement or thought inevitably comes from action, movement and previous reflection, it’s like we’re playing jazz, is your whole being there and you apply your faculties to the fullest?
It is therefore a state in which all the attention is focused on the task or activity in development, this attention is added to a deep motivation. I mean, wanting to be there and do what’s being done. The result is harmony, balance and, at the same time, a sense of happiness. The fluidity state is also called “optimal experience”.
Csikszentmihalyi conducted a 12-year survey in which thousands of people around the world were consulted and found that, regardless of age, nationality or conditions in which they lived, almost all described the best experiences in very similar ways. To define certain factors present in these flow experiences, they would be:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theses have been applied in many areas. From education to psychotherapy and business. Certainly, almost all of us have lived one of those great experiences in which we “flow. “proposes the author.