Assessing Flow: The Flow Scales
LONG Flow Scales
These 36-item instruments assess the nine key dimensions of flow. These nine dimensions have been described in detail in Csikszentmihalyi's writings about flow. They are: challenge-skill balance, action-awareness merging (automaticity of actions), clear goals, unambiguous feedback (knowing how you are going), concentration on task at hand, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness (lack of worry about what others are thinking of you), a sense of time transformation, and autotelic (intrinsically enjoyable) experience.
The LONG Flow Scales (i.e., Dispositional & State) are particularly useful when a detailed picture of flow experience is important. LONG Flow provides a multidimensional approach that is grounded in Csikszentmihalyi's conceptualization of flow. These scales are the instrument of choice for targeted interventions, and/or when a detailed understanding of the flow dimensions is important.
There are two versions of LONG Flow, which we have named LONG Flow-General, and LONG Flow-Physical. The Long Scales-Physical were the first versions to be developed. They were developed in sport and performance settings, and several items contain words related to movement and performance. Long Flow-General scales have minor wording changes to make them adaptable to a wide range of settings. Users intending to assess people who are performing in a sport or other movement-based context should select LONG Flow-Physical. Users intending to assess people whose activity does not involve movement or some sort of physical performance, should use the LONG Flow-General Scales.