Flow experience in virtual worlds: Individuals versus dyads

• Main Authors: NAH, Fiona Fui-hoon, ESCHENBRENNER, Brenda
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Flow; virtual worlds; self-determination theory; virtual teams; social flow; Databases and Information Systems; Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/10049; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/11049/viewcontent/FlowExp_VirtualWorlds_pv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Flow is a state of mind in which one is deeply absorbed and immersed in an activity to the point where nothing else matters. Although flow can occur in solitary and social contexts, which context fosters greater flow is unclear. Consistent with self-determination theory, dyads working collaboratively achieved higher states of flow than individuals working alone. In other words, dyads achieved higher states of focused concentration and experienced greater temporal dissociation than individuals working alone. Surprisingly and contradictory to previous findings, dyads did not experience greater enjoyment than individuals working alone. We attributed this surprising finding to the hedonic nature of the virtual world environment which afforded an intrinsically rewarding experience; hence, adding a social dimension may not further increase heightened enjoyment. Our findings provide theoretical and practical implications on the use of virtual worlds for individual versus collaborative tasks.