Flow State Questionnaire of the Positive Psychology Lab - PPL-FSQ

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 02, 2017

Last Modified: January 14, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a computerized version of the Flow State Questionnaire (PPL-FSQ: Flow State Questionnaire of the Positive Psychology Lab).

'Flow' = the positive feeling of balance btw. challenges of a task and personal capabilities to tackle it resulting in a state of intrinsic motivation and task absorption.

The implemented procedure is based on:

Magyaródi, T.; Nagy, H.; Soltész, P.; Mózes, T. & Oláh, A. (2013). Psychometric properties of a newly established flow state questionnaire. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being, 1(2), 89-100.

Duration

1.5 minutes

Overview

A 20-item, 5-point Likert scale self-report questionnaire with 11 items measuring subscale "Balance btw.
challenges and skill" and
9 items measuring subscale "Absorption in the task".

Instructions

Instructions are based on:

Jackson, S.A., & Marsh, H.W. (1996). Development and validation of a scale to measure
optimal experience: The flow state scale. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology,
18, 17–35.

They can be edited under section Editable Parameters

Scoring

A 20-item, 5-point Likert scale self-report questionnaire with
• 11 items measuring subscales "Balance btw. challenges and skill": q1, q2, q6, q7, q11, q14, q16, q17, q18, q19, q20
• 9 items measuring subscale "Absorption in the task": q3, q4, q5, q8, q9, q10, q12, q13, q15

Question order in this script (based on Magyaródi et al, 2013, table 3):
• all questions are ordered from lowest numbered question ('1', see table 3) to highest numbered question ('23') (see table 3)
and then renamed q1-q20
• the names of each question contain a) the factor on which the question loads (A vs. B) and b) the original numbering
Example: q17B18 => question 17 "I knew I was able to solve the task" loads on subscale B (Balance) and was originally labeled '18' (see table 3)
(double numbered questions in table 3 (e.g. 1) receive the additional letters A or B => 1A (first in table) vs. 1B (second in table))
• R = reversed scored (applies to two questions on absorption scale)

Summary Data

File Name: ppl_fsq_summary.iqdat' (Inquisit Lab: one data file per participant)

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
total The combined score
balance Points on 'Balance btw. challenges and skill' subscale (range: 11-55)
(the higher the points the higher the greater the reported 'balance')
absorption Points on 'Absorption in the task' subscale (range: 9 - 45)
(the higher the points, the greater the reported absorption)
+ individual responses

Raw Data

File Name: ppl_fsq_survey.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject, group, session With the current subject/groupnumber/session id
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values) - 5 point Likert scales (range: 1-5)
B = questions score on 'balance' subscale
A = questions score on 'absorption' subscale
! reversed scored items are automatically reversed scored
e.g. 'Strongly disagree' is coded as 5 on reversed scored items (see 'q10A8R') whereas it is coded as 1 on regular items
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
pageInstructions Store the instructions presented on each surveyPage