Flow among introverts and extraverts in solitary and social activities

Flow is a state in which one fully and voluntarily concentrates on an activity at hand (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2003). Recent research has compared solitary flow and social flow using various operationalizations, but the role of extraversion was neglected. Therefore, an Amazon MTurk survey (N = 165) was designed to investigate flow among introverts and extraverts in solitary and social activities. Results revealed no difference in flow frequency between solitary and social activities, but individuals have more intense flow when they are alone. Results also showed that extraversion moderates the relationship between activity type and flow frequency, as well as the relationship between activity type and flow intensity. Implications of the study are discussed.