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In the mood for flow: mood intervention effects on flow experiences
Birte A K Thissen1, Mark Lustig1, Moritz Burghardt1
1Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Cognition & Emotion
|February 9, 2026
Summary
Inducing positive moods can increase flow states, enhancing engagement in activities like gaming. This study shows a causal link between mood and flow, suggesting new intervention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Flow is a state of complete immersion and enjoyment in an activity.
- Previous research has primarily shown correlations between mood and flow, not causation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate mood induction as a novel intervention to enhance flow.
- To establish a causal relationship between induced mood and the experience of flow.
Main Methods:
- An online experiment with 280 participants playing Tetris.
- A randomized between-subjects design using positive, negative, or neutral mood inductions (picture viewing).
- Flow state measured via self-report after two gaming rounds; analyzed using linear mixed modeling.
Main Results:
- A significant interaction effect between mood induction and flow was found.
- Participants in the positive mood group reported significantly higher flow scores post-intervention.
- This demonstrates a causal influence of positive mood on achieving flow.
Conclusions:
- Positive mood induction causally enhances flow states.
- This finding offers a basis for developing interventions to promote flow through mood management.
- The study moves beyond correlational evidence to establish a causal link between mood and flow.
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