Rakei, Amy; Tan, Jasmine and Bhattacharya, Joydeep. 2022. Flow in contemporary musicians: Individual differences in flow proneness, anxiety, and emotional intelligence. PLoS ONE, 17(3), e0265936. ISSN 1932-6203 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Flow is a highly focused state of consciousness that is rewarding, fulfilling, and sought after by many, especially musicians. It is characterized by exceptional levels of concentration, loss of self-consciousness, and competent control over one’s actions. Several personality and non-cognitive traits have been positively linked with flow proneness, such as emotional intelligence; however, anxiety is thought to be the antithesis of flow, yet the relationship between trait anxiety and flow proneness in musicians is not adequately characterized. This study investigated the individual differences in flow proneness in contemporary musicians (N=664), focusing on the interaction of trait anxiety and emotional intelligence. We identified a significant negative correlation between trait anxiety and flow. Emotional intelligence was positively correlated with flow proneness and negatively with trait anxiety. Moderation analysis revealed a difference in the relationship between trait anxiety and flow depending on the level of emotional intelligence; there was no correlation in those with low emotional intelligence, whereas a strong negative relationship was found in those with high emotional intelligence. Finally, hierarchical regression indicated that musical training was the most substantial predictor of all the tested variables and that trait anxiety did not add any predictive power on top of the known predictors. Altogether, this study provided new insights into the possible disruption of flow proneness linked to high anxiety and low emotional intelligence in contemporary musicians.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265936
Additional Information:	The data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in OSF at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3MPFD.
Keywords:	Flow, music, emotional intelligence, anxiety, personality
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 10 March 2022 Accepted 25 March 2022 Published
Item ID:	31584
Date Deposited:	14 Mar 2022 14:36
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2023 13:19
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31584

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