A qualitative investigation of flow experience in group creativity

Abstract

The role of flow experience in a group creativity task, contemporary dance improvisation, was explored through qualitative content analysis. Our focus was upon the creative process itself, rather than upon creative outcomes. Six dancers took part in an improvisation workshop, reflecting on their creative practice and any associated flow. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with all participants supported by a video-cued recall of experience from the workshop. We interpreted their responses using qualitative content analysis. Effortless attention and enjoyment were predominant themes that emerged from the dancers’ reports while describing the flow. When experienced in collaboration, the flow was described as ‘becoming one with the group’. Dancers commonly associated flow with a highly creative state where they tended to find surprising, very ‘organic and natural’ movement solutions. Moreover, flow and group settings facilitated creativity through maintaining a desired creative focus for longer, lowering self-judgment and inspiring novel solutions. While findings concerning movement may be specific to dance, others are more generic to the process of group creativity. Our results confirm previous findings that associated flow with a state in which the person feels simultaneously cognitively efficient, motivated, and happy, and that these states can be facilitated in groups characterised by trust.