Flow as a Function of Affect and Coping in the Workplace
Author(s): Sophie Tobert, Giovanni B. Moneta
Abstract: Drawing from the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 1998), it was hypothesized that flow in the workplace would be positively associated with positive affect and negatively associated with negative affect. It was also hypothesized that adaptive coping would predict more flow through the partially mediating factor of positive affect, and maladaptive coping would predict less flow through the partially mediating factor of negative affect. A sample of 152 workers who have experienced flow completed the SDFS-2 (Jackson, Martin & Eklund, 2008) flow scale, the I-PANAS-SF (Thompson, 2007) affect scale, and the COPE-R (Zuckerman & Gagne, 2003) coping scale. Multiple mediator modeling revealed that positive affect predicted more flow and negative affect predicted less flow, supporting the first hypothesis. Positive affect partially mediated the relationship between approach coping and flow but not accommodation coping and flow, and negative affect partially mediated the relationships between avoidance coping and flow and self-punishment and flow, supporting the second hypothesis for three of the four investigated coping strategies. The implications of the findings for future research are discussed.
Keywords: Emotions; Work environment research; Psychological adaptation; Employee psychology; Avoidance
Pages: 102-113
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