Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "Flow and the Quality of Life"

This year's Sabine Distinguished Lecture in Psychology is "Flow and the Quality of Life" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of creativity. His life's work has been to study what makes people truly happy. Drawing upon years of systematic research, he developed the concept of "flow" as a metaphorical description of the rare mental state associated with feelings of optimal satisfaction and fulfillment. His analysis of the internal and external conditions giving rise to "flow" show that it is almost always linked to circumstances of high challenge when personal skills are used to the utmost. Csikszentmihalyi is a Fellow of several scientific societies, the National Academy of Education, and a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Serving on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, he has been a consultant to business, government organizations, educational associations, and cultural institutions and has given invited lectures throughout the world. In addition to the hugely influential "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience," he is the author of 13 other books translated into 23 different languages, and some 245 research articles on optimal development, creativity, and well-being. He is considered the co-founder of positive psychology.