%0 Journal Article
%T Flow Activities as a Route to Living Well With Less
%A Amy Isham
%A Birgitta Gatersleben
%A Tim Jackson
%J Environment and Behavior
%@ 1552-390X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0013916518799826
%X Research suggests that the excessive focus on the acquisition of material goods promoted by our consumer society may be detrimental to well-being. Current Western lifestyles, which promote unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, therefore risk failing to bring citizens the happiness they seek. Csikszentmihalyi suggested that engaging in challenging, flow-conducive activities is a means by which individuals can improve well-being without substantially affecting the environment. In this article, we test this proposal by examining data concerning the daily experiences and well-being of 500 U.S. families. We show that individuals who experience stronger characteristics of flow in their leisure activities tend to have greater momentary well-being, whereas those experiencing flow more frequently report greater retrospective well-being. Moreover, a small negative relationship was found between an activity¡¯s flow score and its environmental impact. The analysis allows us to identify a specific group of high-flow, low¨Cenvironmental impact activities
%K flow
%K leisure activities
%K environmental impact
%K well-being
%K sustainable lifestyles
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0013916518799826