The Influence of Avoidance Temperament and Avoidance-Based Achievement Goals on Flow

In the present research, we conducted two studies designed to examine the joint influence of avoidance temperament and avoidance-based achievement goals on the experience of flow on a creativity task. In both a laboratory study (N = 101; Mage = 22.61, SDage = 4.03; 74.3% female) and a naturalistic study (N = 102; Mage = 16.23, SDage = 1.13; 48% female), participants high in avoidance temperament were shown to experience greater flow when performance-avoidance goals were induced; no differences were found in any of the other three achievement goal conditions from the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. These findings reveal a short-term benefit for a disposition-goal match grounded in avoidance motivation, and point to the need for more research on both avoidance-based matches and the short-term versus long-term implications of such matches.