Association of cognitive judgment and shyness with frequency and quality of flow experience

Kazuki Hirao, Ryuji Kobayashi, Kenji YabuwakiDepartment of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Science and Social Welfare, Kibi International University, Takahashi City, Okayama, JapanObjective: To determine the association of cognitive judgment and shyness with frequency and quality of flow experience.Design and methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of the relationship between psychological tendency and frequency and quality of flow experience in 68 college students, undertaken in Hiroshima, Japan. The predictors were Shyness Scale scores, measure of ambiguity tolerance scores, and Life Orientation Test scores, and the outcome was the frequency and quality of flow experience.Results: The results of the binary logistic regression analysis indicated that only the measure of ambiguity tolerance (P = 0.02, odds ratio = 1.06, and 95% confidence interval = 1.01–1.11) was a predictor of the quality of flow experience, and only the Shyness Scale (P = 0.007, odds ratio = 0.95, and 95% confidence interval = 0.91–0.98) was a predictor of the frequency of flow experience.Conclusion: The findings suggest that ambiguity tolerance and shyness are associated with the frequency and quality of the flow experience.Keywords: Flow experience, positive psychology, shyness, ambiguity tolerance, life orientation