A brief history of European Research on optimal experience (Flow - autotelic experience theory)
In Europe, it is first in Italy (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi & Massimini, 1985 ; Massimini, Csikszentmihalyi & Delle Fave, 1988 ; Delle Fave & Massimini, 1992 ; Delle Fave & Bassi, 1997, 2000, 2003 ; Delle Fave, Bassi & Massimini, 2003 ; Bassi & Delle Fave, 2004), in Germany (e.g. Rheinberg, 1987, 1996 ; Rheinberg & Vollmeyer, 2001 ; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer & Engeser, 2003 ; Engeser & Rheinberg, 2008), in Norway (e.g. Vitterso, Vorkinn, & Vistad, 2001), in Danemark (e.g. Knoop, 2002 ; Knoop & Lyhne, 2005 ; Ørsted Andersen, 2007), and then in UK (e.g. Wright, Sadlo & Stew, 2007) where the first scientific works on the psychology of the optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990, 2014).
However, most of the european scientist are relatively isolated in within their own countries. It is only during the 6th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP’ 2012, Moscow), on the occasion of a symposium organised by Corinna Peifer (Trier University, Germany) and Frans Ørsted Andersen (Aarhus University, Danemark) that it is formally proposed to create the European Flow Researchers Network (EFRN). Quickly, in November, 12th, the first meeting is organised at Trier University by Corinna Peifer and Stephen Engeser.
In France, as well as in all of the francophone world, the existance of these works remained unknown for a longtime. Before 2011, no PhD Thesis in French mentioned the works of Csikszentmihalyi (Heutte, 2011) and very few references in French adressed the subject. Only 3 articles had been published in scientific revues : Csikszentmihalyi & Patton (1997, an article translated eand adapted by Mario Lucas for the Revue québécoise de psychologie), Csikszentmihalyi & Bouffard (2007, in Revue québécoise de psychologie), as well as Demontrond & Gaudreau (2008, in Revue internationale des sciences du sport et de l’éducation physique (STAPS)). Britt-Mari Barth dedicated 3 pages (1993, in Le savoir en construction) and Jacques Lecomte, about fifteen pages (2007, in Donner un sens à sa vie, chapter reprised in 2008 in Traité de psychologie de la motivation by Philippe Carré and Fabien Fenouillet). Translations in french of three works of Csikszentmihalyi existed but these were not really in phase anymore with the current scientific work :
- in 2004, Vivre. La psychologie du bonheur, tr. by Léandre Bouffard dofFlow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990 ;
- in 2005, Mieux vivre, tr. by Marie-Christine Farny of Finding Flow, 1997 ;
- in 2006, La créativité : psychologie de la découverte et de l’invention, tr. by Marie-Christine Farny of Creativity, 1996.
Up to 2012, no french-speaking author had been pledged within the European Flow Researchers Network (EFRN).
The last annual events of the EFRN gathered researchers from all continents. Currently, the EFRN can be considered as the most dynamic scientific network on flow at the international level (Delle Fave, Massimini & Bassi, 2011; Engeser, 2012 ; Harmat, Ørsted Andersen, Ullén, Wright & Sadlo, 2016 ; Heutte, 2019).
Annual Meetings
- 1st Annual EFRN Meeting in Trier, Germany, 20 Nov-1st Dec 2012
- 2nd Annual EFRN Meeting in Eastbourne, England, 29-30 Nov 2013
- 3rd Annual EFRN Meeting in Angers, France, 27th to 28th November 2014
- 4th Annual EFRN Meeting in Braga, Portugal, 27th-28th November 2015
- 5th Annual EFRN Meeting in Milan, Italy, Fri 25th & Sat 26th
- 6th Annual EFRN Meeting in Tilburg, the Netherlands, Nov 24-25, 2017
- 7th Annual EFRN Meeting in Paris, France, November 22nd, 23rd and 24th 2018
- 8th Annual EFRN Meeting in Aarhus, Danemark, November 28th, 29th and 30th 2019
- 9th Annual EFRN Meeting in Milan, Italy, November 27th & 28th 2020
- 10th Annual EFRN Meeting in Lübeck, Germany, November 26th & 27th 2021
- 11th Annual EFRN Meeting in Lille, France, November 25th & 26th 2022
