Beyond Boredom and Anxiety (The Jossey-Bass behavioral science series) [Hardcover]

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1975 | ISBN-10: 0875892612 | ISBN-13: 978-0875892610 | Edition: 1st

Now in a special 25th anniversary edition and filled with brilliant wisdom and insights, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety offers a timeless introduction to the concept of flow and the scientific basis behind it-all through the work of one of the field's great scientists, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi. Through real-life examples, discover how enjoyable activities provide a common experience-a satisfying, often exhilarating, feeling of creative accomplishment and heightened functioning-and under what conditions 'serious' work can also provide this intrinsic enjoyment.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A stimulating and revolutionary book." --Journal of Individual Psychology

"Beyond Boredom and Anxiety constitutes a major contribution to and critique of the sociology of work." --Sociology

"A very exciting book about the phenomenology of intrinsically motivated behavior. Csikszentmihalyi has done a service by directing attention to the importance of intrinsic motivation and its relationship to enjoyment and alienation." --Contemporary Psychology --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

". . . they concentrate their attention on a limited stimulus field, forget personal problems, lose their sense of time and of themselves, feel competent and in control, and have a sense of harmony and union with their surroundings . . . they cease to worry about whether the activity will be productive or whether it will be rewarded . . . they have entered a state of flow."-Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiIn a world organized around the assumption that 'serious' work should be grim and unpleasant, we strive to make our lives more meaningful. Whether a line worker or a paper pusher, we find ourselves on a never-Anding search for ways to counteract the boredom, anxiety, and alienation that our work-oriented society has become. But in this culture ruled by the pursuit of money, prestige, and pleasure, there are some individuals willing to give up material awards for the elusive experience of mere enjoyment. These are the rock-climbers, the dancers, the chess masters, and others who have sacrificed all for the power of play-these are the individuals who have entered the 'state of flow'.Now in a special 25th anniversary edition and filled with brilliant wisdom and insights, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety offers a timeless introduction to the concept of flow and the scientific basis behind it-all through the work of one of the field's great scientists, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi. Through real-life examples, discover how enjoyable activities provide a common experience-a satisfying, often exhilarating, feeling of creative accomplishment and heightened functioning-and under what conditions 'serious' work can also provide this intrinsic enjoyment.For all of us who seek to recognize, understand, and apply this powerful motivational force, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety is a compelling look at the origins of flow and how its use can transform our lives.[back jacket] Experience Flow at Work and in PlayFlow: A concentrated action in which the individual is aware of his act --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub; 1st edition (December 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875892612
• ISBN-13: 978-0875892610
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. His previous books include Flow and The Evolving Self. Flow was shown on the 1993 NBC Super Bowl broadcast as the book that inspired Jimmy Johnson, then coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It was also a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, September 5, 2001

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play (Hardcover)

Mihaly Csikszentmihaly presents a detailed examination of motivation based on a study of a half-dozen groups of people involved in recreational pursuits: rock climbers, composers, dancers, chess players and basketball players. He chose these groups in an effort to understand more fully what motivates people to engage in activities that are extremely challenging or offer few external rewards. Although some of his conclusions may be of interest to executives and managers seeking ways to motivate employees, most readers will find this academic study too detailed. Some of the interview comments are interesting, but much of the book describes survey results, a discussion that non-statisticians may be hard put to follow. Because of this complexity and because of the book's somewhat dense prose, we [...] recommend this 25-year-old reissued classic primarily to scholars or to those who are intensely curious about the nuts-and-bolts of motivation. But any human resources professional or leadership specialist should have at least a passing familiarity with its concepts and contents.

61 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars When good observations meet bad metaphors., May 10, 2000

By 

"drmezmer" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play (Hardcover)

One of the major conceits in the history of psychology is that the act of paying attention can be a portal to amazing or magical things. Pay attention to a swinging watch and you become hypnotized, focus on your belly button or a mantra and you enter a blissful meditative state, and concentrate real hard while tapping your shoes together and you just may get to Kansas. The latest wonderful mind state that occurs thanks to paying attention is 'flow'. Upon interviewing a few thousand people as they went about their ordinary lives, Dr. C. discovered that many of them reported a state of pleasure or even ecstasy when they engaged in demanding tasks that challenged them to the limits of their capabilities. The fact that mountain climbers, artists, doctors, etc. reported some real good feelings while having to rapidly shift their attention to stay on a ledge, keep inspiration, or keep a patient alive seemed to indicate once again that attention, if focused just right, can be a portal to some mighty good things. In this his first book on the topic of flow, Dr. C. waxes poetic about how flow represents a heightened sense of self, undreamed level of consciousness and so on, without grounding any of it to actual neural processes. Dr. C.'s house of metaphorical cards however collapses if attention was not the antecedent for flow, but the stuff of flow itself. The critical question that Dr. C. studiously avoids is whether attention is in itself a pleasurable or hedonic thing. Modern research in neuropsychology answers the question in the affirmative, as it is well known that when attention rapidly shifts between a host of important precepts, the neuromodulator dopamine is released that keeps us rooted, alert, promotes efficiency in thinking, and feels good to boot. Dr. C. does not concern himself to explore any of these findings, preferring instead to view attention as a portal to all those good metaphysical feelings, and not a source of those good feelings themselves. But again, if Dr. C. actually was intent on finding out what flow actually is, instead of reveling in its poetry, his book would be shorter by two thirds, and lose its representation as a model for vacuous New Age thinking, which in toto represents the intellectual con of the 20th century.

0 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast!, February 13, 2009

By 

Coffey (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play (Hardcover)

Delivery was fast! very fast!

The book looked a little old but it was clean with no markings nor any tear.

Thanks