Just Keep Flowing: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Flow and Well-Being
[NOT re-read on this pass; numbers carried from the vault's 2026-09-27 pass of the first author's hosted copy, and volume, issue, pages and doi could not be confirmed from a publisher record] Sweeny, K., Medina Huerta, J., Hawes, J., & Susoeff, S. 'Just Keep Flowing: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Flow and Well-Being.' Emotion, 2026. seventy-seven articles, 85 unique studies, 255 effect sizes. Pooled correlation 0.36, confidence interval 0.31 to 0.41, heterogeneity about ninety-six per cent. Eudaimonic measures correlate at 0.55 against 0.33 for hedonic ones. Weakest associations: worry and anxiety 0.08, HAPPINESS 0.11, burnout 0.15, and the 0.11 is the number the article notices because it is the opposite of what the popular version of the book promises. Publication-bias tests came back clean on both Egger's regression and Begg's rank correlation, with no moderation by flow scale used, validated against ad hoc scale, laboratory against field, publication status, age, gender or continent.
[NOT re-read on this pass; numbers carried from the vault's 2026-09-27 pass of the first author's hosted copy, and volume, issue, pages and doi could not be confirmed from a publisher record] Sweeny, K., Medina Huerta, J., Hawes, J., & Susoeff, S. 'Just Keep Flowing: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Flow and Well-Being.' Emotion, 2026. seventy-seven articles, 85 unique studies, 255 effect sizes. Pooled correlation 0.36, confidence interval 0.31 to 0.41, heterogeneity about ninety-six per cent. Eudaimonic measures correlate at 0.55 against 0.33 for hedonic ones. Weakest associations: worry and anxiety 0.08, HAPPINESS 0.11, burnout 0.15, and the 0.11 is the number the article notices because it is the opposite of what the popular version of the book promises. Publication-bias tests came back clean on both Egger's regression and Begg's rank correlation, with no moderation by flow scale used, validated against ad hoc scale, laboratory against field, publication status, age, gender or continent.
Written from the nOT re-read on this pass; numbers carried from the vault's 2026-09-27 pass of the first author's hosted copy, and volume, issue, pages and doi could not be confirmed from a publisher record.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Sweeny, K., Medina Huerta, J., Hawes, J., & Susoeff, S. Just Keep Flowing: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Flow and Well-Being. Emotion, 2026.