The second volume in the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers about thirty years
of Csikszentmihalyi¿s work on three main and interconnected areas of study: attention flow and
positive psychology. Describing attention as psychic energy and in the footsteps of William
James Csikszentmihalyi explores the allocation of attention the when and where and the amount
of attention humans pay to tasks and the role of attention in creating ¿experiences¿ or
ordered patterns of information. Taking into account information processing theories and
attempts at quantifying people¿s investment the chapters deal with such topics as time budgets
and the development and use of the Experience Sampling Method of collecting data on attention
in everyday life. Following the chapters on attention and reflecting Csikszentmihalyi¿s
branching out into sociology and anthropology there are chapters on the topic of adult play
and leisure and connected to that on flow a concept formulated and developed by
Csikszentmihalyi. Flow has become a popular concept in business and management around the world
and research on the concept continues to flourish. Finally this volume contains articles that
stem from Csikszentmihalyi¿s connection with Martin Seligman they deal with concepts and
theories as well as with the development and short history of the field and the ¿movement¿ of
positive psychology.
