NOTES ■ 251
Learning in adulthood. The importance of learning in later life has
received much needed attention lately. For some of the basic ideas in
this field see Mortimer Adler’s early statement (Adler 1956), Tough
(1978), and Gross (1982).
48 Interviews. Most of the interviews mentioned here were collected in
the course of studies reported in Csikszentmihalyi (1975) and Csikszent-
mihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi (1988). Over 600 additional interviews were
collected by Professor Fausto Massimini and his collaborators in Europe,
Asia, and the southwestern United States.
49 Ecstasy. Extensive case studies of ecstatic religious experiences were
collected by Marghanita Laski (1962). Abraham Maslow (1971), who
coined the term “peak experience” to describe such events, played a very
important role in helping give legitimacy to the consideration of such
phenomena by psychologists. It is fair to say, however, that Laski and
Maslow looked at ecstasy as a fortuitous epiphany that happened more
or less by itself, rather than a natural process which could be controlled
and cultivated. For a comparison between Maslow’s concept of peak
experience and flow, see Privette (1983). Ecstatic experiences are appar
ently more common than one might think. As of March 1989, over 30
percent of a national representative sample of 1 ,000 U.S. respondents
answered affirmatively to the item: “You felt as though you were very
close to a powerful spiritual force that seemed to lift you out of your
self.” A full 12 percent claimed that they had experienced this feeling
often or on several occasions (General Social Survey 1989).
49- Reading as a favorite flow activity. This finding is reported in Mas-
50 simini, Csikszentmihalyi, & Delle Fave (1988). A recent book that
describes in detail how reading provides enjoyment is by Nell (1988).
50 Socializing as a flow activity. All the studies conducted with the
Experience Sampling Method confirm the fact that simply being with
other people generally improves a person’s mood significantly, regardless
of what else is happening. This seems to be as true of teenagers (Csik
szentmihalyi & Larson 1984) as of adults (Larson, Csikszentmihalyi, &
Graef 1980) and of older people (Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek 1986).
But to really enjoy the company of other people requires interpersonal
skills.
5 1 “A lot of pieces ...” The quote is from a study of how fine-art museum
curators describe the aesthetic experience (Csikszentmihalyi &. Robin
son, in press, p. 51).
Professor Maier-Leibnitz described his ingenious way of keeping track
of time by tapping his fingers in a personal communication (1986).
52 The importance of microflow activities was examined in Beyond Bore
dom and Anxiety (Csikszentmihalyi 1975, pp. 140-78). Those studies
