Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the research in positive psychology by focusing on which behaviors were related to well-being. Unlike his peers who explored the underpinnings of psychopathology or cognition pathology, Csikszentmihalyi studied normal individuals to learn the elements of well-being.

Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, shows us that Csikszentmihalyi’s research is based on direct observation of how we act in the world, contrary to the predominate laboratory investigation of most psychological research. In combining the research perspective of sociology with the pressing questions of psychology, he gives us a better understanding of what makes us tick in the real world. Essentially his work is the ethnography of our psychological life, showing us how we live and narrate our life.

His early research revealed that certain states of mind accompanied our behaviors. In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he identifies a state of mind that emerges in us when we are engaged in a task where skills with challenges are in balance. This state of mind, Flow, is best described, is one of absorption and productivity. Csikszentmihalyi’s work on Flow has often been associated with the experience of happiness. Later research has linked Flow to self-efficacy, a state of mind that research identifies as the foundation element of well-being.