Duotone DRIVEN Magazine No.04

But I have to be able to handle the challenges. Because if I get feedback about what I should be doing but I’m not yet able to do it, for example because I’m still practicing a new maneuver or trick, flow can’t happen. And why do I experience it differently when I am not alone but together with several kiters on the water? We, humans, have three basic psychological needs: Competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In every flow experience, experiencing competence and experiencing autonomy are satisfied. One has the feeling of possessing abilities to cope with challenges, to meet demands at a high level. And we do an activity intrinsically motivated by the flow experience. That means we do it because the activity is intrinsically rewarding, intrinsically satisfying, not because we need external incentives, that someone pays us for it, or that we expect praise for it. We are autonomous in that case; we do the activity in a self-determined way. And in a community, we now add the satisfaction of the third basic psychological need, the need for relatedness. All of us humans are social beings. We strive to have social connections with like-minded people. We strive to like and be liked by others and to share social experiences. When we are kiting with a group of people who have the same interest, with whom we already have a similarity, with whom we share the same experiences at that moment, about whom we can talk, about whom we can rave, then this third basic need for relatedness is also satisfied. That makes it an even more holistic flow experience than if we didn’t experience it in a group. But while kiting, I don’t specifically exchange information with the other kiters. And yet sometimes a very special energy arises when you are together on the water. We, humans, have rather conscious regulation parts and rather unconscious ones. When we do a sport like Kitesurfing, which we have been doing for a long time and, in a way, we are already experts in it, we regulate and control our actions rather unconsciously. When we are in such unconscious regulation systems, where everything is almost automated and smoothly running, then we not only get into this flow, but we intuitively notice: The others must feel the same way; it is now something very special that is happening here. This takes place unconsciously but still creates a connection. This is further strengthened when we talk about it with others afterward, consciously reflecting on the challenging conditions we mastered in the joint session; what a cool day it was. This means: My individual flow experience is enhanced by feedback from the group, the community? Clearly, positive feedback from others who cheer for you, for example, or when you high-five each other after the session can increase the flow feeling even more. That is positive communication and trust among each other. By the way, also trust to know that if something happens here, there are still people around me who would be able to help me immediately. These social conditions are an important influencing factor and can potentiate the flow. How can this be explained psychologically? That is evolutionary. In the past, we humans got along much better than we do today, only if we ultimately docked with a group. A group that gave us protection, a group in which we could support each other. That is ultimately still anchored in us. We, humans, are social beings. Groups have a function for us and that’s why we will always have this need for interpersonal relationships. Dr. Fabian Pels (36) conducts research at the Institute of Psychology at the renowned German Sport University Cologne on various topics in the social and health psychology of sport, such as flow or stress. The focus of the Institute’s research is on interpersonal processes in sports. Interactions and relationships between people influence motivation, stress and mood, and group phenomena. www.dshs-koeln.de/en/institute-of-psychology 68 D R I V E N D R I V E N 69 C O M M U N I T Y