Validity and Reliability of the Single-Item Flow Scale: An Initial Investigation

Abstract

Flow is an experiential phenomenon that occurs when one is deeply engaged with an activity. The current set of studies aimed to create and test a single-item measure of flow for future use in studies where existing multi-item measures are not viable, such as exploratory research. We tested our single-item measure against multi-item measures in two studies, then established the measure’s test-retest reliability and validity in two further studies, before performing a final study to determine convergent validity in a fandom context. Our single-item measure was found to significantly correlate with existing multi-item measures in both movie and game contexts, to have good test-retest reliability, to show divergent validity with respect to measures of social desirability and anti-intellectualism, and was able to show convergent validity on group-relevant media for fans.