Anxious individuals are less likely to experience “states of flow” while playing music

Researchers recently found that musicians who are less anxious tend to experience more states of flow while playing music and those who experienced more flow scored higher on emotional intelligence. Their study has been published in PLOS One. Flow is described as a state of optimal experience that is associated with high levels of performance, increased attention, and feelings of happiness. Musicians often experience states of flow, especially musicians involved in improvisation. However, musicians also tend to experience anxiety more often, and anxiety is negatively correlated with flow. Ther...