Using mental contrasting to promote flow experiences at work: A just-in-time adaptive intervention

Using repeated measurements in everyday life, we assessed whether a smartphone-based just-in-time adaptive intervention prompting use of metacognitive strategies enhances flow at work. Assuming that setting clear goals and disengaging from unattainable or undesirable goals enables individuals to engage in tasks aligned with their skills, we expected that mentally contrasting positive outcomes of a wish with an inner obstacle to the realization of this wish increases flow compared to a simple goal-setting strategy. We reminded participants ( N = 59 knowledge workers) either adaptively or statically to use mental contrasting or the control goal-setting strategy. Repeated strategy use increased the likelihood of experiencing flow regardless of the specific strategy employed. However, results show that flow increases more over time when applying mental contrasting than the control strategy. Our findings fail to confirm the superiority of the prompt using an adaptive decision rule for when the person receives support compared to the static prompt. We discuss the necessity of assessing extended periods to examine differences between adaptive and static support in terms of habit formation and intervention fatigue. Our study contributes to the development of smartphone-based, adaptive interventions for knowledge workers which enable them to autonomously increase their flow in everyday life. • We examined the potential of a smartphone-based just-in-time adaptive intervention to increase flow. • We measured flow through ambulatory assessment during everyday knowledge work. • Mental contrasting increases flow more over time than setting SMART goals. • Adaptive support is not superior to static support in increasing flow.