Relationship between Flow and Personality Traits among Preschool Teachers

The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the experience of flow on the job and personality traits among preschool teachers. The study was conducted on a sample of 96 teachers from six kindergartens in the area of Primorsko-goranska County, Croatia. Two questionnaires were applied in this study. The Flow Questionnaire was used to measure the flow and the Big Five Inventory was used to measure personality traits. The findings confirmed the hypothesis about high levels of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, openness to experience and flow, and low levels of neuroticism. Furthermore, the flow showed a significant positive correlation with extraversion, consciousness and openness to experience and negative with neuroticism. Extraversion decline with age was determined, too. This paper points out the significance of personality traits and experience of joy in the work among preschool teachers, with some implications of practice improvement.