Can Learning for Exams Make Students Happy? Faculty-Related and Faculty-Unrelated Flow Experiences and Well-Being

Flow is a highly enjoyable, optimal psychological state people feel when they are so focused on a task that it amounts to complete absorption in an activity. Flow was found to be related to desirable educational outcomes as well as higher well-being. The aim of this study was to assess how often students experience flow at the faculty (during lectures, seminars and exercises, learning, preparing for presentations and other study-related activities) and in everyday life, and to assess the relationship between the flow experiences of students and their well-being. The sample comprised 176 second-year female students at the University of Zagreb, the Faculty of Teacher Education. In addition to the questions about faculty-related and unrelated flow experiences, the participants filled in two questionnaires: the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985) and the Flourishing Scale – FS (Diener et al., 2009). The results revealed that students, at least occasionally, experience flow while carrying out faculty-related activities. The participants experience flow most frequently while preparing for seminars and similar tasks as well as while preparing for exams, and least frequently during lectures. Flow experiences in non-academic activities are more frequent than in the academic activities. However, only the flow in the academic activities is positively correlated to students’ well-being while there are no significant correlations between the non-academic flow experiences and wellbeing. The only significant predictor of well-being was the flow students experienced while preparing for exams. That leads to the conclusion that the flow experienced during activities related to achievement at the faculty is more important for students’ well-being than the flow experienced during activities in other areas of life.