Wahrgenommene leistungsanreize moderieren den positiven einfluss von leistungsmotiv- kongruenz auf das flow-erleben beim hallenklettern

Flow is a state of optimal experience in which people are fully absorbed by their current activity. This often leads to increased performance and enjoyment. The balance of task demands and skills seems to be an important but not sufficient precondition of flow. This study explores whether the congruence of the implicit and explicit achievement motive with achievement-related incentives can explain the experience of flow. We assessed indoor wall climbers' flow while climbing a route and directly after. One route was intraindividually easy and the other was intraindividually challenging. The results show that climbers experienced more flow on the challenging than on the easy route. This flow increase was higher in climbers with achievement motive congruence if they perceived climbing as an achievement-related activity. Consequently, increasing athletes' motivational competence seems to be desirable in order to help them align their motives with the activities they engage in.