Measuring the flow experience of gamers: An evaluation of the DFS-2

One element of growing interest in the video gaming literature is the flow state, which is a pleasing and engaging experience commonly reported by players of games. As such, there are many different measures and methods that seek to quantify the flow experience. The present work examined whether a common measure of flow, the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2), was valid to use in the gamer population. We initially collected data from 762 undergraduate students. Of these, 314 qualified as “gamers” and were included in our analysis. Participants completed the DFS-2 based on their personal gaming experiences and the data was subjected to factor analysis. We did not find the DFS-2 to be an adequate measure of flow for the game experience and that continued examination of the construct and measure refinement is necessary.

► Assessed the usefulness of using the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) for serious games research.
► Subjected data collected from 314 gamers to factor analysis.
► Found the model underlying the DFS-2 to be a poor fit for quantifying the flow experience in gamers.