Luca Argenton

Serious Games as Positive Technologies for Individual and Group Flourishing

By fostering continuous learning experiences blended with entertaining affordances, serious games have been able to shape new virtual contexts for human psychological growth and well-being. Thus, they can be considered as Positive Technologies. Positive Technology is an emergent field based on both theoretical and applied research, whose goal is to investigate how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be used to empower the quality of personal experience. In particular, serious games can influence both individual and interpersonal experiences by nurturing positive emotions, and promoting engagement, as well as enhancing social integration and connectedness. An in-depth analysis of each of these aspects will be presented in the chapter, with the support of concrete examples. Networked flow, a specific state where social well-being is associated with group flourishing and peak creative states, will eventually be considered along with game design practices that can support its emergence.

Serious Games as Positive Technologies

Serious games are emerging as innovative tools to promote opportunities for human psychological growth and well-being. The aim of the present paper is to introduce them as Positive Technologies. Positive Technology is an emergent field based on both theoretical and applied research, whose goal is to investigate how Information and Communication Technologies ICTs can be used to empower the quality of personal experience at three levels: hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being and social well-being. As Positive Technologies, serious games can influence both individual and interpersonal experiences by nurturing positive emotions, promoting engagement, as well as enhancing social integration and connectedness. An in-depth analysis of each of these aspects will be presented in the chapter, with the support of concrete examples.

Measuring Dispositional Flow: Validity and reliability of the Dispositional Flow State Scale 2, Italian version

Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2), for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. Method In accordance with the guidelines for test adaptation, the scale has been translated with the method of back translation. The understanding of the item has been checked according to the latest standards on the culturally sensitive translation. The scale thus produced was administered to 843 individuals (of which 60.69% female), between the ages of 15 and 74. The sample is balanced between workers and students. The main activities defined by the subjects allow the sample to be divided into three categories: students, workers, athletes (professionals and semi-professionals). Results The confirmatory factor analysis, conducted using the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLM), showed acceptable fit indexes. Reliability and validity have been verified, and structural invariance has been verified on 6 categories of Flow experience and for 3 subsamples with different with different fields of action. Correlational analysis shows significant high values between the nine dimensions. Conclusions Our data confirmed the validity and reliability of the Italian DFS-2 in measuring Flow experiences. The scale is reliable for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. The Italian version of the scale is suitable for the evaluation of the subjective tendency to experience Flow trait characteristic in different contest, as sport, study and work.