Dancing with the Muses: Dissociation and Flow

Abstract

This study investigated dissociative psychological processes and flow (dispositional and state) in a group of professional and pre-professional dancers (n = 74). In this study, high scores for global (Mdn = 4.14) and autotelic (Mdn = 4.50) flow suggest that dancing was inherently integrating and rewarding, although 17.6% of the dancers were identified as possibly having clinical levels of dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale–Taxon cutoff score ≥20). The results of the multivariate analysis of variance indicated that subjects with high levels of dissociation had significantly lower levels of global flow (p < .05). Stepwise linear regression analyses demonstrated that dispositional flow negatively predicted the dissociative constructs of depersonalization and taxon (p < .05) but did not significantly predict the variance in absorption/imagination (p > .05). As hypothesized, dissociation and flow seem to operate as different mental processes.

Keywords:

• dancers
• depersonalization
• dissociation
• flow
• normative dissociation

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge California State University, Northridge, and the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University.