Interpreting the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 scores: A pilot study of latent class factor analysis

Abstract

The present study examined the extent to which scores on the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) could differentiate individuals who frequently experience flow characteristics in physical activity from those who do not. A total of 993 participants completed the Japanese version of the DFS-2. Latent class factor analysis (LCFA), which combines the strengths of both latent class analysis and factor analysis, was conducted on the DFS-2 responses. Six classes were identified through a series of LCFAs and the patterns of the item-average scores for the nine flow attributes were found to be parallel among these classes. The top two and bottom two classes (19.3% and 13.4% of the whole sample) were considered the groups who experience flow characteristics frequently and seldom, respectively. These results indicated that individuals who often experience flow attributes in physical activity could be differentiated from those who do not based on their DFS-2 scores.

Keywords:

• flow research
• classification
• hybrid model
• experience profile

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the earlier drafts of this article.