TY - JOUR
T1 - Mild Affective Shifts and Creativity
T2 - Effects on Idea Generation, Evaluation, and Implementation Planning
AU - Watts, Logan L.
AU - McIntosh, Tristan J.
AU - Gibson, Carter
AU - Mulhearn, Tyler J.
AU - Medeiros, Kelsey E.
AU - Mecca, Jensen T.
AU - Cohen-Charash, Yochi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Creative Education Foundation
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - This study investigated the impact of mild shifts in affective tone (i.e., pleasant vs. unpleasant) and arousal (i.e., high vs. low) on three creative processes. Undergraduates read short stories designed to induce affective shifts and then were asked to generate solutions to a complex business problem. Shifts in affective tone and arousal interacted to influence idea generation and implementation planning, but not idea evaluation. The strongest creative performance was exhibited by participants who experienced a stable and pleasantly toned, low-arousal (i.e., relaxed) state and by those who shifted to an unpleasantly toned, high-arousal (i.e., angry) state. In contrast, those who shifted to an unpleasantly toned, low-arousal (i.e., sad) state or a pleasantly toned, high-arousal (i.e., happy) state tended to exhibit poorer creative performance. These results demonstrate the need to revisit the popular conception that organizations should promote intense levels of pleasant affect to enhance employee creativity.
AB - This study investigated the impact of mild shifts in affective tone (i.e., pleasant vs. unpleasant) and arousal (i.e., high vs. low) on three creative processes. Undergraduates read short stories designed to induce affective shifts and then were asked to generate solutions to a complex business problem. Shifts in affective tone and arousal interacted to influence idea generation and implementation planning, but not idea evaluation. The strongest creative performance was exhibited by participants who experienced a stable and pleasantly toned, low-arousal (i.e., relaxed) state and by those who shifted to an unpleasantly toned, high-arousal (i.e., angry) state. In contrast, those who shifted to an unpleasantly toned, low-arousal (i.e., sad) state or a pleasantly toned, high-arousal (i.e., happy) state tended to exhibit poorer creative performance. These results demonstrate the need to revisit the popular conception that organizations should promote intense levels of pleasant affect to enhance employee creativity.
KW - affect
KW - affective shifts
KW - creative processes
KW - creativity
KW - emotions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074039672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jocb.427
DO - 10.1002/jocb.427
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074039672
VL - 54
SP - 985
EP - 1001
JO - Journal of Creative Behavior
JF - Journal of Creative Behavior
SN - 0022-0175
IS - 4
ER -