Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:41:27.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Affective States and Creativity

from Part II - The Development of Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2023

By
Hector Madrid ,
Malcolm Patterson  and
Miguel Ibaceta
Edited by
Zorana Ivcevic ,
Jessica D. Hoffmann  and
James C. Kaufman
Zorana Ivcevic
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Jessica D. Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access

Summary

Affective states play a key function in creative performance, such that both positive and negative feelings can foster, or inhibit, creativity due to their information processing and motivational correlates. In this chapter, we survey and integrate theory and empirical research in this field, identifying core and robust findings focused on the association of affect with creativity, and unanswered questions requiring deeper investigation. Based on this work, we finally propose several valuable directions for future research.

Keywords

creativityinnovationaffectmoodpositive affectnegative affectvalenceactivationinformation processingmotivation
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotions , pp. 87 - 108
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amabile, T. M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10, 123–167.Google Scholar
Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005). Affect and creativity at work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3), 367–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baas, M., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: Hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? Psychological Bulletin, 134(6), 779–806. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012815CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumann, N., & Kuhl, J. (2002). Intuition, affect, and personality: Unconscious coherence judgments and self-regulation of negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1213–1223. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1213CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumann, N., & Kuhl, J. (2005). Positive affect and flexibility: Overcoming the precedence of global over local processing of visual information. Motivation and Emotion, 29(2), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031–005-7957-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beal, D. J., & Ghandour, L. (2011). Stability, change, and the stability of change in daily workplace affect. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/job.713CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binnewies, C., & Woernlein, S. C. (2011). What makes a creative day? A diary study on the interplay between affect, job stressors, and job control. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(4), 589–607. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.731CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bledow, R., Rosing, K., & Frese, M. (2013). A dynamic perspective on affect and creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 56(2), 432–450. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0894CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chermahini, S. A., & Hommel, B. (2012). Creative mood swings: Divergent and convergent thinking affect mood in opposite ways. Psychological Research, 76(5), 634–640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426–011-0358-zGoogle Scholar
Clore, G. L., Gaspar, K., & Garvin, E. (2001). Affect as information. In Forgas, J. P. (Ed.), Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition (pp. 121–144). Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Conner, T. S., & Silvia, P. J. (2015). Creative days: A daily diary study of emotion, personality, and everyday creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9(4), 463–470. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, M. A. (2009). Understanding the relationship between mood and creativity: A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2008.04.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Dreu, C. K. W., Baas, M., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). Hedonic tone and activation level in the mood-creativity link: Toward a dual pathway to creativity model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(5), 739–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.94.5.739Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4(1), 19–43. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113108CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derryberry, D., & Tucker, D. M. (1994). Motivating the Focus of Attention. Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeShon, R. P., & Gillespie, J. Z. (2005). A motivated action theory account of goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1096–1127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1096CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Du, J., Ma, E., Cabrera, V., & Jiao, M. (2021). Keep your mood up: A multilevel investigation of hospitality employees’ positive affect and individual creativity. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48(550), 451–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.07.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Du, Y., Yang, Y., Wang, X., et al. (2021). A positive role of negative mood on creativity: The opportunity in the crisis of the COVID-19 epidemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(January), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.600837Google Scholar
Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition & Emotion, 6, 169–200.Google Scholar
Filipowicz, A. (2006). From positive affect to creativity: The surprising role of surprise. Creativity Research Journal, 18, 141–152. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1802_2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fong, C. T. (2006). The effects of emotional ambivalence on creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 49(5), 1016–1030. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2006.22798182Google Scholar
Forgas, J. P. (1995). Mood and judgment: The Affect Infusion Model (AIM). Psychological Bulletin, 116, 39–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.1.39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frijda, N. H. (1994). Varietes of affect: Emotions and episodes, moods and sentiments. In Ekman, P. & Davidson, R. J. (Eds.), The Nature of Emotion. Fundamental Questions (pp. 59–67). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gasper, K. (2003). When necessity is the mother of invention: Mood and problem solving. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39(3), 248–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022–1031(03)00023-4Google Scholar
Gasper, K., & Middlewood, B. L. (2014). Approaching novel thoughts: Understanding why elation and boredom promote associative thought more than distress and relaxation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 52, 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.12.007Google Scholar
George, J. M., & Zhou, J. (2002). Understanding when bad moods foster creativity and good ones don’t: The role of context and clarity of feelings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 687. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.687CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
George, J. M., & Zhou, J. (2007). Dual tuning in a supportive context: Joint contributions of positive mood, negative mood, and supervisory behaviors to employee creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 605–622. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2007.25525934CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Han, W., Feng, X., Zhang, M., Peng, K., & Zhang, D. (2019). Mood states and everyday creativity: Employing an experience sampling method and a day reconstruction method. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1698. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01698CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, T. J., & Choi, J. N. (2020). Different moods lead to different creativity: Mediating roles of ambiguity tolerance and team identification. Creativity Research Journal, 32(2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2020.1751542Google Scholar
Intasao, N., & Hao, N. (2018). Beliefs about creativity influence creative performance: The mediation effects of flexibility and positive affect. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(1810), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01810Google Scholar
Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1122–1131. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.52.6.1122Google Scholar
Kaufmann, G. (2003). The effect of mood on creativity in the innovative process. In Shavinina, L. (Ed.), The International Handbook on Innovation (pp. 191–203). Elsevier Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, J. T., McGraw, A. P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2001). Can people feel happy and sad at the same time? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 684–696. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.4.684Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. Springer.Google Scholar
Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological Capital. Developing the Human Competitive Edge. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Madjar, N., Oldham, G. R., & Pratt, M. G. (2002). There’s no place like home? The contributions of work and nonwork creativity support to employees’ creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 757–767. https://doi.org/10.2307/3069309Google Scholar
Madrid, H. P., & Patterson, M. G. (2018). Affect and creativity. In Reiter-Palmon, R. & Kaufmann, J. C. (Eds.), Individual Creativity in the Workplace. Elsevier.Google Scholar
Madrid, H. P., & Patterson, M. G. (2019). How and for whom time control matter for innovation? The role of positive affect and problem-solving demands. Applied Psychology, 69(1), 93–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12194Google Scholar
Madrid, H. P., Patterson, M. G., Birdi, K. S., Leiva, P. I., & Kausel, E. E. (2014). The role of weekly high-activated positive mood, context, and personality in innovative work behavior: A multilevel and interactional model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(2), 234–256. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1867CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, L. L., & Stoner, P. (1996). Mood as input: What we think about how we feel determines how we think. In Martin, L. L. & Tesser, A. (Eds.), Striving and Feeling: Interactions among Goals, Affect, and Self-Regulation (pp. 279–301). Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Mastria, S., Agnoli, S., & Corazza, G. E. (2019). How does emotion influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas? PLoS ONE, 14(7), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219298Google Scholar
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1997). Conceptions and correlates of openness to experience. In Hogan, R., Johnson, J., & Briggs, S. (Eds.), Handbook of Personality Psychology (pp. 825–847). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Nijstad, B. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., Rietzschel, E. F., & Baas, M. (2010). The dual pathway to creativity model: Creative ideation as a function of flexibility and persistence. European Review of Social Psychology, 21, 34–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463281003765323Google Scholar
Park, I. J., Choi, J. N., & Wu, K. (2021). Affect stability and employee creativity: the roles of work-related positive affect and knowledge sharing. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 31(3), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2021.1953990Google Scholar
Parke, M. R., Seo, M.-G., & Sherf, E. N. (2014). Regulating and facilitating: The role of emotional intelligence in maintaining and using positive affect for creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 917–934. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038452CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rasulzada, F., & Dackert, I. (2009). Organizational creativity and innovation in relation to psychological well-being and organizational factors. Creativity Research Journal, 21(2–3), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410902855283CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & Cunha, M. P. (2012a). Optimism predicting employees’ creativity: The mediating role of positive affect and the positivity ratio. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 21(2), 244–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2010.550679Google Scholar
Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & Cunha, M. P. E. (2012b). Retail employees’ self-efficacy and hope predicting their positive affect and creativity. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 21(6), 923–945. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432x.2011.610891CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richels, K. A., Day, E. A., Jorgensen, A. G., & Huck, J. T. (2020). Keeping calm and carrying on: Relating affect spin and pulse to complex skill acquisition and adaptive performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 337. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00377CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salovey, P., Mayer, J. D., Goldman, S. L., Turvey, C., & Palfai, T. P. (1995). Emotional attention, clarity, and repair: Exploring emotional intelligence using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. In Pennebaker, J. W. (Ed.), Emotion, Disclosure, and Health (pp. 125–154). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10182-006Google Scholar
Schwarz, N. (2002). Situated cognition and the wisdom of feelings: Cognitive tuning. In Feldman Barrett, L. & Salovey, P. (Eds.), The Wisdom in Feelings (pp. 144–166). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (1983). Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being: Informative and directive functions of affective states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(3), 513–523. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.3.513Google Scholar
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (2003). Mood as information: 20 years later. Psychological Inquiry, 14(3–4), 296–303. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1403&4_20Google Scholar
Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., Nusbaum, E. C., et al. (2014). Everyday creativity in daily life: An experience-sampling study of “little c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(2), 183–188. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035722Google Scholar
Spering, M., Wagener, D., & Funke, J. (2005). The role of emotions in complex problem-solving. Cognition & Emotion, 19(8), 1252–1261. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930500304886CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 1442–1465.Google Scholar
Tang, C., Li, Q., & Kaufman, J. C. (2016). Problem clarity as a moderator between trait affect and self-perceived creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 52(3), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.152Google Scholar
Tavares, S. M. (2016). How does creativity at work influence employee’s positive affect at work? European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(4), 525–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2016.1186012Google Scholar
To, M. L., Fisher, C. D., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2015). Unleashing angst: Negative mood, learning goal orientation, psychological empowerment and creative behaviour. Human Relations, 68(10), 1601–1622. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726714562235Google Scholar
To, M. L., Fisher, C. D., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Rowe, P. A. (2011). Within-person relationships between mood and creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 599–612. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026097Google Scholar
Uy, M. A., Sun, S., & Foo, M. D. (2017). Affect spin, entrepreneurs’ well-being, and venture goal progress: The moderating role of goal orientation. Journal of Business Venturing, 32(4), 443–460. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jbusvent.2016.12.001Google Scholar
VandeWalle, D. (1997). Development and validation of a work domain goal orientation instrument. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 57, 995–1015. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164497057006009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wall, T. D., Corbett, J. M., Clegg, C. W., Jackson, P. R., & Martin, R. (1990). Advanced manufacturing technology and work design: Towards a theoretical framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11(3), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030110304Google Scholar
Wall, T. D., Jackson, P. R., Mullarkey, S., & Parker, S. K. (1996). The demands-control model of job strain: A more specific test. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 69, 153–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1996.tb00607.xGoogle Scholar
Watson, D. (2000). Mood and Temperament. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Wiese, D., Vaidya, J., & Tellegen, A. (1999). The two general activation systems of affect: Structural findings, evolutionary considerations, and psychobiological evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(5), 820–838. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.820Google Scholar
Xu, Y., Shao, J., Zeng, W., et al. (2021). Depression and creativity during COVID-19: Psychological resilience as a mediator and deliberate rumination as a moderator. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(May), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.665961Google Scholar
Zaman, M., Rajan, M. A., & Dai, Q. Z. (2010). Experiencing flow with instant messaging and its facilitating role on creative behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1009–1018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.001Google Scholar
Zhang, M., Wang, F., & Zhang, D. (2020). Individual differences in trait creativity moderate the state-level mood-creativity relationship. PLoS ONE, 15, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236987Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×