Personality dynamics turn positive and negative mood into creativity

• Main Authors: BLEDOW, Ronald, KUHNEL, Jana, KUHL, Julius
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: action-state orientation; affect; creativity; mood; motivation; PSI theory; Applied Behavior Analysis; Cognition and Perception; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7408; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8407/viewcontent/Bledow_Kuehnel_Kuhl_2024_Affect_Personality_Creativity_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Introduction: Research on the link between affect and creativity rests on the assumption that creativity unfolds as a stimulus-driven response to affective states. We challenge this assumption and examine whether personality dynamics moderate the relationship of positive and negative mood with creativity.Theoretical Model: According to our model, personality dynamics that generate and maintain positive affect and down-regulate negative affect energize creativity. Based on this model, we expect high creativity in response to negative mood if people engage in self-motivation and achieve a reduction in negative mood. We further derive that individual differences in action versus state orientation moderate the within-person relationship between mood and creativity.Method: We conducted an experience-sampling study and examined the relationship between mood and creativity in everyday work-life. Two-hundred-and-ten participants indicated their action-state orientation and reported their mood three times a day over five consecutive workdays. At noon of each day, we assessed self-motivation and in the evening the extent to which participants had generated novel and useful ideas during the day.Results: We observed high creativity when negative mood declined and self-motivation was high. Action-state orientation moderated the within-person relationships of positive and negative mood with creativity.Conclusion: Personality dynamics determine whether positive and negative mood result in creativity.