People who tend to think traditionally can be creative, thanks to handling emotional situations from a slightly different perspective. What is it all about?
The researchers found that the so-called traditional thinkers It is characterized by low openness to new ideas and experiences. However, after exerciseemotional reappraisalThey have greatly improved their creativity. This approach is about seeing situations through an “alternative emotional lens”—when an event typically generates anger, try viewing it in a neutral or hopeful way. According to the researchers, the new approach can be practice to develop your creativity.
“One implication of the study is that creativity is not something that is only available to people we consider ‘creative,'” said Dr. Lily Chu, of Washington State University’s Carson School of Business. We move away from our current perspective And we try to think of something different than our initial reaction, there’s a creative element to it. If we can exercise or train these flexible muscles, they can help us More creative over time.
One study of 279 college students found that the most creative people regularly practiced re-evaluation of emotions, and thus ranked high on being open to new ideas.
In another study with 335 volunteers, they first analyzed the level of openness and then showed a movie scene designed to elicit anger. While watching, some patients were given various instructions, such as suppressing feelings, thinking of something else to distract themselves, or trying to evaluate emotionally, i.e. Try to see the scene from a different perspective. The second part did not receive any instructions.
Then, the study participants had to come up with an idea for using the space in the building, which was previously a canteen. The next step was to have the ideas evaluated by a panel of experts who knew nothing about the volunteers. Experts found ideas to open a new canteen or food franchise to be uncreative, while ideas to use a “siesta” space or open a childcare facility were deemed to be uncreative. Very creative.
The traditional thinkers who attempted emotional reappraisal were much more creativeOther traditional participants used strategies of distraction, suppression, or emotional dysregulation. It should also be noted that participants who were considered creative thinkers and who used the novel approach (emotional reappraisal) did not experience an increase in creativity.
As Chu puts it, “Negative feelings are inevitable in the workplace. The question is not: Do we want negative feelings or not? The question is how we can better deal with them.” in a productive and healthy way? One implication of this study is that we can use negative emotions in our daily lives as an opportunity to practice flexible thinking.
Publication of the research in the journal Organizational behavior and human decision processes.
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