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The hypothesis that the effects of positive and negative mood on creative problem solving may differ as a consequence of the degree of constraint on the solution space of the task was tested. Sixty-eight participants were divided into positive mood, negative mood, and control conditions. Mood was experimentally induced by showing selected film clips, and performance on four different idea production tasks was recorded across a time interval of 4 min for each task. Results showed a significant mood-production time interaction. Positive mood led to the highest number of scores in early idea production and the lowest number in late production, whereas both control and negative mood led to relatively superior task performance in late production. Alternative interpretations of the results are discussed, and suggestions for further studies are offered.

Two positions concerning positive mood and its relation to creative problem solving have been taken. The general position (GP) postulates that there is a consistent positive relation between positive mood and creative problem solving. The qualified position (QP) states that the relation is a contingent one. This study explores one possible limitation to the GP, by testing Weisberg's (1994) suggestion that positive mood facilitates productivity but not quality of ideas. Self-reported mood was measured by positive, negative, and arousal scales. Divergent thinking tasks scored for fluency, flexibility, originality, and usefulness were used as criterion variables. A perfect, theoretically predicted rank order between positive mood and degree of solution constraint measured by the divergent thinking indices emerged. Positive mood was significantly related to an idea quantity factor but not to an idea quality factor. Although this evidence is not conclusive, it supports the QP and indicates that the GP should b...

Previous work has shown that positive mood may facilitate creative problem solving. However, studies have also shown positive mood may be detrimental to creative thinking under conditions favoring an optimizing strategy for solution. It is argued herein that the opposite effect is observed under conditions promoting loose processing and satisficing problem-solving strategies. The effects of positive and negative mood on divergent-thinking performance were examined in a quasi-experimental design. The sample comprised 188 arts and psychology students. Mood was measured with an adjective checklist prior to task performance. Real-life divergent-thinking tasks scored for fluency were used as the dependent variables. Results showed natural positive mood to facilitate significantly task performance and negative mood to inhibit it. The re was no effect of arousal. The results suggest that per sons in elevated moods may prefer satisficing strategies, which would lead to a higher number of proposed solutions. Perso...