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Experience of nature is widely linked to well-being, including psychological restoration. Benefits to creativity have been explored in a limited number of studies which refer to theories of restorative environments as frameworks, but it is unclear which aspects of the environment and person–nature transactions are implicated in these processes. In this study, N = 20 members of the British public were interviewed regarding the relevance of natural environments for their personal and professional creative activities. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed that cognitive, affective, and aesthetic appraisals were reported as directly relevant to creativity in nature, while environmental properties, sensory experiences, and the self were reported as informing these appraisals. Similarities to theories of restorative environments were observed in terms of the relevance of affect, cognition, and aesthetics. However, divergences also occurred, especially with regard to perceptions of arousal as beneficial for creativity, the importance of change in the environment, and the relevance of the self. Studies and theoretical modeling of relationships between nature and creativity should include these concepts, as well as those from theories of restorative environments. publishedVersion

Research has recognized that people regulate their emotions not only for seeking pleasurable experiences but also for receiving instrumental gains. We draw on the theoretical framework of instrumental emotion regulation (IER; Tamir, 2005, 2009) to shed new light on the relationships among creativity, emotion, and psychological well-being. We outline propositions that explain why there are concurrent creative and well-being benefits when people experience emotional states that are consistent with their personality trait (e.g., worrisome emotions being consistent with trait neuroticism) even if such trait-consistent emotions are negative. The IER perspective offers new interpretations of the creativity—well-being relationship through motivating a more holistic view of emotion regulation and well-being. We present an integrative theoretical model explicating that instrumental regulation toward trait-consistent emotions engages people in emotional states that feel affectively right (affective path), motivate them intrinsically (motivational path), and boost cognitive efficiency (cognitive path), thus yielding potential downstream benefits on creativity and well-being.

The purpose of this study was to explore music teachers' perceptions of, and approaches to, creativity in Primary education. Even though teachers' perceptions on creativity have been investigated broadly and extensively, qualitative research on music teachers' beliefs nurturing the students' creativity in Primary education are less common. In the present paper, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 10 individuals in the Greek-Cypriot Primary Education. The results of this exploratory study indicated that activities should include the promotion of the students' self-action and autonomy, and the pedagogical initiatives that enable students to come up with original outputs in order to be creative. This understanding, in turn, provided the researchers with access to the teacher participants' perceptions of creativity: a multifaceted concept related to students' autonomy, initiative, and the application of imagination and unrestrained thinking to any musical activity. These findings offer some initial insights and are discussed with respect to their implications for policy and practice. Suggestions for future research are also made.

Creativity is a crucial 21st century skill. Thus, finding ways to improve the creative potential of adults is essential. Games are an effective learning tool, and some studies have investigated the effects of video games and role-playing games on creative potential. However, less is known about the potential benefits of board games. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of creative and non-creative board games. The sample consisted of 55 university students. We used a within-subject repeated-measurement design. We assessed creative potential using a divergent thinking task, using fluency and originality as indicators. We controlled the potential effects of mood states and enjoyment. Results indicate a positive effect, for participants with low creative potential, for both types of games.

The current study addresses gaps in our understanding of the relationship between creative cognition, intelligence (IQ), and executive functioning (EF). Undergraduate students completed an IQ test, verbal and figural divergent thinking (DT) tests, and a self-assessment of EF, across four study sessions. Participant data (N = 199) were analyzed using linear regression and PROCESS moderation models. Results demonstrated that EF interacts with IQ to predict figural and verbal DT in distinct ways, with different patterns emerging from different methods of scoring DT. Using traditional DT scoring, Gf (but not Gc) significantly moderated the relationship between EF and scores on both verbal and figural DT tasks. Low EF was associated with diminished DT scores for those with low Gf scores, unrelated for those with relatively higher Gf, and enhanced scores for those with the highest Gf. Using originality ratio scores, low EF was associated with diminished originality in verbal DT responses for those with low IQ (both Gf and Gc), unrelated for those with relatively higher IQ, and enhanced originality for those with the highest Gc (but not Gf) scores. Thus, there are several nuances in the way that EF interacts with IQ to predict DT.

Research is currently witnessing more investigations into malevolent creativity—creativity that is used to intentionally harm others. Inspired by previous methods to measure malevolent creativity, in the present study, we introduce a real‐world behavioral task designed to capture individuals’ capacity for using creativity for the purpose of attaining malevolent goals in response to everyday, provocative situations. In a sample of 105 students, we found malevolent creativity positively correlated with fluency in conventional creative ideation, as well as with self‐reported typical malevolent creativity behavior in daily life. Moreover, performance on the malevolent creativity task showed positive correlations with the maladaptive personality trait of antagonism (PID‐5) as well as individuals’ state anger at the beginning of the experiment. Further, our multiple regression analysis revealed that conventional creative ideation, antagonistic personality, and state anger all explained unique, non‐overlapping variance in the capacity for implementing malevolent creativity. As a whole, these findings suggest that different cognitive and affective factors, along with specific personality traits may each contribute to the expression of malevolent creativity in distinct ways. Future investigations striving to further decode the destructive potential of individuals toward others may benefit from this validated behavioral measurement approach to malevolent creativity.

The present study examines effort in narrative creative writing (operationalized as time-on-task) using a new assessment approach, the storyboard task. Participants (N = 125) completed alternate forms of the storyboard task in two sessions five weeks apart. They also completed measures of divergent thinking and self-reported ideational behavior. Time-on-task, story length, and rated creativity scores were obtained for the participants’ stories. The storyboard task demonstrated good alternate form reliability and convergent validity with the criterion measures. Although time-on-task was strongly, positively associated with creativity scores, this relationship was confounded by the contribution of story length. Relationships amongst these variables were similar when creativity was rated by novice raters using a rubric or experienced raters using the consensual assessment technique. Additionally, story length and time-on-task were moderately correlated with the external criterion measures of creativity. Thus, the strong associations between rated creativity, story length, and time in creative writing raise important issues and avenues for future research, and results for the storyboard task suggest that it is a valuable assessment of narrative creative writing.

Divergent thinking (DT) is considered as an indicator of creative potential and a predictor of creative achievement. Furthermore, it is also conceptualized as an indicator of cognitive reserve (CR) in healthy elderly. CR refers to a functional benefit that can potentially offer protection against brain pathologies and is thereby considered a protective factor against cognitive decline. Creativity researchers have therefore attempted to understand the impact of the aging processes on DT abilities; however, it is difficult to draw a coherent picture from these studies. The aim of our systematic review was to more consistently summarize and interpret evidence about this topic. We selected 16 studies using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Our findings highlight a complex and multidimensional, rather than a simple linear relationship between the aging processes and DT performances, especially if the different DT indexes are considered separately. We also found that findings from more recent studies suggest that older subjects are able to think as divergently as younger people, particularly in the verbal domain, if no time constraints are imposed and if the workload is not too high. We conclude by discussing theoretical and methodological issues and implications for future research.

Integrating proactivity and creativity literatures, we argue that people can perform more creatively at work when they proactively manage their levels of vitality. Proactive vitality management is defined as individual, goal-oriented behavior aimed at managing physical and mental energy to promote optimal functioning at work. We hypothesize that this process may be facilitated by being aware of one’s own state and by support from others. A total of 242 employees participated in a weekly diary study for three consecutive weeks, yielding 610 observations. Results of multilevel analyses show that participants reported more creative work performance during weeks in which they had proactively used vitality management. In addition, in line with our predictions, self-insight and social support for creativity in the workplace acted as cross-level moderators and strengthened the relationship between proactive vitality management and creativity. We conclude that a proactive approach regarding physical and mental energy is an important bottom-up strategy that may foster creativity in work settings.