Creativity is an essential and valuable skill for every human. This paper argues the combination of positive and negative emotions is most beneficial for creativity.
Every type of emotion, positive or negative, has a massive impact on the functioning and activity of the human brain. According to a study by researcher Ruby Nadler, being in a good mood significantly improves brain flexibility and enhances cognitive capabilities, which positively affects creativity (2013). Besides, the effect of upbeat music on the brain is such that it contributes to the development of non-music related skills, including cognitive creativity and the progress of divergent thinking (Ritter and Ferguson, 2017). On top of that, positive emotions are considered to broaden one’s mind at a given moment.
Even negative emotions can bring significant benefits in terms of creativity. It has been proven that in a negative emotional state, the memory and motivation of a person to perform a given task in terms of complexity are significantly improved (Forgas, 2013). An experiment conducted by Australian researcher Joseph Forgas showed that employees with mild negative emotions in the work environment were consistently more likely to perform challenging tasks and were characterized by distinctly critical-creative thinking (2013). Also, negative emotions are especially conducive to artistic creativity, as many artists suffered from mood disorders, like Emily Dickinson and Robert Schumann (Akinola and Mendes, 2008). Therefore, both types of emotions have the potential to influence creativity, albeit in different ways.
While both negative and positive moods are beneficial for the creative process, I agree that the latter’s mix establishes the best environment for creativity. This hypothesis is confirmed by Rice University’s study on a question that found that complementarity between positive and negative emotional backgrounds causes the best outcome in the workplace (George and Zhou, 2007). The latter is because pros and cons accompany both types of emotions, and their coexistence complements each other harmoniously and gives optimal results for employees’ productivity. It is also interesting to note that the mix of positive and emotional feelings leads to an increase in organizational creativity in the latter (Fong, 2006). Thus, the combination of positive and negative emotions is the most advantageous option for increasing creativity.
List of References
Akinola, M. and Mendes, W.B., 2008. The dark side of creativity: Biological vulnerability and negative emotions lead to greater artistic creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(12), pp.1677-1686.
Fong, C.T., 2006. The effects of emotional ambivalence on creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 49(5), pp.1016-1030.
Forgas, J.P., 2013. Don’t worry, be sad! On the cognitive, motivational, and interpersonal benefits of negative mood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(3), pp.225-232.
George, J.M. and 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(3), pp.605-622.
Nadler, R., 2013. The influence of mood and motivation on cognitive flexibility.
Ritter, S.M. and Ferguson, S., 2017. Happy creativity: Listening to happy music facilitates divergent thinking. PloS one, 12(9), p.e0182210.